AI Prompts for Project Timesheets and Expense Reports | DATABASICS

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Ask better questions of the data you already have

These prompts are starting points for exploring what your organization's timesheets and expense reports can tell you. Try them with your company-approved AI assistant of choice. Ours is DBee.

Run them on your own timesheet and expense report exports. The free workbook keeps all 16 in one place, with a data checklist and a worked example of a good answer.

Ask your assistant to identify the supporting records, explain its reasoning, and flag anything it cannot determine from the available data. An exception is a reason to investigate, not proof that something is wrong.

Follow your organization's data-sharing policies. The usefulness of the answers depends on the information, context, and controls behind them.

True cost by project

I've attached a timesheet export and an expense report export for [date range]. Match them on project code. For each project, show total labor cost, total expenses, and combined cost for all entries, then split each project's combined cost into approved, pending, and rejected amounts. Compare the all-entry total with the budgets below and flag any project above 90% of its budget. Budgets: [project and budget]. Cite the record IDs behind each total and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Billing blockers to review

Using the attached timesheet and expense report exports, list billable hours and billable expenses that have not been invoiced, grouped by project. Separate them into approved, pending, and rejected. For approved entries, flag anything that still needs review before billing, such as a missing receipt, a missing note, or a policy exception. Contract terms and billing rules are not in the data, so treat this as a review list, not a final billing decision. Cite the record IDs behind each result and list anything you can't determine from the data.

All 16 prompts

Replace anything in [brackets] with your own details. Attach a timesheet export, an expense report export, or both, depending on the prompt.

Connected

Prompts that need hours and expenses matched on the same people, dates, and codes.

1. True cost by project

I've attached a timesheet export and an expense report export for [date range]. Match them on project code. For each project, show total labor cost, total expenses, and combined cost for all entries, then split each project's combined cost into approved, pending, and rejected amounts. Compare the all-entry total with the budgets below and flag any project above 90% of its budget. Budgets: [project and budget]. Cite the record IDs behind each total and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Timesheets with project, hours, labor cost, and approval status. Expenses with project, amount, and approval status.

Without it: If hours and expenses use different project codes, the match fails and every project looks cheaper than it is.

2. Grant or contract burn rate

Using the attached timesheet and expense report exports, total the monthly spend (labor cost plus expenses) charged to [grant or contract code]. Compare it to the award amount of [amount] and estimate when the funds run out if spending continues at the average monthly rate in the data. State how many months the estimate is based on. Cite the record IDs behind each total and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Date, grant or contract code, labor cost, and expense amount.

Without it: When labor and spend are tracked in separate places, you see half the burn and find the overrun late.

3. Expenses without matching hours

Compare the attached timesheet and expense report exports, matching records on employee, date, and project code. List every expense dated on a day when that employee logged no hours to the same project. Then list every day an employee logged hours to one project while charging expenses to another. Treat each mismatch as something to review, not an error. Cite the record IDs on both sides and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Employee, date, and project on both exports, plus expense category.

Without it: This check is impossible unless hours and expenses are tied to the same people, dates, and projects.

4. Margin by project

For each project in the attached exports, estimate revenue as billable hours times the bill rates below plus billable expenses, then subtract total labor cost and total expenses. Rank projects by estimated margin in dollars, and show margin as a percentage of revenue alongside. Treat this as an illustrative scenario based on the rates provided, not realized margin, and state your assumptions. Bill rates: [role or employee and rate]. Cite the record IDs behind each total and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Project, hours, billable flag, and labor cost on timesheets. Project, amount, and billable flag on expenses.

Without it: Without billable flags captured at entry, AI can only guess which entries were meant to be billed.

5. Cost per billable hour

For [client or project], divide total cost (labor cost plus all expenses) by total billable hours for each month in the attached exports. Show the trend and point out any month more than 15% above the average. If the data covers fewer than two months, say so instead of showing a trend. Cite the record IDs behind each total and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Project, date, hours, billable flag, and labor cost on timesheets. Project, date, and amount on expenses.

Without it: Leaving expenses out of the math makes every billable hour look more profitable than it is.

Captured with context

Prompts that depend on codes, notes, and receipts added when the entry was made.

6. Explain a spike

Expenses on [project] were higher in [period]. Using the categories, amounts, and employee notes in the attached expense report export, explain in plain language what drove the increase. Call out entries with no note that you can't explain. Cite the record IDs behind each point and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Project, date, category, amount, and employee note on expenses.

Without it: Without notes captured at entry, AI can report that costs rose but not why.

7. Where the hours went

Using the attached timesheet export, compare actual hours by task with the planned hours below for [project]. List the tasks running over plan and summarize what the employee notes say about why, noting entries with no explanation. Planned hours: [task and hours]. Cite the record IDs behind each result and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Project, task, hours, and employee note on timesheets.

Without it: If time is coded only to the project and not the task, you can't see which part of the work is running over.

8. Non-billable hours on client projects

In the attached timesheet export, find hours marked non-billable on client projects. Group them by employee and summarize the reasons given in the notes. Flag entries with no note, and any entry where the billable flag and invoice status disagree. Cite the record IDs behind each result and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Employee, project, hours, billable flag, employee note, and invoice status on timesheets.

Without it: Lost billable time hides in entries with no notes, because nobody can tell a mistake from a judgment call.

9. Missing context before close

Review the attached timesheet and expense report exports. List every timesheet or expense entry missing a project code, task code, or employee note, and every expense missing a receipt. Group the list by employee so each person can fix their own entries before month-end close, and count each record once even if it is missing more than one item. Cite the record IDs behind each result and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Employee, project, task, and employee note on both exports; receipt status on expenses.

Without it: Every missing field is a question someone has to chase later, usually during close or an audit.

10. Policy exceptions explained

In the attached expense report export, list every entry flagged as a policy exception with the employee's note and the approval status. Group them by category and summarize the reasons employees gave. Don't judge whether an exception was justified unless I give you the policy. Cite the record IDs behind each result and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Category, amount, policy exception flag, employee note, and approval status on expenses.

Without it: If the reason isn't captured with the entry, every exception looks like a violation.

Verified

Prompts that depend on approval status, approver, dates, and comments staying with each record.

11. Billing blockers to review

Using the attached timesheet and expense report exports, list billable hours and billable expenses that have not been invoiced, grouped by project. Separate them into approved, pending, and rejected. For approved entries, flag anything that still needs review before billing, such as a missing receipt, a missing note, or a policy exception. Contract terms and billing rules are not in the data, so treat this as a review list, not a final billing decision. Cite the record IDs behind each result and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Project, billable flag, approval status, invoice status, receipt status, and employee note.

Without it: An answer that ignores approval status mixes reviewed and unreviewed entries and can overstate what is ready to invoice.

12. Approval bottlenecks

Using the submission and approval dates in the attached exports, calculate the average days from submission to approval for each approver, and list every approved entry that waited more than 5 days. List pending entries separately with how long each has waited as of [date]. Cite the record IDs behind each result and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Submitted date, approver, approval status, and approval date.

Without it: Without approval dates you can't see where the process slows down, so close keeps slipping.

13. Audit preparation

For [grant or contract code], list every timesheet and expense entry in the attached exports with the employee, date, amount, approver, and approval date. Flag any entry with no approval, any entry approved by the same person who submitted it, and any expense without a receipt. Treat these as items to review, not audit conclusions. Cite the record IDs behind each result and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Employee, date, grant or contract code, amount, approver, approval date, and receipt status.

Without it: An auditor asks who approved it and when. If that wasn't captured, there is no answer to give.

14. What managers send back

Summarize the approver comments on rejected or returned entries in the attached exports. Group them by reason and draft a short tip sheet employees can use to avoid each one. If there are only a few rejections, say so rather than generalizing. Cite the record IDs behind each result and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Approval status and approver comment.

Without it: If rejections happen in email or hallway conversations, the same mistakes repeat every period.

All three together

Prompts that need connected records, context from employees, and approval history at the same time.

15. One-page project status

Using the attached timesheet and expense report exports, write a one-page status for [project]: approved spend against a budget of [amount], hours by task for all entries with approved-only hours alongside, notable expenses with the reasons employees gave, and what is still pending approval. Keep approved and pending amounts separate. Cite the record IDs behind each point and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Project, task, hours, labor cost, amount, employee note, and approval status.

Without it: A status report needs connected totals, the reasons employees gave, and approval status to separate reviewed numbers from pending ones.

16. Cost at completion

Using the timesheet and expense entries for [project] in the attached exports, estimate the final cost at completion with the percent-complete method: approved cost to date divided by the share of work completed, given that [percent] of the work remains. State that this assumes cost scales with work completed. Show pending costs separately and note that approval status doesn't determine whether a cost has been incurred. Cite the record IDs behind each total and list anything you can't determine from the data.

Data it needs: Project, labor cost, amount, and approval status, plus the share of work remaining.

Without it: Forecasting from unapproved or uncoded entries builds the estimate on numbers that may still change.

Frequently asked questions

Can I run the prompts on my own data?

Yes. That's what they're for. Follow your organization's data-sharing policies and remove personal details your assistant isn't cleared to handle.

Do I need DBee to use these prompts?

No. Use any company-approved AI assistant that accepts file attachments. Results will vary by assistant.

What's in the workbook?

All 16 prompts with columns for your own notes, a data checklist for your exports, and a worked example of a good answer.

Does an approved entry mean it is ready to bill?

Not by itself. Approval shows that a manager reviewed the entry. Whether it can be billed also depends on contract terms, rates, and billing rules that aren't in a timesheet or expense report.

With DATABASICS, the context is already there

DATABASICS timesheets and expense reporting keep project coding, employee notes, and approval history with each record, so the context these prompts depend on is captured when your team fills out timesheets and expense reports.

Skip the export with DBee

DBee, the AI assistant add-on for DATABASICS, answers plain-language questions about your timesheets, expenses, and approvals inside your DATABASICS environment. Ask "Which timesheets need to be approved?" or "What did we spend on airfare this week?" without exporting a file. Each user sees only what their role allows.