What is How to Post Timesheets in Costpoint?

Definition

How to Post Timesheets in Costpoint involves entering employee labor hours, validating the time against applicable project and accounting rules, obtaining required approvals, and posting the approved timesheet information into the appropriate payroll and labor accounting records. The process connects employee timekeeping with project costing, contract accounting, payroll, and financial reporting.

For organizations using Deltek Costpoint, accurate timesheet posting helps ensure that labor costs are assigned to the correct projects, tasks, organizations, and accounts. A consistent process also creates reliable source data for project managers and finance teams.

Prepare Timesheet Information

Before posting, employees or time administrators should confirm that each time entry contains the appropriate work date, employee information, hours, project or charge code, and labor classification. The entries should reflect the work actually performed and follow the organization's established timekeeping policies.

  • Review employee and pay-period information.
  • Confirm dates and hours entered for each work period.
  • Verify project, task, contract, or charge codes.
  • Check that required comments or supporting information are complete.
  • Confirm that the timesheet is ready for the applicable approval workflow.

Accurate preparation is important because timesheet information can flow into labor distribution, payroll calculations, project costing, and general ledger reporting after posting.

Validate and Approve Timesheets

After entry, timesheets generally pass through validation and approval. Reviewers should check that the recorded hours are reasonable, the charging destinations are authorized, and the entries comply with applicable labor and project rules.

Costpoint environments may use approval controls to ensure that submitted time is reviewed before it becomes part of finalized labor accounting. Any required correction should be made before posting so that the resulting labor records accurately reflect the approved work.

Timesheet validation should also consider the relationship between labor transactions and the chart of accounts. Correct coding helps ensure that posted labor and related financial transactions reach the appropriate accounting classifications.

Post Timesheets in Costpoint

Once timesheets have passed the required validation and approval steps, the authorized posting process transfers the approved time information into the applicable Costpoint labor and payroll records. The exact screens, permissions, and sequence can vary according to the organization's Costpoint configuration and role assignments.

A typical posting workflow includes confirming the applicable processing period, reviewing approved time, running required validations, initiating the posting process, and reviewing the resulting labor transactions. Finance teams should verify that posted hours appear against the intended projects and accounting dimensions.

After posting, downstream financial processes can use the labor information for project costing, payroll, billing, indirect cost allocation, and reporting. This makes accurate posting an important control point between timekeeping and financial accounting.

Costpoint Integration With Finance Workflows

Costpoint is an ERP platform, and timesheet posting can connect with broader finance workflows surrounding the ERP. Organizations evaluating deltek and related ERP environments may examine how integrations, migration strategies, and finance processes fit within their existing architecture.

Timesheet data is also distinct from accounts payable transactions. For example, invoice processing involves invoice capture, extraction, validation, matching, GL coding, approval, and posting, while timesheet posting primarily handles employee labor information. Keeping these workflows properly connected allows finance teams to maintain consistent accounting data across operational processes.

AI and Costpoint Finance Automation

Modern finance architectures can extend an ERP with specialized technology while retaining established accounting workflows. ai agents can support finance AI architecture by extending Costpoint-related processes across areas such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, reconciliation, invoice processing, and other finance workflows.

For timesheet-related processes, technology can support data validation, workflow routing, exception identification, and downstream reconciliation while preserving the organization's approval and accounting controls. The objective is to make approved labor information available accurately and efficiently for subsequent financial processes.

After-Posting Review and Adjustments

Posting does not necessarily end the accounting review. Finance teams may reconcile posted labor against payroll records, project reports, and general ledger activity to confirm that the expected transactions were recorded correctly.

The glossary concept of Post Closing Approval describes approval activities associated with financial information after a closing process, while Post Closing Adjustments describes changes made after closing when accounting records require correction. These concepts are broader than routine timesheet posting but help distinguish ordinary posting controls from subsequent financial adjustments.

A Post Close Review provides another related finance concept, focusing on reviewing financial information after close activities to identify items requiring attention. For timesheets, comparable review procedures can help verify that posted labor remains consistent with payroll and project accounting records.

Best Practices for Timesheet Posting

Organizations can improve the reliability of Costpoint timesheet posting by standardizing responsibilities and review procedures. Employees should understand charging requirements, reviewers should know which exceptions require investigation, and finance teams should maintain clear reconciliation procedures.

  • Keep employee, project, task, and charge-code information current.
  • Submit and approve timesheets within established processing deadlines.
  • Validate labor charges before posting to downstream accounting records.
  • Reconcile posted labor with payroll and project-cost reports.
  • Document corrections and retain appropriate approval evidence.
  • Review unusual labor entries before financial reporting or period close.

Summary

How to Post Timesheets in Costpoint involves preparing accurate time entries, validating labor and accounting information, obtaining required approvals, posting approved transactions, and reviewing the resulting financial records. When these steps are consistently controlled, organizations can maintain reliable labor costs, strengthen project accounting, and support accurate payroll and financial reporting.