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Film Production Timesheets

LiteWork’s built-in timesheet feature is designed for film and video production crews. Track daily call times, wrap times, and calculate rates automatically, then convert your timesheet directly into invoice line items.

Perfect for: Directors of Photography, Gaffers, Grips, Camera Operators, Sound Technicians, and other production professionals who bill based on day rates or hourly rates with overtime.

LiteWork offers two timesheet modes:

  • Standard: Basic T1/T1.5/T2 calculations with day rates, overtime, and equipment tracking. Suitable for most production work.
  • Advanced (Blue Book): Full NZ film industry compliance with 6th/7th day surcharges, public holiday loading, turnaround penalties, meal penalties, and travel time. For crew billing to collective agreement specifications.

Enabling the Timesheet Feature

  1. Click Settings (gear icon) in the header
  2. Navigate to “Features” section
  3. Find “Film Production Timesheet”
  4. Select your preferred mode:
    • Off: Timesheet feature disabled
    • Standard: Basic T1/T1.5/T2 calculations
    • Advanced (Blue Book): Full NZ film industry compliance
  5. Click “Save Settings”

Once enabled, a “Timesheet” button appears in your invoices.

💡 Tip: If you don’t work in film/video production, keep this feature set to “Off” to keep your interface clean.

Standard Timesheet

Creating a New Timesheet

  1. Create or open an invoice
  2. Click the “Timesheet” tab (appears next to Line Items)
  3. The timesheet interface opens with rate configuration, day entries, and totals

Setting Your Rates

Day Rate

  • Standard Day Rate: Your base daily rate (e.g., $800)
  • Standard Hours: Hours included in day rate (e.g., 10 hours)
  • Overtime Rate: Multiplier for overtime (e.g., 1.5x = $120/hour)

Hourly Rate

  • Base Hourly Rate: Your standard hourly rate (e.g., $80/hour)
  • Overtime Threshold: When overtime kicks in (e.g., after 8 hours)
  • Overtime Multiplier: Usually 1.5x or 2x

Custom Day Types

  • Prep Day Rate: Lower rate for prep/tech scouts (e.g., $600)
  • Wrap Day Rate: Lower rate for wrap/returns (e.g., $600)
  • Travel Day Rate: Rate for travel days (e.g., $400)

Adding Time Entries

  1. Click “Add Day”
  2. Select the date
  3. Choose day type (Shoot, Prep, Wrap, Travel)
  4. Enter call time (e.g., 7:00 AM) and wrap time (e.g., 7:00 PM)
  5. Total hours are calculated automatically
  6. Click “Save Day”

Each day entry includes:

Field Description
Date Production date
Day Type Shoot, Prep, Wrap, or Travel
Call Time Start time
Wrap Time End time
Meal Penalty Optional penalty fee
Notes Location, scene info

LiteWork automatically calculates total hours, standard hours, overtime hours, overtime pay, and the day total.

Managing Time Entries

  • Edit: Click the pencil icon to modify any fields
  • Duplicate: Copy a day entry with the same settings — change the date as needed
  • Delete: Remove a day entry (totals recalculate automatically)

Days are automatically sorted by date.

Converting Timesheet to Invoice

Once your timesheet is complete:

  1. Review your timesheet for accuracy
  2. Click “Convert to Invoice”
  3. Choose conversion format:
    • Single line item: “Production Services – [Date Range]” with total
    • Daily breakdown: One line item per day
    • Category breakdown: Grouped by Shoot/Prep/Wrap with overtime and penalties separate
  4. Line items appear in the invoice

💡 Tip: Daily breakdown is best for client transparency. Single line item is cleaner for simple shoots.

Equipment, Mileage & Kit Fee

Track additional costs alongside labour:

  • Equipment: Click “Add Equipment”, enter name and daily/weekly rate, select dates used
  • Mileage: Click “Add Mileage”, enter distance and rate per km/mile
  • Kit Fee: Enable “Kit Fee” and enter a flat rate — added as a separate line item

Timesheet Templates

Save your rate configuration as a template for reuse:

  1. Configure rates in timesheet
  2. Click “Save as Template” and name it (e.g., “Standard DOP Rates”)
  3. Next time, click “Load Template” to auto-populate rates

Advanced Timesheet (Blue Book)

The Advanced Film Timesheet is designed for NZ film industry professionals billing to Blue Book standards. It automatically calculates all industry-standard rates, penalties, and surcharges.

Perfect for: Screen Production Guild members, crew working under collective agreements, and anyone billing to Blue Book specifications.

Quick Reference: Rate Tiers
T1: Hours 1-10 (standard rate)
T1.5: Hours 11-12 (time & a half)
T2: Hours 13+ (double time)

Blue Book vs Standard

Feature Standard Advanced (Blue Book)
Rate Tiers (T1, T1.5, T2) Yes Yes
Lunch Deduction Yes Yes
6th/7th Day Surcharge No Yes
Public Holiday Detection No Yes (NZ holidays)
Turnaround Penalty No Yes
Early/Late Penalties No Yes
Meal Penalty No Yes
Travel Time No Yes

The 2-Tab Interface

The Advanced Timesheet modal has two tabs:

Tab 1: Basic Info

  • Hourly Rate: Your T1 base rate (T1.5 and T2 calculated from this)
  • Date: The work date (auto-detects NZ public holidays)
  • Start Time / End Time: Call and wrap times. Accepts flexible formats: 7:00, 0700, 7am, 7:00pm. Overnight shoots auto-detected.
  • Lunch: Toggle to deduct unpaid break, with duration selector (15-90 minutes)

📝 Note: Your hourly rate is remembered for next time.

Tab 2: Blue Book Options

Contains collapsible sections for specialised Blue Book calculations. Click section headers to expand/collapse.

Engagement Context

  • Engagement Type: Short Term (≤12 days), Short Term Commercial (≤14 days), or Long Term (>12 days)
  • Day of Engagement: Track which day this is (Day X of Y) — helps identify 6th/7th consecutive days
  • First Day of Engagement: Enables early start penalty (call before 4:00am)
  • Last Day of Engagement: Enables late finish and midnight crossing penalties

Day Type & Surcharges

6th Consecutive Working Day

When you’ve worked 5 days straight, day 6 receives an additional 50% surcharge (+0.5×) on all rates.

💡 Example: At $60/hour: T1 becomes $90/hour ($60 + $30 surcharge), T1.5 becomes $120/hour, T2 becomes $150/hour.

7th Consecutive Working Day

Day 7 (or more) receives an additional 100% surcharge (+1×). 6th and 7th day surcharges are mutually exclusive — select whichever applies.

Public Holiday

Automatically detected for NZ public holidays. Adds +1× loading to all hours. Stacks with other surcharges.

Supported holidays: New Year’s Day & Day After, Waitangi Day, Good Friday & Easter Monday, ANZAC Day, King’s Birthday, Matariki (2024-2030), Labour Day, Christmas Day & Boxing Day.

📝 Note: Regional anniversary days are NOT auto-detected. Toggle the public holiday switch manually for these.

Standby Day

For days on standby but not called to set. Paid at a reduced rate (typically 50%).

Turnaround Penalty

Under the Blue Book, crew are entitled to a minimum 10-hour rest period between wrap and next call. Enter the previous day’s wrap time to check for a broken turnaround.

💡 Example: Yesterday’s wrap: 11:00 PM. Today’s call: 7:00 AM. Rest: 8 hours (2 hours short). Penalty: 2 hours × your hourly rate.

The turnaround status indicator shows a green checkmark for full turnaround (10+ hours) or a warning for broken turnaround.

Additional Time

Travel Time (Outside Zone)

Travel to locations outside the standard 30km zone is billable in 15-minute increments at your hourly rate. Enter one-way travel time only.

Meal Penalty

Under the Blue Book, lunch must be called within 5 hours of call time. Enter the time lunch was called — if delayed beyond 5 hours, a meal penalty applies for every 15 minutes of delay.

Live Preview

The right panel shows your calculation in real-time with colour-coded line items:

  • Grey: Labour (T1 base rate)
  • Teal: Overtime (T1.5 and T2)
  • Purple: Surcharges (6th/7th day)
  • Indigo: Loadings (public holiday)
  • Red: Penalties (turnaround, meal)
  • Green: Travel time

Adding to Invoice

  1. Review the preview for accuracy
  2. Click “Add to Invoice”
  3. Each component becomes a separate line item with Blue Book terminology
  4. A new section is created with the date as the header

Complete Example

Situation: Camera operator, Day 6 of a commercial shoot. Late wrap yesterday, distant location today.

Basic Info: $65/hr, 6:00 AM – 8:30 PM, 30-min lunch deducted
Blue Book: Short Term Commercial, Day 6 of 7, 6th Day ✓
           Previous wrap: 10:00 PM, Travel: 1h 15m, Lunch at 12:30 PM

Working hours: 14.5 - 0.5 (lunch) = 14 hours

Labour (T1):  10 hrs @ $65.00 = $650.00
Labour (T1.5): 2 hrs @ $97.50 = $195.00
Labour (T2):   2 hrs @ $130.00 = $260.00
6th Day:      14 hrs @ $32.50 = $455.00
Turnaround:    2 hrs @ $65.00 = $130.00
Meal Penalty:  30 min late     = $32.50
Travel:      1.25 hrs @ $65.00 = $81.25

TOTAL: $1,803.75

Exporting Timesheets

  • PDF: Click “Export” → “PDF” for a formatted timesheet to send to clients
  • CSV: Click “Export” → “CSV” to open in spreadsheet software

Syncing Timesheets to Xero

When you post an invoice with a timesheet to Xero:

  • Only the converted line items are sent (the timesheet itself is LiteWork-only)
  • Line item descriptions include timesheet details
  • Total amounts match exactly

💡 Tip: Convert your timesheet to a detailed breakdown before posting to Xero for full transparency.

Troubleshooting

Timesheet Tab Not Appearing

Check LiteWork Settings → Features → ensure “Film Production Timesheet” is enabled. Refresh the page.

Calculations Seem Wrong

  • Verify your rate configuration (day rate or hourly rate)
  • Check that standard hours are set correctly
  • Confirm call/wrap times are correct (AM vs PM)
  • For Blue Book: surcharges add to existing rates, they don’t replace them. 6th day adds 0.5×, 7th day adds 1×, public holiday adds 1× — and these can stack

Advanced Timesheet Not Appearing

Go to LiteWork Settings → Features → enable the toggle and select “Advanced (Blue Book)” mode.

Public Holiday Not Auto-Detected

Regional anniversary days are not auto-detected. Toggle the public holiday switch manually.

Lost Timesheet Data

The timesheet is stored with the invoice. Check invoice revisions to recover data. Always save the invoice after working on the timesheet.

Common Questions

Can I use timesheets for non-film work?

Yes. While designed for film production, timesheets work for any time-based billing.

Can I have multiple timesheets per invoice?

No. Each invoice has one timesheet. For multiple projects, create separate invoices.

What happens if I edit the invoice after converting?

You can edit line items freely. The timesheet remains as reference but isn’t automatically re-synced. To recalculate, delete the line items and convert again.

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