Architect Timesheet Template

What is an architect timesheet template?

A timesheet template for architects is a structured document used by architects and architecture firms to capture the time spent across projects, phases, and tasks. It turns scattered time entries into a reliable, standardized record that can feed project management, invoicing, and profitability analysis. By standardizing how work is recorded, firms can compare effort across projects, improve scheduling, and speed up billing cycles.

Definition and purpose for architecture work

This template is a repeatable layout used to log time spent on specific projects, phases, and activities. It supports project-based work, multiphase design processes, and coordination with teams and consultants. By using a consistent format, designers, managers, and support staff can align on what counts as billable work and how hours are allocated across tasks like design exploration, coordination meetings, and site visits. In practice, it helps bridge everyday design activities with the numbers that feed billing, internal cost tracking, and utilization analysis.

With this approach, firms gain a clearer view of how time flows through a project—from early sketches to construction documents and site coordination. The template makes it easier to forecast staffing needs, compare planned versus actual hours, and create invoices that reflect the scope of work. As a result, project profitability becomes easier to monitor, and collaboration with clients and consultants becomes more transparent and efficient.

Key components of an architect timesheet

A well-designed architect timesheet should include a clear set of fields that capture the full scope of architectural work. Start by tying each hour to the right context so you can see how time is spent across projects, phases, and activities. The fields below ensure that every entry communicates who did the work, on what project, and at what stage, making it easier to report to clients and leaders alike.

Below are the essential fields that should appear on the template. These structure the data in a way that helps the “architect of time” track effort across multiple projects, compare design phases, and feed accurate cost and utilization analyses.

• Date of work
• Architect/Team Member Name
• Project Name or Number
• Client
• Project Phase (Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documents, Construction Administration, etc.)
• Task or Activity Description
• Billable vs Non-Billable Indicator
• Hours Worked (Regular, Overtime if relevant)
• Hourly Rate or Cost Code
• Daily/Weekly Totals

These fields help the “architect of time” see where effort is going across projects, support precise invoicing, and enable utilization and profitability analyses. When teams use these components consistently, managers can generate clear project reports, benchmark phase hours, and spot trends such as design phases that routinely require more coordination or documentation time.

Why architects need structured time tracking

Structured time tracking helps architecture firms bill accurately, measure project health, and see exactly where design hours go. Using an Architect Timesheet Template makes the data consistent across teams and projects, so what used to be guesswork becomes clear numbers you can act on. Beyond compliance, this approach supports healthier, more profitable practices by aligning time with value across schematic design, documentation, and administration.

To connect project work to accurate billing

Precise time logs connect project work directly to invoices, reducing disputes and guesswork. When every hour is recorded by project and phase, clients see what they’re paying for and firms protect profit margins.

For example, use the Architect Timesheet Template to break hours by Schematic Design, DD, CD, and CA. If you guess hours or reconstruct them after the fact, you risk underbilling or charging too much. A six-month project might show 120 hours in schematic design, 90 in DD, 70 in CD, and 60 in CA; with phase-by-phase logs, you can bill accurately for each portion of the work it covers.

Because the template feeds directly into invoicing tools, you can export totals to QuickBooks, Xero, or Deltek Ajera and generate invoices that reflect the actual work completed. This speeds up the billing cycle and makes client invoices more transparent, which strengthens trust and improves cash flow.

To understand project performance and profitability

Timesheet data shows where projects stay on track and where hours drift, helping you measure profitability by phase and service type. This clarity lets your firm pinpoint which parts of a project drive the most hours and cost.

When you compare budgeted versus actual time for each phase—Schematic Design, DD, CD, and CA—you often see CA or CD exceeding estimates by 10-25%. For a typical six-month job, this can add up to hundreds of unplanned hours if not monitored. The Architect Timesheet Template makes these comparisons straightforward, turning raw hours into actionable insights.

This insight lets you refine proposals and fees for future work. By acting as an “architect of time,” you can design more realistic schedules and more accurate fees. Dashboards and exportable reports from the template and compatible tools help you present data-driven revisions to clients before new work begins.

To manage workloads and avoid burnout

Timesheets provide a clear view of who is overloaded across projects, which helps leaders rebalance work before burnout takes hold. With structured tracking, principals and project managers can redistribute tasks, adjust deadlines, and protect teams from chronic overtime.

Look for patterns like recurring late-night CA work or design crunches. When the data points to consistently heavy weeks for a designer, you can reallocate tasks, adjust schedules, or bring in contractors to cover peaks. The Architect Timesheet Template makes these patterns visible and easy to act on, supporting healthier work rhythms and steadier project delivery.

By proactively planning around workload realities, firms guard morale and maintain steady progress across projects. In practice, this template helps you set no-overtime targets where feasible and schedule buffers for critical phases, so designers aren’t stretched thin and client commitments stay on track.

Who should use an architect timesheet template

Architects work in solo practices, small studios, and large firms, and each group benefits from a clear, consistent way to log time across clients, projects, and disciplines. An Architect Timesheet Template provides a scalable structure that fits a one-person shop as well as a multi-office firm. It helps ensure billable hours are captured, projects stay on budget, and staffing decisions are based on real data.

Solo architects and independent consultants

Freelancers and solo studio owners rely on a simple, repeatable way to log time across multiple clients and projects.

A well-made architect timesheet template helps you capture every billable hour and separate design work from admin tasks. It makes invoicing faster and more accurate, so you get paid on time. For example, if you bill 32 hours this week, you can see precisely how many came from Client A versus Client B, plus any admin time you spent. To keep things efficient, limit entries to essential fields and keep the template consistent across clients.

Keep the template lean and consistent. Include fields like Client, Project, Phase, Task, Date, Hours, and Notes. Use an approachable tool such as Google Sheets, Excel, or a time-tracking app like Toggl Track or Harvest for timer-enabled entries. Set a daily or end-of-day habit to log time so nothing slips through the cracks.

Small and mid-sized architecture studios

As a studio grows, standardizing timekeeping helps everyone log the same way.

With a shared structure—projects, phases, and task categories—the data can be rolled up for project reviews, staffing decisions, and forecasting. When all architects and designers log time under the same fields, managers can see which projects are over or under staffed and plan for upcoming workloads. This consistency also makes it easier to measure design versus production effort and to compare performance across projects.

To implement, publish a single template, train new hires, and require weekly submissions. Integrate the timesheet with your project management or accounting tools—for example Procore or Deltek Ajera—and set up simple dashboards. This alignment helps a growing firm turn hours into reliable cost forecasts and better client billing, supporting more accurate staffing forecasts as you scale.

Larger architecture firms and multidisciplinary teams

Note that in bigger teams, an architect timesheet template helps align architects, interior designers, and other contributors on how they categorize their time.

The template lets PMs compare time spent by discipline (architect, interior designer, engineer), by phase (Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documents), and by office. That visibility helps principals allocate resources, balance workloads, and spot trends across the firm so you can steer growth and profitability. When time data is consistent, you can quickly produce reliable reports for board meetings and external client reviews.

Turn the data into strategy with dashboards in Deltek, Power BI, or Tableau. Use these insights for resource planning, profitability analysis, and strategic decisions about office locations, service lines, or staffing levels. A consistent Architect Timesheet Template keeps every team member aligned and provides an auditable trail showing how the firm uses its time to deliver value.

How to structure an architect timesheet template

A well-structured Architect Timesheet Template keeps architecture workflows clear and fast to fill. The layout should center on date, project, and phase, while separating billable from non-billable tasks. The goal is a design you can fill in quickly each day and read easily when you review weeks or months of work. By organizing entries in this way, you gain visibility into time distribution, project health, and capacity for the year ahead.

To organize time by project and phase

Organize time so each line clearly connects to a specific project and a phase, using dedicated fields for project number, project name, and phase such as SD, DD, CD, and CA. This structure makes it easy to see how much time is spent in each phase across multiple projects. In a single template, you can list a project number like P-001, the project name such as “Bridge Street Library,” and a phase like SD, which helps you aggregate hours automatically as you fill in dates and hours.

With this setup, you can quickly spot drift when a phase runs longer than planned. For example, if a project’s SD phase is allocated 120 hours but has already logged 150 by week four, the template’s totals and flags make the overage obvious. Use a consistent column order (Date, Project No, Project Name, Phase, Task, Hours, Billing Status) and consider color-coded indicators or a simple threshold rule to flag phases that exceed their estimates. This clarity supports timely project reviews and better scheduling decisions.

To capture clear task descriptions

Describe tasks with specificity to aid future reference and estimation. Include the deliverable or outcome, key participants, and the context or location when relevant (for example, “coordination call with MEP engineer for HVAC routing at Level 2”). Clear descriptions help clients understand progress, support internal reviews, and improve estimates for similar tasks in future projects. This level of detail also makes it easier to justify hours during client discussions and audits, while keeping a consistent record across weeks and months.

To separate billable and non-billable time

Explain how and why to distinguish billable tasks from non-billable tasks by adding a simple Billable flag or column, and optionally task categories. Architectural activities such as project design, key coordination, and site visits are typically billable, while tasks like marketing, proposals, internal meetings, and training are often non-billable. By tagging each entry as Billable Yes/No and, if desired, assigning a category (Design, Coordination, Site Visit, Marketing, etc.), architects can quickly see where revenue is generated versus overhead.

This separation helps with invoicing accuracy and weekly capacity planning. For example, in a typical week you might have 28–34 hours marked as billable across several projects and 6–12 hours non-billable in internal activities. The template should support a simple review: a quick total of billable hours per week and a separate total for non-billable work, plus optional category breakdowns. A clear flag and category system makes it easy to assess whether your time aligns with your firm’s goals and client expectations.

To summarize daily and weekly totals

Include columns or rows that total hours per day and per week, and optionally per project, so you can verify inputs at a glance. Daily totals help you catch unusual spikes, while weekly totals show overall performance and capacity. Optional per-project totals give project managers a quick read on how time is distributed across a portfolio.

Use built-in tools to automate these summaries. In 2025, common approaches include Google Sheets or Excel with SUMIF or SUM across dates, plus PivotTables or QUERY functions to group by project and phase. A weekly summary should clearly show total hours, billable hours, and non-billable hours, with a quick comparison to planned allocations or capacity. This gives managers and teams a straightforward way to monitor progress, confirm alignment with budgets, and adjust workloads before week’s end.

How to customize the template for your architecture practice

Walk through tailoring the architect timesheet template to reflect the firm’s typical projects, phases, and roles. Focus on configuring the template once so it becomes a reusable framework that supports consistent, accurate time tracking over the long term.

To align phases and codes with your workflow

Start by mapping your firm’s workflow to the phase labels and codes used in the Architect Timesheet Template.

Customize phase labels to match your standard terms (for example SD, DD, CD, CA, feasibility, post-occupancy). Set these as predefined options in Excel or Google Sheets so architects don’t create new abbreviations each project. Consistent naming keeps reports clean and comparable across every job.

Think of it as a glossary you update once a year. Create a simple reference table that lists each phase, its common abbreviations, and when it begins in a project. This keeps the data aligned, reduces errors, and makes year-end reports easier to run. In 2025, many firms also link phase codes to cost centers for better job costing, so the template feeds both scheduling and finance smoothly.

To define standard task categories

Define a standard set of task categories that recur across architecture work.

Create a short list that includes concept design, modeling, drafting, coordination, client meetings, site visits, documentation, and admin. Build these categories into the template as predefined options so entries are quick and consistent. If you use drop-downs, avoid typos and keep data clean for future reporting and analysis.

Having built-in categories speeds daily entries and supports deeper analysis later, such as comparing time spent on coordination versus pure design. In 2025, firms often pair category data with phase codes to produce clear project dashboards and better resource planning, making it easier to spot bottlenecks and rebalance workloads.

To reflect different roles and rates

Make room in the template for different roles and their rates that recur on projects.

Include fields for role or cost multiplier so the same timesheet can cover principals, project architects, designers, and interns. For example, you might set hourly rates of Principal around $210–$250, Project Architect $140–$180, Designer $90–$120, and Intern $40–$60 in the U.S. market in 2025. Keeping these as part of the template means you don’t rebuild the sheet for every team member.

With role and rate fields, the template can feed both internal cost tracking and external billing. Use formulas to compute cost as hours worked times the rate, and aggregate by project or client. Some firms also store rates in a separate lookup table and pull them with a VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP, so updates only happen in one place and roll through automatically.

To support weekly, biweekly, or monthly views

Set up the template to match how your firm reviews time.

Configure layouts for a weekly grid, a two-week pay period, or a monthly overview while keeping the time-entry fields consistent. You can group entries by week or by month, but the underlying data stays the same, which simplifies data export and reporting. In practice, this means you can toggle between views without changing how hours are entered, aiding accuracy and speed.

This alignment helps with payroll, invoicing cycles, and project check-ins. In 2025, many small architecture firms run weekly or biweekly payrolls and prefer monthly project reviews for longer engagements. By supporting multiple views, the Architect Timesheet Template remains a flexible, reusable framework that scales with your firm's cadence and financial workflows.

Common architect time tracking mistakes to avoid

Tracking time accurately is tough for architects who juggle design, client meetings, site visits, and rounds of revisions. Many fall into common traps that freeze hours, distort billing, or hide project progress. The fix is a well-structured template that makes logging quick, precise, and visible to the whole team. An Architect Timesheet Template gives you clear fields for date, project, phase, task, and whether time is billable, plus prompts that steer you toward meaningful descriptions. By building the habit of daily entries and using a consistent template, you gain reliable invoices, better project insight, and less dispute with clients.

To stop reconstructing time at the end of the week

Waiting to log time until the end of the week invites guesswork and underreported hours.

When a task spans multiple days, memory fades, and you may misremember exact durations or misallocate them to the wrong phase. This leads to invoices that don’t reflect real work and makes it hard to see how much design time versus coordination time a project actually used. A simple, accessible Architect Timesheet Template lowers the friction to log right after a task or meeting. Keep it on your phone or desktop, with rows for date, project, phase, and task, plus a small timer or quick-entry button so you can log at the moment you finish. Start the timer when you begin and stop it when you’re done to keep a precise trail.

Encourage a daily logging habit by pairing the template with a 5–10 minute wrap-up each day. If you finish a site visit or a design call, log it immediately rather than waiting for Friday. Integrate a timer option from Clockify, Toggl, or Harvest so you can push data back into the Architect Timesheet Template with minimal clicks. The goal is to reduce friction so you capture hours accurately rather than reconstructing them later, which improves both billing accuracy and project insight.

To avoid vague or incomplete entries

Avoiding vague entries starts with clear prompts in your template.

Generic descriptions like "design work" or "meeting" blur what happened and make it hard to justify fees or understand outcomes. For example, a poor entry might read “Client meeting.” A strong entry should specify what was discussed and decided: "Client meeting to finalize window schedule; 45 minutes; outcomes: selected aluminum storefront; next steps: update elevations and CAD." The difference is clarity about deliverables, decisions, and next tasks. A good template allocates enough space for meaningful descriptions so you can defend value and keep clients informed.

To fix this, use the Architect Timesheet Template’s description field and prompts to capture context. Describe the task, the deliverables produced, decisions made, and any follow-up items. For instance: "Schematic design for Project Zenith: reviewed envelope options with client; revised floor plan; minutes recorded; next: update CAD drawings by noon tomorrow." This level of detail helps with accurate billing, better project tracking, and smoother client communications.

To prevent mixing projects and phases in one entry

Separating projects and phases avoids muddy time totals.

Lumping time for several projects or phases into a single row obscures where effort went and makes reporting unreliable. For example, logging two hours as "Project A + Project B – Design" hides which project consumed more design time and which phase was active for each. This ambiguity complicates client invoices and internal reviews. The right approach is to create separate lines for each project–phase combination, even if they occurred back-to-back on the same day. The Architect Timesheet Template should support distinct rows with independent date, project, and phase fields so totals stay accurate and reports reflect true work distribution.

By maintaining separate entries, you can run precise project-by-project and phase-by-phase summaries, improving forecasting and budget alignment. Use dropdowns for Project and Phase to minimize errors, and ensure your reporting exports clearly align hours with the correct project and phase. This discipline prevents cross-project misbilling and keeps the data trustworthy for stakeholders.

To recognize hidden non-billable time

Many architects underestimate time spent on emails, coordination, and internal reviews.

Non-billable time often sits in the background, yet it affects profitability if not tracked. A typical week includes time spent on email threads, coordination calls with consultants, and internal design reviews that may not be billed to clients. The template should include billable/non-billable fields and task categories to surface this time so firms can adjust processes, scopes, or fees accordingly. For example, you might discover that 20% of weekly hours are non-billable coordination rather than client-facing design work, which informs pricing or process changes. Tracking this data helps you protect margins without compromising service quality.

Use the template’s Billable/Non-Billable toggle and Task Category options to capture these details. Periodically review the data to identify patterns, such as recurring long email threads or frequent internal reviews that aren’t tied to a client deliverable. With this visibility, you can adjust scopes, negotiate changes with clients, or optimize your workflow. Applying these insights in 2025 is easier than ever with a structured Architect Timesheet Template that keeps non-billable time visible, actionable, and ready for discussion.

How Bonsai helps manage architect timesheet templates

Bonsai lets you bring the familiar architect timesheet structure into a single, scalable workflow. Architects can mirror the core elements of their template—projects, phases, task categories, roles, and fields like billable vs non-billable—inside Bonsai, then lock in a consistent process across the firm. With centralized time tracking, improved project visibility, and automatic calculations, you move beyond static spreadsheets to real-time insights and faster billing. As of 2025, Bonsai adds native time tracking, reusable templates, and integrated approvals to keep work flowing smoothly.

To create reusable architect timesheet templates

Architects can define a template that includes the core structure—projects, phases, task categories, roles, and fields like billable vs non-billable—and save it as a reusable template. Preserve fields for hours, notes, and a clear distinction between billable and non-billable work. Save this setup as your Architect Timesheet Template so anyone on the team can select it when starting a new project. This keeps the exact format, terminology, and codes consistent, down to project phase names like Discovery, Schematic, and Construction Admin.

Once saved, the template automatically applies to new engagements, so you never rebuild a sheet from scratch. Team members log hours in the same fields, making it easy to compare workloads, total hours per project, and phase progress. Project managers gain immediate visibility into who is working on what, while firm owners can spot trends without chasing separate files. This consistency also speeds onboarding for new hires, reducing ramp-up time and confusion across projects.

To track and manage architect timesheets in one place

Centralized time tracking makes it possible to see the full picture across all projects and people. In Bonsai, every architect logs time into the same system, and project managers can view hours by project and phase on real-time dashboards. Individuals can review their own utilization in monthly summaries, and firm owners can quickly understand where time is going without chasing separate files.

The centralized approach also boosts accuracy and accountability. With consistent fields and built-in validations, data-entry errors drop, and you can export hours to clients or vendors in a single report. Filters let you drill into phases like Discovery, Schematic, and Construction Admin, and you can compare per-employee or per-project views to spot bottlenecks or overages.

To automate calculations, approvals, and invoicing from timesheets

These automations save time and reduce errors by turning time data into ready-to-use outputs. Here are the main automation benefits in brief:

• Auto-calculates daily, weekly, and project totals from every time entry, including subtotals per milestone.
• Applies predefined hourly rates by role or project, so invoices reflect accurate amounts automatically.
• Routes timesheets for internal approval when needed, with automated reminders and approval tracking.
• Converts approved time entries into draft invoices for client billing, reducing manual data entry and errors and speeding up cash flow.

With these automations in place, your architecture team can focus more on design and client work, while time data remains accurate and up-to-date for billing and reporting.