Log hours on a weekly grid tied to specific engagements and tasks. Managers review and approve timesheets so every hour is accounted for — giving your firm the data it needs for utilization reporting and workload planning.
Three simple steps from time entry to approved data. No complexity, no learning curve.
Log hours on the weekly grid by engagement and task.
Submit your completed timesheet for review.
Manager reviews, approves, or requests corrections.
The weekly timesheet grid mirrors the spreadsheet format your team already knows. One row per engagement-task pair, one column per day. Staff type hours directly into cells and submit — no timers, no complex forms.
A spreadsheet-style grid that anyone can use from day one. No training needed — if your staff can use Excel, they can log time.
Each row is tied to a specific engagement and task. Hours are never logged to vague categories — every entry connects to real client work.
Monday through Friday columns (plus weekends when needed) let staff fill in hours as they go or catch up at the end of each day.
Time entries are linked to specific engagements and tasks — not generic categories. When you run utilization reports, you see exactly where hours went: which client, which engagement, which task.
Every time entry connects to an engagement. Hours logged on Smith Corp's tax return appear on that engagement record automatically.
Within an engagement, time is further linked to a specific task. Know how much effort went into preparation vs review vs filing.
Compare actual hours against budgeted hours per engagement. Spot overruns early and adjust scope or staffing before profitability erodes.
The submit-and-approve workflow ensures time data is accurate before it feeds into reports. Staff submit, managers review, and corrections happen before the numbers are locked in.
When the week is complete, staff submit their timesheet with a single click. The submission locks the entries and sends them for manager review.
Managers see pending submissions in the admin timesheet view. Review hours by staff member, check for gaps or inconsistencies, and approve accurate entries.
Approve clean timesheets so the data flows into reports. Reject entries with issues and they go back to the staff member for correction with a clear reason.
See how accounting firms use CPA Buddy time tracking to solve the problems that actually come up every week.
Staff forget to log time during the week and try to reconstruct their hours from memory days later. Entries are inaccurate, incomplete, and submitted late.
The weekly grid makes it easy to fill in each day as it happens. Staff see their engagement-task rows and enter hours into the corresponding day columns — no complex forms, no timers to remember.
Accurate time data submitted on time every week. Managers get reliable entries for reporting instead of guesswork reconstructed after the fact.
An engagement is going over budget but nobody notices until the invoice goes out. Hours piled up across multiple staff members without any visibility into the total.
Time logged against engagements shows actual hours vs budgeted hours in real time. Managers see cumulative time on the engagement record as staff submit their entries.
Managers intervene before budget overruns happen. Conversations with clients about scope happen proactively, not after the damage is done.
Leadership can't tell who is overworked or underutilized. Without reliable time data, staffing decisions are based on gut feeling rather than evidence.
Time data feeds utilization reports by staff member. Leadership sees billable vs total hours, engagement distribution, and weekly patterns across the team.
Data-driven staffing decisions. Overloaded staff get rebalanced before burnout, and underutilized team members get assigned before capacity is wasted.
Beyond the core workflow, CPA Buddy time tracking includes everything your firm needs for reliable time data.
Move between the current week and past weeks to view, edit, or submit time entries. Historical data is always accessible for corrections or review.
Log time directly from the task detail page as an alternative to the weekly grid. Both methods feed the same data for consistent reporting.
Every time entry is tied to an engagement. Hours roll up to the engagement level for budget tracking and profitability analysis.
Staff submit completed timesheets and managers review them. The approval workflow ensures data quality before it enters reports.
Start and stop a live timer to capture time as you work. The timer auto-logs entries so you never have to recall hours after the fact.
Categorize time entries as billable or non-billable to separate revenue-generating work from internal overhead.
Staff use a weekly timesheet grid where each row represents an engagement-task combination and each column is a day of the week. They type hours directly into the grid cells and submit the completed timesheet for manager review. Time can also be entered from the task detail page.
Yes. When staff submit their timesheets, managers see the submissions in the admin timesheet view. They can review the logged hours and approve or reject the submission. Rejected timesheets go back to the staff member for correction.
Every time entry is linked to a specific engagement and task. This means time data automatically feeds into engagement budget tracking and staff utilization reports without any extra configuration.
A real-time start/stop timer is coming in Q2 2026. Currently, all time entry is manual through the weekly grid or task detail page. The weekly grid format makes it easy to enter hours at the end of each day or week.
CPA Buddy features are designed to work together. Explore related capabilities that complement time tracking.
Know exactly where your team's time goes. Start your 30-day free trial and get reliable time data for utilization reporting and workload planning.
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