A timesheet period, a pay cycle and an invoice period are not necessarily the same thing. An agency can collect weekly work records, pay on a fortnightly cycle and invoice a client monthly. Start by separating those decisions rather than assuming one period must control everything.
This is a practical workflow comparison, not legal advice about pay frequency or employment obligations. Check the applicable contracts, awards or agreements and seek professional advice where needed.
Weekly timesheets: shorter review loops
A weekly record asks the contractor and approver to review a smaller window of work. It can be easier to remember which client or task a block of time belonged to and correct mistakes while the week is still fresh. It also gives the agency earlier visibility into missing submissions.
The trade-off is more frequent submission and review. A team that chooses weekly records needs a dependable approver and a clear plan for absence or leave. Otherwise a shorter cycle can simply create a larger queue of unattended weeks.
Fortnightly timesheets: fewer submissions, more to check
A fortnightly record combines two weeks into one review. That may suit an organisation whose existing process already revolves around a two-week cycle. There are fewer submission events, but each review covers more dates and a wider set of tasks.
Longer gaps can make corrections harder to explain. If a client queries time from the first week near the end of the second, the contractor may need to reconstruct the detail. Good daily records help regardless of when the formal submission happens.
Compare the decisions separately
| Decision | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Work record period | How often can the contractor and approver accurately check dates, tasks and exceptions? |
| Pay cycle | What do the applicable agreements and payroll process require? |
| Client billing period | Does the client expect weekly, fortnightly or monthly invoices, and what approval evidence do they need? |
| Correction process | Who returns a record for correction, and when must it be resubmitted? |
Do not choose a timesheet cycle solely because payroll runs on that cycle. Your payroll provider can advise how approved work records feed into its process. A time-recording tool is not automatically a payroll system.
How TymTrack fits
TymTrack uses weekly timesheets. It does not offer a native fortnightly submission period or process payroll. If you need to review two weeks together for your own administration, retain the separate weekly submissions and use a date range in Reports to examine the combined period.
Client invoices are monthly, based on billable work in the selected month. That means a weekly record can span a month boundary while its work dates fall into different invoice months. Review the dates and allocations rather than treating a whole submitted week as belonging to one month.
A sensible starting routine
For a small agency using TymTrack, agree a weekly submission deadline and review deadline with the actual people involved. Ask contractors to keep entries up to date during the week. Follow up missing submissions and unresolved approvals before your billing cut-off.
If the client prefers a fortnightly summary, clarify whether they need a combined report or a genuinely fortnightly approval process. Those are different requirements. Do not describe two weekly submissions as a native fortnightly feature.
Read our approval setup guide, see TymTrack features, or compare AUD plans. Choose a routine that fits both the product’s actual workflow and your business’s separate pay and billing obligations.