Cost Breakdown: How Much Does Digital Timesheet Management Really Save?
Published: 16/06/2025
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It’s often discussed how digital timesheet management can save companies money. In this article, we will conduct a cost breakdown to determine its contribution and whether it’s a truly ROI-driven step in digitisation.
While digital transformation is proven to be necessary for saving costs and generating consistent revenue, it also requires a degree of investment. As expected, different solutions come with varying costs and also have different turnaround times. One of the more affordable tools is a digital timesheet management platform. However, the opinions regarding its cost-efficiency are diverse. Some see it as a cornerstone solution when embracing digital transformation on the budget. Others argue it only offers convenience. So, which is it?
Instead of contributing to this debate based on our opinion only, which is admittedly biased, we will instead do the cost breakdown. More precisely, we will explore the hidden costs of manual timesheet management and how a designated solution helps you cut them. As a final word, we will introduce you to our software’s specific benefits, too.
Before delving further into the benefits of digitising timesheets, we need to clarify one thing: timesheets are not and will never be outdated. They’re a timeless solution every business can benefit from. Their format, however, ages.
Paper and Excel timesheets are considered outdated because these formats don’t support today’s pace and demands. Digitised timesheets, on the other hand, are a modern take on this management approach. Modern technology makes it not only useful but also packed with additional benefits that propel business growth.
Handling of timesheets is seldom seen as something that can incur costs or help companies save money. This is a mistake that can severely affect your finances in negative ways. In this section, we will reveal hidden costs that stem from manual timesheet management and why digitisation is your best bet to fix that.
Time is money is not just a cliche saying, but an undeniable truth, especially in business. It’s the most expensive resource you have, and it should therefore not be wasted on tasks that don’t generate revenue. Namely, ones that are instead aimed at maintaining your organisation rather than driving it forward. As such, we are talking about vital yet repetitive and tedious tasks like admin work, payroll processing, expenses and so on. In other words, while these jobs are vital, they are also time-consuming and don’t directly contribute to your business growth, making them a waste of your time, translating into financial losses. Admittedly, this is not the most obvious area of money drainage and is therefore often overlooked. The cost of automating these processes is usually relatively low but results in huge savings. What’s more, there are several ways of doing it.
Digital timesheet management is one of them. Solutions like Timesheet Portal already come equipped with a number of modules specifically designed to help you automate tedious administrative tasks, especially those concerning payroll. Rich in customisation options, it allows you to choose the degree of automation you require, as well as tailor your own processes, ensuring both convenience and thorough reporting. The latter provides endless opportunities to optimise as you go.
Although closely related to the above-described, employee productivity loss is an issue of its own. It too stems from having to dedicate time to maintenance tasks over progress-driving ones, but in this case, the cost is your most valuable asset - people. And while this, too, results in accumulating costs through non-profitable time allocation, it can lead to further financial losses by breeding dissatisfaction, demotivation and further performance decline.
Being stuck handling repetitive tasks is already not the best use of your team’s paid time, but it tends to make people feel unappreciated and discouraged. Both factors can lead to lower effort even when handling tasks demanding more critical thinking and decision making, and to employees eventually leaving the organisation. Given the costs of hiring and training new staff, as well as the approximate timeframes before they start contributing towards the company’s revenue, this is another big hidden cost that can be avoided via digital timesheet management.
Similarly to how not all costs are obvious, the savings aren’t always easy to spot either. That said, the return on investment from digital timesheet management starts slow, but normally snowballs very fast. However, it doesn’t always get attributed to the correct source, which is something we will correct in this section.
Human error is one of the most commonly spoken challenges digitisation solves - and rightfully so. While, in theory, small mistakes like mistyped numbers seem harmless, depending on how soon they’re spotted, they can result in severe financial losses. From the time that’s required to find the error and fix the data that follows, to legal issues such as billing/compensating people wrongly, errors are more harmful to your revenue pipeline than most consider. Thankfully, the solution is easier to achieve than it sounds.
Platforms like Timesheet Portal focus on automating a variety of administrative tasks that are most susceptible to errors due to manual data entry. Changing the approach to digitisation will bring the return on investment fairly fast: not only will this reduce the possibility of errors, but the same tasks will be executed quickly, often within mere minutes. What’s more, it’s a process that can be optimised as you go, carrying near infinite improvement options.
The way in which digital timesheet management helps you save money in the long run is by providing visibility. By that, we mean your overall project flow, budget distribution, resource allocation, and many more. This centralised view empowers you to easily shift the moving parts around and adjust your workflows as you go, easily optimising for the best results and spotting potential threats early on. And the more data you record through the use of the tool, the more thorough your reports will be.
It may seem more like a tool of convenience, but the savings that come from implementing small changes such as centralisation are astounding, even if the ROI isn’t immediately palatable. The beauty of digital transformation is that it doesn’t need to be extreme to be effective. Small, gradual adjustments are usually more impactful, not to mention easier to stick with in the long term.
As mentioned in the beginning, we are biased as we are a provider of a digital timesheet management system. However, we have also designed our product to help our clients not just save money but to grow. Let us quickly explain what sets Timesheet Portal apart from other solutions on the market.
What Timesheet Portal is depends on you. One of the traits that sets us apart from other similar solutions on the market is the variety of customisation options across all modules. Despite being trusted by hundreds of companies across all kinds of industries, there isn’t one version of Timesheet Portal that’s identical to the other.
Be it aesthetic or functional, our software accommodates thorough customisation that only carries your branding but adjusts to your existing processes. Housing a wide array of integrations, Timesheet Portal seamlessly ties into your operations, unlocking new automation options and actionable insights. Additionally, we offer a custom API when there’s no pre-established software linkage to still create a custom connection. A variety of filters and preferences allows you to build Timesheet Portal to be the tool you need it to be. With over 40 pre-built reporting templates alone, we hand you the reigns. But don’t worry if you find the abundance of options overwhelming and don’t know where to start - our dedicated and attentive implementation team is always happy to help to set you on the right track.
Digital timesheet management systems are a relatively budget-friendly way to kick-start digital transformation within the business. Manual timesheet handling often brings a variety of hidden costs, such as time lost on admin tasks and payroll processing. Additionally, when burdened by repetitive maintenance tasks, employees tend to bring less developmental productivity, which can negatively reflect on their satisfaction with the job. This can even lead to them quitting altogether, incurring further costs by having to hire and train new staff.
Not only does digital timesheet management address those issues, but it also helps you save money and grow revenue in the long term. First of all, it offers a variety of automation options that take tedious tasks off your team’s hands, complete them faster and come with a decreased risk of human error. They also provide a centralised view of your projects, enabling easier resource allocation in order to smooth the flow and maximise the results. With Timesheet Portal specifically, you also get near limitless customisation options, allowing you to build a platform that caters to your unique needs and values.
Are you ready to save money? Start with Timesheet Portal.