Why hours logging beats timesheets

Time trackers fail in a predictable way: people forget to fill them in, and every Friday someone reconstructs their week from memory. Asking for hours where people already work removes most of that friction.

This page explains the approach asyncmate takes and who it fits. If you are still comparing methods and tools, start with the comparison of timers, spreadsheets and daily logs; the Slack time tracking page has the feature tour.

1The forgotten timesheet problem

A dedicated time tracker is another tab, another login, another habit to build. Adoption decays no matter how good the tool is, and the gaps get backfilled from memory at month end, which is exactly when accuracy matters for invoicing. A Slack prompt at the end of the day meets people where they already are: reply in seconds, done.

2How hours logging works in asyncmate

• The prompt. Each person gets a DM on your schedule, at the end of their own day in their own timezone. Logging takes one interaction: hours against the projects they are assigned to. Days off are skipped. Anyone can also ask for the card with /asyncmate hours, or backfill a missed day with /asyncmate hours yesterday.
• Projects. Assign people to projects in the dashboard. Hours land against the right project without anyone picking from a 40-item dropdown.
• Review. Leads get a review grid and a calendar, per person and per project: totals, monthly targets and overtime at a glance.
• Export. CSV export for invoicing or payroll. The free plan covers the last 90 days; Pro has full history.

3Who this fits

Agencies and consultancies billing by project. Teams with utilization targets. Contractors who invoice monthly. It replaces the "how many hours went into project X" spreadsheet, not enterprise workforce management.

4What it deliberately is not

No timers, no screenshots, no idle detection, no activity scores. People report their own hours; the tool makes reporting take seconds and the review take minutes. If you need surveillance-grade tracking, this is the wrong tool, on purpose. And if you were after a countdown or Pomodoro clock rather than hours, that is a different category: see the Slack timer guide.

5What it costs

Hours logging is included on every plan. People who log hours count as active participants, the same count as check-ins: free for up to 10 active people, then $2.50 a month per active person. A workspace that only uses reminders or polls pays nothing. See pricing for the full rules.

Next: the Log hours guide covers setup, project assignment and the review views step by step.