Timesheet Cons & Alternatives For Employees Who Deserve Better Tools

If you’re still tracking time with paper or Excel spreadsheets, you might as well be chiseling your hours into stone tablets. Sure, timesheets in the form of spreadsheets had their moment (somewhere in the ’90s, alongside dial-up internet and floppy disks!), but in 2025? C’mon.

You must know there’s a better way.

YOU and your employees deserve better.

Why?

Because manually filling out timesheets is the ultimate time paradox: you’re wasting time just to prove you were working. Plus, there’s nothing fun about reconstructing your entire week on a Friday afternoon, trying to remember if that could-have-been-an-email meeting was on Wednesday or… a couple of weeks ago.

You & your team deserve quicker, more accurate, and painless tools to track your time.

So, if you’re ready to move on from all the timesheet issues, we’ve listed 5 timesheet alternatives that don’t involve spreadsheets and relying on long-term memory.

Let’s go!

Have you ever found employees saying, “I hate timesheets”?

You have?

In that case, me and you both.

Paper and even Excel-based timesheets require A LOT of manual work, they are inaccurate and a waste of time. They come with a lot of issues.

Here are some cons of using paper or Excel-based timesheets.

Cons of using timesheets to track time

1. They are actually time-consuming because they require manual labor. Filling timesheets can take forever as you must log hours for every task and remember those hours (which you probably don’t).
2. They bring a lot of panic. Trying to remember work days or an entire week while staring at a blank timesheet, hoping your memory will somehow fill in the gaps… and then you realize you’re probably missing half of it.
3. They are highly inaccurate. Since timesheets rely on memory-based logging, one wrong digit or forgotten task can make the total hours number completely untrue (especially if you fill your timesheets out at the end of the day or week), even if you are not underestimating or overestimating your hours. Plus, I bet you & your team usually write rounded numbers instead of real, accurate ones, which leads to even more inaccuracy — especially when scaled across an entire team or over long periods.
4. They are prone to errors and manipulation. If you use formulas in your timesheets, even a single missing row could mess up your calculations, leading to mistakes in billing and payroll.
5. They are a hassle even for managers. Managers waste time reviewing timesheets, approving, verifying, and correcting. And when timesheets are incomplete or incorrect, the payroll process slows down.
6. They don’t give you accurate insights into productivity or profitability. Since paper and Excel don’t automatically track time, everything relies on manual input. This makes tracking project costs or calculating billable hours difficult, as it requires extra effort and can easily lead to errors.
7. They’re easy to lose and lack security. A paper timesheet can easily get lost or damaged—a spilled coffee can erase all your manual entries (it’s the adult version of “dog ate my homework”). And if you opt for a local Excel file, and forget to back it up, you can say goodbye to time data. Not to mention, Excel files can easily be altered or accidentally deleted by you or anyone who has access to them, and the app won’t show you who edited what and when.

That’s a lot of cons.

But timesheets don’t have just downsides; there’s also a couple of perks to using them. Here are some of those benefits.

Pros of using timesheets

1. It’s easy to understand what needs to be done, as almost everyone knows how to fill out a piece of paper or use Excel; there’s no training required.
2. They don’t require software learning, as no dedicated time tracking tools are being used. Plus, paper and spreadsheets don’t require any onboarding.
3. They are low-cost (at least that’s how they seem). If you have Excel or Google Sheets, paper timesheets and Excel are free. Because there’s no extra software needed, there are also no approvals from IT, software installations, or security concerns.
4. You can customize them the way you like it. You can create columns and rows, formulas, and “design” the timesheet layout that fits your team’s needs best.
5. They don’t depend on the Internet connection. Paper and Excel timesheets work offline; you can always fill out a paper timesheet or update an Excel file locally.
6. They work for smaller teams. Excel timesheets might be manageable if you have a team of just a few employees.

Now that you know all the benefits and drawbacks of using timesheets, it’s easy to spot that they have more weaknesses than strengths.

I suggest you move on from them. It’s about time (pun intended).

But what should you use instead?

What to use instead of paper (or Excel) timesheets?

Well, the best timesheet alternatives for employees depend on your business type.

Different industries have different needs. Here’s what I mean by that:

• If you work in a law firm, your lawyers probably don’t have time for spreadsheets. They need a precise time tracking app for billable hours and, perhaps, even a tool that ensures compliance with client agreements. Something like Clio can track the time per case.
• If you are a manager in a marketing and branding agency, you know that your employees juggle multiple clients and projects at once, so they need a tool that can track their activity and time entries so you can ensure accurate billing. A tool like Toggl Track could work, as it’s built for freelancers and employees who switch between multiple projects and daily tasks.
• If you are a small business owner, you most likely need time tracking to be intuitive, affordable, and not an admin burden. Clockify could work here, but you could benefit from a bit more automation.
• If you run a (remote) team of software developers, you should consider a time tracking tool that works with GitHub, Jira, Xcode, Android Studio, and other IDEs. A tool that integrates with project management tools and seamlessly captures their turbotasking.
• If you have an accounting and finance business, you know that accuracy and compliance are key; every minute needs to be logged and justified. You and your employees need a tool that tracks their minutes, which can be justified and billed to clients later.

What’s the smartest way to track time?

Whether you work remotely or in an office, lead a small team or a large organization, the key is finding a method that’s accurate, effortless, and efficient.

And if you're looking for the smartest solution, automatic time tracking is hard to beat.

Instead of relying on your memory (or wild guesses), automatic time trackers run in the background, capturing work activity without you thinking of it. There are no manual time entries, just accurate time data for accurate billing, payroll, and productivity improvement.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Let’s first list and discuss 5 timesheet alternatives to track time.

5 timesheet alternatives for employees

Here they are. 👇

#1 Automatic time tracking software

Automatic time tracking software is the no. 1 solution because it works.

And if you are looking for a way to automate your timesheets, Memtime is The One.

Memtime is an automatic time tracking tool that records how long you spend on different apps, browsers, documents, and tasks without your manual input.

It works in the background, capturing your work activities so you can review and log them later as time entries. All to ensure you don’t lose any more minutes or hours.

All you need to do is turn on your computer and start working on tasks and Memtime will capture them all for you.

Here are some of Memtime’s features:

• Memtime tracks your activity, displaying the program name, details, and the time you spent using it. It arranges all your captured activities in a timeline, the Memory Aid.

• You can turn logged activities to time entries, and assign them to projects and tasks in your project management software. The same can be done by your employees with zero time wasted. Thus, giving you a clear overview of what was done and how long it took. 
• If you want to visualize how your day went, you can zoom in and out and see your work in 1-60 minute intervals.
• Your data is visible ONLY to you and stored locally offline on your computer. A big plus for employees as well, as there are no surveillance features in Memtime. 
• Memtime doesn’t send you annoying notifications and doesn’t remind you to log your idle time. It’s simply there, running in the background, allowing you to work peacefully.
  

With our tool, you can recover up to 20% more billable time without working more.

It takes less than 10 seconds to create a Memtime account so you can download and install the app. Just click the button below and give automated time tracking a go with our 2 weeks free trial.

#2 Project management software time tracking

If you are hesitant about using a dedicated time tracking app, you can always opt for a project management app that features a built-in timer. The method is pretty straightforward: you start the timer when you begin a task and stop it when you’re done.

If you ask us at Memtime, built-in timers in project management tools are not what you should be using.

They offer basic time tracking functionalities, come with limitations, and don't align with the principles of effective time management.

#3 Calendar-based time tracking

The logic behind calendar-based time tracking is this: if you live by your calendar, why not track time with it? Sounds reasonable.

Google Calendar and Outlook let you log meetings, focus sessions, and work blocks automatically so you can turn your schedule into a timesheet.

Although this method sounds efficient at first glance, in practice, it’s less than ideal for accurate time management. Here why:

• Your planned time doesn’t match your actual time. Calendars are a way for you to plan and create an intended schedule, not necessarily a real one. Meetings get rescheduled, tasks take longer than expected, and unplanned work comes up. Relying on a calendar can lead to misleading timesheets that don’t truly represent where the  time went.
• A calendar doesn’t provide insights into how time was spent. You can’t know for sure whether you were actively working, taking breaks, or switching between multiple tasks. It all means that data lacks depth, so you won’t be able to analyze your productivity trends.
• It requires manual updates. Truth be told, calendar-based tracking offers automation for events, but anything that isn’t a part of your schedule requires manual updates. Meaning, maintaining an accurate calendar timesheet leads to incomplete time data.

#4 AI-powered VAs

If you don’t mind robots taking over time and productivity tracking, perhaps you should try AI-powered scheduling assistants, such as Clockwise and Motion.

These tools use AI to analyze your calendar, optimize your work sessions, and help you maintain focus. While AI-powered scheduling assistants don’t track actual work hours, they can help minimize the need for manual timesheets by making time management more structured. Think of them as "perfect-world timesheet generators", but still requiring you to follow their plan for them to be effective. 

Here’s how AI scheduling typically works:

• These tools detect gaps in your calendar and can schedule blocks for deep work to help you get enough time for high-priority tasks.
• They can analyze your existing tasks and events commitments and rearrange meetings to ensure you aren’t overloaded with back-to-back video calls.
• They can adjust in real-time. For example, if a last-minute meeting pops up, the AI can reschedule focus sessions to maintain balance in your workload.
  

AI scheduling assistants can seem like they are the highlight of the AI revolution, but they aren’t perfect.

They don’t always align with priorities, and rely too much on automation, which leads to less flexibility and spontaneity. Not to mention, there are major privacy concerns when these tools access your calendar data, and connect to the cloud.

#5 Mobile & GPS-based time tracking 

While most of the previously listed alternatives are best suited for in-office work, they don’t always fit teams that operate on the go. Field workers, sales reps, healthcare staff, and other "offline" professionals need a way to log work hours without sitting at a computer all day. 

If your team works away from a desk, mobile and GPS-based time tracking tools like Hubstaff, Buddy Punch, or Connecteam allow employees to automatically clock in and out using a mobile app with no manual timesheets required. 

While we’re not fans of employee surveillance or unnecessary tracking, used responsibly, GPS-based time tracking is a huge improvement over paper timesheets. The biggest advantage here is removing the burden of manual time entry. 

Other key benefits you should consider are: 

• Reduced errors. Employees no longer have to manually enter hours, meaning less mistakes. 
• Improved payroll accuracy. Software ensures employees are paid for actual hours worked. 
• Preventing time theft. Using the right type of app helps to avoid inaccurate reporting, forgotten entries, or overreported hours.
  

While not every company needs GPS-based tracking, it could be a game-changer for teams on the move. Time tracking gets more accurate, and less painful than plain old paper timesheets.

Wrapping up

If you’re still clinging to paper or Excel timesheets, it’s time you change your routine.

Timesheets have outlived their usefulness, just like floppy disks and dial-up internet.

Luckily for you and your employees, there’s a world beyond the archaic time tracking methods, where time tracking is smarter, faster, and doesn’t cause a headache.

My choice for you?

Memtime, no doubt there. Sign up for our free trial and start tracking time like it's 2025. You deserve it.