This glossary will help you understand the key metrics and terminology used in ActivTrak for BI - Timesheet Reconciliation. Use this reference to interpret dashboard data and effectively communicate findings to your finance and HR teams.
Definition
The percentage of employees who exhibit a specific characteristic (such as over-reported hours, recurring timesheet issues, or specific discrepancy rates) relative to the total employee population. This metric provides context about how widespread timesheet issues are across the workforce.
Calculation
(Number of employees with characteristic / Total number of employees) × 100%
Example
A retail company analyzes its hourly workforce of 200 employees and finds:
- 24 employees with over-reported hours in December 2025
- % of Total Users with over-reported hours: (24 / 200) × 100% = 12%
This percentage helps executives understand the scope of timesheet issues and set realistic goals for improvement. For example, reducing the percentage of employees with over-reported hours from 12% to 6% within six months would represent a significant achievement.
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
A metric showing the percentage of employees with timesheet discrepancies over multiple months. This trending view helps identify whether timesheet accuracy is improving or worsening across the employee population over time.
Calculation
(Number of employees with over-reported hours / Total active employees) × 100%
Example
A manufacturing firm tracks this metric over six months to assess the impact of new timesheet training procedures:
- July 2025: 86%
- August 2025: 85%
- September 2025: 83%
- October 2025: 80%
- November 2025: 74%
- December 2025: 70%
This trend shows meaningful improvement, with the percentage of employees with over-reported hours dropping from 86% to 70% over six months - a reduction of 16%. This demonstrates that the timesheet training procedures are effectively changing employee behavior across the population.
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The number of continuous months during which an employee has consistently exhibited over-reported hours (reporting more hours than productively worked). This metric identifies whether timesheet discrepancies are isolated incidents or represent persistent patterns.
Calculation
Consecutive months are grouped into the following bands:
- Less than 2 months
- 2 to 4 months
- 4 to 8 months
- Greater than 8 months
Example
Consider three employees working for a distribution center, each with different timesheet patterns:
Maria: Had over-reported hours in January
and February 2025, then corrected her timesheet practices.
Consecutive Months = 2 months (falls into "2
- 4
Months" category)
David: Has shown over-reported hours
every
month from March through August 2025.
Consecutive Months =
6 months (falls into "4 - 8 Months" category)
Jennifer: Has exhibited over-reported hours
consistently for the past 10 months.
Consecutive Months =
10 months
(falls into "> 8 Months" category)
This metric helps HR and finance teams prioritize their responses. Maria may need just a reminder about accurate time tracking, David requires a formal review conversation, and Jennifer represents a serious issue that may warrant performance management or additional training.
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The difference between the hours an employee reported on their timesheet and the productive hours they actually worked during a specified period. This metric quantifies timesheet discrepancies and represents hours the organization paid for but did not receive in productive work.
Calculation
Timesheet Hrs - Productive Hrs
Example
Consider a warehouse supervisor named Patricia working on inventory management:
- Timesheet Hours for the month: 160 hours
- Productive Hours tracked by ActivTrak: 138 hours
Calculation:
- Over-Reported Hrs = 160 - 138 = 22 hours
At Patricia's hourly rate of $28, these 22 over-reported hours represent $616 in potential excess payroll costs for the month, or $7,392 annualized if the pattern continues.
This discrepancy could stem from several factors: Patricia may be including non-productive time (lunch breaks, personal activities) in her timesheet hours, rounding up her daily hours, or genuinely working offline in ways ActivTrak cannot track. The HR team can use this data to have an evidence-based conversation with Patricia about timesheet practices and expectations.
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The financial value of timesheet discrepancies, calculated by multiplying over-reported hours by the employee's hourly rate. This metric translates time-based discrepancies into concrete financial impact, enabling cost-based decision making and ROI analysis of timesheet reconciliation efforts.
Calculation
Over-Reported Hrs × Hourly Rate
Example
A call center team employs three customer service representatives with different timesheet patterns:
Emma:
- Over-Reported Hrs: 15 hours
- Hourly Rate: $18
- Over-Reported Hrs Cost: 15 × $18 = $270
Daniel:
- Over-Reported Hrs: 10 hours
- Hourly Rate: $22
- Over-Reported Hrs Cost: 10 × $22 = $220
Sophie:
- Over-Reported Hrs: 25 hours
- Hourly Rate: $16
- Over-Reported Hrs Cost: 25 × $16 = $400
Team Total Monthly Over-Reported Cost: $270 + $220 + $400 = $890
Annualized Over-Reported Cost: $890 × 12 = $10,680
This financial translation helps executives understand the business impact of timesheet discrepancies. While Sophie has the most over-reported hours (25), their lower rate means the financial impact ($400) is still significant. This demonstrates why financial impact, not just hours, should drive prioritization decisions.
The annualized figure of $10,680 for just three employees helps build the business case for systematic timesheet reconciliation and provides a clear ROI metric for improvement efforts.
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
A percentage that represents how much more an employee reported compared to their productive hours worked. This metric provides a normalized way to assess timesheet discrepancy severity across employees with different work volumes and rates.
Calculation
(Over-Reported Hrs / Productive Hrs) × 100%
Over-Reported Hrs = Timesheet Hrs - Productive Hrs
Timesheet discrepancy rates are categorized into severity levels:
- Greater than 10%
- Greater than 25%
- Greater than 40%
- Greater than 60%
- Greater than 75%
- Greater than 100%
Example
Consider three employees with different timesheet patterns:
Robert:
- Productive Hrs: 145 hours
- Timesheet Hrs: 160 hours
- Over-Reported Hrs: 15 hours
- Over-Reporting Rate: (15 / 145) × 100% = 10.3%
Robert falls into the "> 10%" severity band. This moderate discrepancy suggests the need for clarification about timesheet expectations but doesn't represent a severe issue.
Lisa:
- Productive Hrs: 95 hours
- Timesheet Hrs: 160 hours
- Over-Reported Hrs: 65 hours
- Over-Reporting Rate: (65 / 95) × 100% = 68.4%
Lisa falls into the "> 60%" severity band. This severe discrepancy represents a serious timesheet issue requiring immediate investigation and likely performance management.
Michael:
- Productive Hrs: 72 hours
- Timesheet Hrs: 160 hours
- Over-Reported Hrs: 88 hours
- Over-Reporting Rate: (88 / 72) × 100% = 122.2%
Michael falls into the "> 100%" category, meaning he reported more than double his productive hours. This critical issue likely warrants immediate action and documentation.
The timesheet discrepancy rate enables fair comparison across employees with different work volumes. An employee working 80 productive hours with 20 over-reported hours (25% rate) represents a more severe issue than one working 145 productive hours with 20 over-reported hours (14% rate), even though both have the same absolute over-reported hours.
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The total hours during which an employee was actively engaged in productive work activities as measured by ActivTrak. This represents actual computer-based work time and excludes breaks, personal time, and periods of inactivity. Productive hours serve as the baseline for validating timesheet accuracy.
Example
A customer service representative named Alex works throughout the month of August 2025:
- 148 productive hours tracked by ActivTrak
- Alex submitted a timesheet reporting 160 hours, representing a standard full-time schedule.
Important Considerations:
- Productive hours reflect computer-based work and may not capture all legitimate work activities
- Organizations should establish clear policies about acceptable variance levels
- Employees should understand what activities are tracked and how timesheet accuracy will be assessed
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
An organizational unit in ActivTrak used to organize employees based on shared characteristics such as department, functional area, location, shift, or project assignment. Teams enable comparative analysis of timesheet patterns across different segments of the workforce.
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The total number of hours that an employee or team of employees reported on their timesheets during a specified time period. This represents the hours the organization is paying for, regardless of actual productive work performed.
Calculation
Sum of all hours appearing on employee timesheets for the selected time period
Example
A warehouse employee named Carlos submits his monthly timesheet:
- March 2025: 160 hours reported
At his hourly rate of $22, the total payroll cost would be $3,520. However, this metric alone doesn't tell the full story - the organization needs to compare these timesheet hours against Carlos's actual productive hours to verify timesheet accuracy.
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The total number of employees in a specified group, team, or category during the selected time period. This metric provides the denominator for calculating percentages and helps contextualize the scope of timesheet issues within employee populations.
Calculation
Count of unique employees who were active (had at least some tracked activity) during the selected time period within the specified filter criteria
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)
Definition
The number of employees who reported more hours than they productively worked during a specified time period. This metric quantifies how many individual employees exhibit timesheet discrepancies, providing insight into whether issues are isolated to a few individuals or widespread across the employee population.
Calculation
Count of employees where Timesheet Hrs are greater than Productive Hrs during the selected time period
Example
A healthcare organization examines timesheet reporting for August 2025 across its various departments:
Nursing Team:
- Total Employees (Users): 35
- Users w/ Over-Reported Hrs: 11
- % of Total Users: 31%
Administrative Team:
- Total Employees (Users): 18
- Users w/ Over-Reported Hrs: 14
- % of Total Users: 78%
Facilities Team:
- Total Employees (Users): 22
- Users w/ Over-Reported Hrs: 4
- % of Total Users: 18%
Organization-Wide Total:
- Total Employees (Users): 75
- Users w/ Over-Reported Hrs: 29
- % of Total Users: 39%
This analysis reveals important patterns. While Nursing has the highest number of employees with Over-Reported hours (11), Administrative has the highest percentage (78%), suggesting a department-wide issue rather than isolated individual problems. Facilities shows the best timesheet accuracy with only 18% of employees affected.
These insights enable targeted interventions. Administrative may need department-level policy clarification or enhanced training, while Facilities' approach could serve as a model for other teams. The overall statistic that 39% of employees have timesheet discrepancies indicates a significant organizational issue requiring systematic attention rather than individual employee management.
Plan availability
All plans with ActivConnect API (Add-on)