Hours are logged late or not at all
When entering time is slow, people batch it at the end of the week and round generously, or forget small tasks altogether.
Odoo ERP · Timesheets
Odoo timesheets implementation that turns hours into invoices and margins
We configure time tracking so logging hours takes seconds, managers validate before billing, and every hour carries both a sales price and a cost.
What is Odoo Timesheets?
Odoo timesheets implementation is the setup of time tracking in Odoo so employees record hours against projects, tasks or helpdesk tickets, managers validate them, and validated hours drive customer invoices and project cost. It includes employee cost rates, billable and non-billable rules, sales order invoicing policies and the views your team will use to enter time each day.
Time that is not recorded cannot be billed, and time recorded on Friday afternoon from memory is rarely accurate. Firms that bill by the hour often lose revenue between the timesheet and the invoice: hours are logged in one tool, approved by email and re-typed into billing. Odoo keeps time entries, sales orders and invoices in one database, so the fix is mostly about making entry easy and setting the billing rules correctly.
Where billable hours get lost
Billable time leaks
Calls, revisions and support work done for clients are logged as internal time or not logged, so they never reach an invoice.
Invoices go out before approval
Without a validation step, mistakes on timesheets end up on customer invoices and lead to credit notes and disputes.
Labor cost is invisible
Hours are counted but not costed, so a project that looks busy can still be losing money on senior staff time.
Our Odoo Timesheets service
Time entry designed for speed
Timer, grid and mobile entry configured on Enterprise, or task-level logging on Community, with defaults so employees pick a task and type hours without extra fields.
Billing rules on service products
Service products set to invoice based on timesheets, on milestones or at a fixed price, with sales order lines mapped to projects so hours land on the right line.
Validation workflow
Manager validation of timesheets before invoicing on Enterprise, with rules on who validates whom and what happens to entries after validation.
Employee cost and rates
Hourly costs on employee records for project cost reporting, plus different billing rates per employee or role through sales order line mapping where your contracts need it.
Timesheets beyond projects
Time logging on helpdesk tickets and field service tasks so support and on-site work are billed or costed the same way as project work.
Reporting and reminders
Billable ratio, hours per project and employee reports, and on Enterprise automatic reminders for employees and managers who have not logged or validated time.
Included capabilities
- Start-stop timer on tasks and tickets
- Weekly grid entry on Enterprise
- Mobile time logging
- Billable and non-billable classification
- Invoice based on timesheets policy
- Manager validation before invoicing
- Employee hourly cost for margins
- Per-employee billing rates on projects
- Prepaid hour packages and remaining balance
- Reminders for missing timesheets
What Odoo Timesheets changes for your business
More of the work gets billed
Logging on tasks and tickets at the time of work captures hours that end-of-week recall misses.
Cleaner invoices
Validation catches errors before customers see them, reducing credit notes and payment delays.
True project margin
Each hour carries a cost, so profitability reflects who did the work, not just how long it took.
Better future quotes
Actual hours by task type give sales a factual basis for estimating the next similar job.
Where it makes the biggest difference
Law, accounting and advisory firms
Fee earners log time per matter, partners validate weekly, and invoices are generated from validated hours at each person's rate.
IT support with prepaid hours
Clients buy blocks of support hours; time logged on tickets reduces the remaining balance, which is visible on the sales order.
Fixed-price projects with cost control
Hours are tracked but not billed, so managers compare actual effort and labor cost against what the fixed price assumed.
Internal time allocation
Shared staff split time across departments or grants, giving finance a basis for cost allocation without manual spreadsheets.
From billing model to first validated invoice
We configure timesheets around how you charge, then prove it with a real billing cycle.
Understand how you bill
Hourly, prepaid blocks, capped retainers or fixed price with internal time tracking: each needs different product and project settings.
Set rates and costs
Employee hourly costs, billing rates per role or person, and the analytic accounts that hours will post against.
Configure entry and validation
Entry views, timer settings, validation rights and reminder schedules matched to your team's working pattern.
Test the billing cycle
Log hours on staging, validate them, invoice them and check the result against what your current process would have billed.
Train and launch
Short sessions on daily entry for staff, validation for managers and invoicing for finance, then a first live billing period with us on hand.
What it connects to
Odoo Timesheets
- Odoo Project
- Odoo Sales
- Odoo Accounting
- Odoo Helpdesk
- Odoo Field Service
- Odoo Planning
- Odoo Time Off
Built with
Time tracking in Odoo Community and Enterprise
| Criterion | Community | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Log hours on tasks | Yes | Yes |
| Invoice based on timesheets | Yes | Yes |
| Timer and weekly grid entry | Limited | Yes |
| Manager validation | No standard step | Yes |
| Automatic reminders | No | Yes |
| Timesheets on helpdesk and field service | Not applicable (apps are Enterprise) | Yes |
Security, quality and scale
Own-time access
Employees see and edit their own entries; managers see their team; administrators see all.
Validated entries are protected
After validation, regular users cannot change hours that have been approved for billing.
Invoiced time is locked
Hours already on a posted invoice cannot be edited without reversing the billing first.
Cost data restricted
Employee hourly costs and margin figures can be limited to managers and finance.
What working with us looks like
We test against your last invoice
Before go-live we re-create a recent billing period in Odoo to confirm the result matches what you would have charged.
Edition advice without upselling
We explain what Community time logging covers and which Enterprise timesheet features your team would actually use.
Connected to Project and Planning
Hours, tasks and schedules share the same projects and roles, so planned versus actual comparisons work.
Custom rules where contracts are unusual
Overtime rates, rounding rules or client-specific caps can be built as small, maintainable modules.
What it costs
Fixed-price packages with the scope written down, paid stage by stage. Your project goes live once it's fully paid.
Related services, technologies and industries
Sources and further reading
Official documentation and guidance if you want to read more about this topic.
Odoo Timesheets: questions we hear most
Does Odoo Community include timesheets?
Yes, Community lets employees log hours on project tasks and invoice them through sales orders. The dedicated Timesheets app with timer, grid view, validation and reminders is part of Enterprise.
Can we bill different rates for different employees on the same project?
Yes. Odoo can map employees to specific sales order lines on a project, so a senior consultant's hours are invoiced at one service price and a junior's at another.
How do we stop unapproved hours from being invoiced?
On Enterprise, you can require timesheet validation so only validated hours are invoiced. On Community, the same control is usually handled by process and, if needed, a small custom rule.
Can Odoo track prepaid support hours?
Yes. A prepaid service product sold on a sales order gives the customer a balance of hours; time logged on the linked project or tickets reduces it, and the remaining hours are visible to your team.
Can timesheets feed payroll or overtime?
Timesheets are mainly for billing and project cost, while payroll uses attendance and working schedules. Where you want logged hours to drive overtime pay, we can design a link between the two, but it needs careful rules to avoid paying the same hours twice.
Next step
Let's check your hours reach your invoices
Send us your billing model and a sample invoice. We'll show you how the same period would be tracked and billed in Odoo.