Problem guide
Technician hours don't match timesheets
Technician hours stop matching timesheets when time is recorded twice, once on the job ticket and again on a weekly timesheet, from memory and at different times. Record hours once, close to when they are worked, and reconcile the difference daily while it is still easy to remember.
What it usually looks like
A technician works three jobs on Monday, with a supply run between the second and third. Her tickets show seven hours across the three jobs. On Friday she fills in her timesheet and writes nine hours for Monday, because that is how long she was out. Payroll pays nine. Billing charged seven. Nobody decides whether the missing two were drive time, shop time or a job left off a ticket. The office manager adds it to a list of mismatches that grows every week.
Signs you have this problem
- Hours billed to jobs do not add up to hours paid in payroll
- Timesheets are filled in at the end of the week from memory
- Payroll or billing sends a list of mismatches that someone has to chase every week
- Drive time, shop time and waiting time show up on one record but not the other
What usually causes it
- The same hours are entered twice, on the ticket and on the timesheet, by handThe re-entry trap
- Technicians record time after the fact because entering it on the job is inconvenientThe field-to-office split
- Drive time, shop time and split days have no clear rule, so each is handled by judgmentThe exception swamp
What to try this week
- Compare one week side by sideFor each technician, put ticket hours and timesheet hours next to each other by day. Note which days disagree and by how much. Patterns show up fast.
- Sort the differences by typeLabel each mismatch: drive time, shop time, a job missing from one record, or a simple typo. Most companies find a few types cause most of the gaps.
- Write the rule for the common casesPut the rules for drive time, shop time and split days on one page. Share it with technicians and payroll so everyone codes the same hours the same way.
- Reconcile daily, not weeklyHave a lead or the office check yesterday's hours each morning. A day-old difference is easy to explain. A week-old one is a guess.
Put a number on it
- The cost of retyping calculator: Calculate the office hours and dollars your company spends each year retyping job information from the field into other systems.
Where do-it-yourself stops
These steps shrink the mismatch and make it visible. They do not remove the double entry, which is where most of the disagreement starts. A lasting fix records hours once, in the field, in a tool built around your own tickets, payroll and billing systems, so the same hours feed both without retyping. That is what a Workflow Spec designs.
Questions people ask
Why don't technician hours match timesheets?
Because the same hours are usually recorded twice, at different times and from memory, and the rules for drive and shop time are unclear.
Which record should we trust?
Neither by default. Pick the one recorded closest to the work, then fix the process so there is only one.
Would GPS or clock-in apps solve it?
They capture when someone is on site, which helps. They do not decide which job the hours belong to, and they still need to reach your payroll and billing without retyping.
How often should we reconcile hours?
Daily, while the week is in progress. Weekly reconciliation turns small differences into arguments.
What does the mismatch cost?
Unbilled labor, wrong job costs, payroll corrections and time spent chasing. Measure your own weekly gap before putting a number on it.