PA timesheets: fields, approval steps and a worked example
A complete timesheet structure for Direct Payment employers, including breaks, sleep-ins, expenses, corrections and payroll sign-off.
For Direct Payment employers and personal assistants
In brief
- There is no compulsory government timesheet template, but the record must be able to support pay and working-time evidence.
- Record actual start, finish and unpaid-break times; do not copy the planned rota into the final record.
- Keep basic hours separate from premiums, sleep-in payments, mileage and reimbursed expenses.
What the timesheet must achieve
A useful timesheet allows the employer to approve what actually happened and gives payroll unambiguous source information. It can also support minimum-wage, working-time and council-review evidence. HMRC does not prescribe a PA timesheet layout, so the test is whether the record is complete, consistent and traceable.
Use these fields
| Field | Why it is needed |
|---|---|
| Employer, PA and payroll reference | Prevents records being attached to the wrong employment or payroll account. |
| Pay-period start and end | Connects the timesheet to the payroll report and council evidence. |
| Date worked | Creates the day-level record needed to verify hours. |
| Actual start and finish | Shows what happened rather than what the rota planned. |
| Unpaid break duration | Allows net working hours to be checked. |
| Basic working hours | Keeps the core pay input distinct from enhancements. |
| Sleep-in or overnight category | Makes clear which hours were active work and which were a separate sleep-in arrangement. |
| Premium or overtime category | Separates weekend, bank-holiday or overtime enhancements from basic pay. |
| Mileage or expense reference | Links the amount to a separately approved claim and receipt where required. |
| PA submission date and employer decision | Shows when the record became final and who approved it. |
| Correction reason and date | Preserves the history if an approved entry later changes. |
Worked shift example
Suppose the PA arrives at 09:05, leaves at 17:10 and takes a 30-minute unpaid break. The timesheet records those actual times and the resulting net hours under the employer's agreed rounding policy. It does not simply say '8 hours' because the rota was 09:00 to 17:00.
If the PA also drove 12 authorised business miles, record the mileage as a separate claim. Do not add mileage reimbursement to hourly pay or treat it as extra working time without checking the real journey and payroll rules.
Why separate categories matter
For National Minimum Wage checks, not every payment counts in the same way. Expense reimbursements and premium elements should not be allowed to disguise an hourly-rate shortfall. Payroll should perform the calculation using clearly separated inputs.
Set an approval timetable
Work backwards from the payroll provider's cut-off. For a provider cut-off on Monday at noon, a workable internal process might require PA submission by Thursday, employer queries by Friday and final approval by Sunday. The exact dates are operational choices, but everyone should know them.
- —Draft: the PA can still correct the entries.
- —Submitted: the period is complete and waiting for employer review.
- —Returned: the employer identifies the exact entry that needs clarification.
- —Approved: the employer confirms the source record for payroll.
- —Sent to payroll: the approved version and submission time are frozen.
- —Corrected after payroll: the change is logged and referred to payroll rather than silently replacing the original.
How to review a submission
- —Check every date falls within the pay period and is not duplicated.
- —Compare actual hours with the working arrangement and ask about unexplained differences.
- —Check breaks are plausible and recorded consistently.
- —Identify holiday, sickness and unworked shifts separately from hours worked.
- —Check sleep-ins, overtime and premiums use the payroll provider's agreed categories.
- —Confirm expense references have the required receipt and prior authorisation.
- —Review total hours for working-time or budget concerns before approval.
Correct an approved timesheet properly
If payroll has not received the record, return it with the reason, let the PA amend the entry and approve the new version. If payroll has received it, keep the submitted version and create a correction showing the original value, corrected value, reason, date and authoriser.
Tell the payroll provider which pay period and employee are affected. The provider decides how to correct the payroll submission. Do not produce an informal cash adjustment or send a second file with the same name.
Avoid collecting care notes in a timesheet
A working-time record normally needs to show when work occurred, not intimate details of the employer's health, behaviour or daily activities. If a separate incident or support record is genuinely required, use the appropriate restricted record rather than a free-text timesheet box that will be shared with payroll and reviewers.
Sources and further guidance
These links are provided so readers can check the underlying official guidance. Local Direct Payment agreements and individual employment circumstances still need to be considered.