Timesheet admin cost calculator: collecting, chasing and fixing
Collecting, checking and keying timesheets, chasing the late ones and fixing the payroll mistakes they cause all take someone's time every pay period. Enter your staff, your pay cycle and the minutes each step takes, and the calculator shows the hours and the cost a year, with the price of Team timesheets for the same people beside it.
Worked out for the example. Change the boxes to make it yours.
| Collecting, checking and keying (12 x 6 minutes) | 72 minutes |
|---|---|
| Chasing late ones (25% x 10 minutes) | 30 minutes |
| Fixing payroll mistakes (2 x 30 minutes) | 60 minutes |
| Each fortnight | 2.7 hours |
| A year (26 pay periods) | 70.2 hours |
| Cost a year at $40.00 an hour | $2,808 |
| Each month | $234 |
| For comparison: Team timesheets, 13 seats, billed monthly | $1,090.44 a year |
| Team timesheets, billed yearly | $778.44 a year |
- Every figure here is your own estimate. The cost is the admin person's time only, at the hourly cost you entered; the time staff spend filling in their own timesheets is not counted.
- Team timesheets is $6.99 a seat a month or $59.88 a seat a year, GST included, with a seat for each person and each manager. It does not run payroll, so how much of this time it would save is yours to judge.
Team timesheets shows the hours staff choose to share, by person, project and task, and who has not logged this week, with a CSV ready for payroll, optional approvals and your own billable rates. It never reads the pay or rates in anyone's own account, and has no rosters.
See Team timesheetsWhat the calculator counts
Each pay period it adds three jobs: the minutes on every timesheet to collect, check and key it in; the minutes spent chasing the share that are late or unclear; and the minutes fixing payroll mistakes they cause. That total times the pay periods in a year (52 weekly, 26 fortnightly or 12 monthly) is the hours a year, and those hours at the admin person's hourly cost are the cost. It counts the admin side only. The time staff spend filling in their own timesheets is left out, and so is the cost of a mistake itself, such as arrears owed to someone underpaid.
Getting the minutes right
The estimate is only as good as the minutes in it, so time one ordinary pay run rather than guessing: from the first reminder to the last correction. Count the questions as well as the typing, because a timesheet that says "8 to 5" with no break, or a shift that crosses midnight, takes longer than one that adds up. If a mistake usually turns up a pay period later, count the time to find it and to pay the difference.
Why the record matters
Timesheets feed the wages and time record an employer must keep, showing the hours each employee worked each day in a pay period and the pay for them, unless agreed usual hours are worked (Employment Relations Act 2000, section 130). Employment New Zealand says to keep it for 6 years. From 6 August 2028 the Employment Leave Act 2026 also needs the hours worked each day for the leave record. Our article on getting timesheets into payroll covers what an export needs, and the free timesheet templates suit a paper or spreadsheet process.
The comparison with Team timesheets
The last rows show what Team timesheets would cost for the same people: $6.99 a seat a month, or $59.88 a seat a year, GST included, with at least 3 seats and a seat for each manager, and 10% less from 50 seats. Staff log their own hours and choose to share them; you see the shared hours by person, project and task, who has not logged this week, and a CSV ready for payroll. Approvals are optional; it has no rosters, does not run payroll, and never reads the pay or rates in anyone's own account. How much of the time above it would save is yours to judge, so the calculator does not subtract one from the other.
Questions
How much does timesheet admin cost a small business?
It depends on the minutes each step takes. For 12 staff paid fortnightly, with 6 minutes on each timesheet, a quarter needing a 10-minute chase and 2 payroll fixes of 30 minutes, it is 2.7 hours a fortnight: 70.2 hours and $2,808 a year at $40 an hour.
How long do I have to keep timesheets in NZ?
Employment New Zealand says to keep wages and time records, and holiday and leave records, for 6 years, even after someone leaves. Other business records can need keeping longer for tax.
Do I need a timesheet if my staff work set hours?
Not for the hours themselves, if the agreed usual hours and pay are stated in the wages and time record, the agreement or a roster and the person works them. For salaried staff, extra hours must still be recorded where they are needed to show the minimum wage was paid.
What does Team timesheets cost?
$6.99 a seat a month, or $59.88 a seat a year, GST included, with at least 3 seats and one for each manager. From 50 seats each is 10% less: $6.29 a month or $53.89 a year.
Does Team timesheets approve timesheets or run payroll?
It approves them if you want it to, and it does not run payroll. Approvals are off until the Owner or an Admin turns them on, for a weekly, fortnightly or monthly period, and nobody approves their own time. There is no rostering. Staff log their hours and choose to share them, and you download a CSV ready for your payroll. Nothing is read from the pay or rates in anyone's own account.
Sources
More free tools: see all the calculators.