What Is an Activity Report in Time Tracking?

Discover how Activity Reports help you analyze productivity, optimize workflows, and keep projects on track.

By Alla Chernets

Activity Report

Why Activity Reports Matter

Activity reports give companies a clear view of how time and resources are used. This increases transparency, improves accountability, and helps managers optimize workloads. You can clearly see which tasks are completed, how many hours have been spent, the progress of projects, and overall productivity levels.

What’s Included in an Activity Report

  • Time tracking
  • Tasks / projects
  • Productivity per day / per hour
  • Exporting (PDF, Excel, CSV)
  • Payroll and client data

Activity Reporting in TMetric

TMetric allows you to easily and conveniently review and analyze activity summary data using the corresponding report. Let’s take a look at how this works.

  • Track activities - TMetric logs your time entries, tasks, and activity in the background.

Time Page

  • Store and organize - All data is automatically saved and structured.
  • Generate reports - Create an activity report in just a few clicks.

Activity Report

  • Review key metrics - See a user’s active/inactive time, time logged via timer or manually, and overall workplace activity. 
  • Filter results - Focus on specific dates or team members.
  • Use the data - Export or share reports for billing, planning, and smarter decisions.

Activity Report vs. Timesheet vs. Productivity Report

Let’s briefly look at the differences between Activity Reports, Timesheets, and Productivity Reports to clarify their purposes and avoid confusion.

Activity Report

  • Focuses on what tasks were done and when.
  • Shows time spent on individual activities, completed tasks, and overall progress.
  • Helps managers track team performance, workflow, and accountability.

Timesheet

  • Primarily a record of hours worked by an employee or team.
  • Usually organized by day, week, or month.
  • Used for attendance tracking, payroll, and billing purposes.

Productivity Report

  • Measures how efficiently time and resources were used.
  • Analyzes output vs. time spent, task completion rates, and performance trends.
  • Helps identify bottlenecks, improve processes, and optimize efficiency.

Frequently asked questions

What is an Activity Report?

An activity report is a document or digital report that tracks and summarizes actions, tasks, or work performed over a certain period. It shows how time and resources are used by individuals or teams, typically including details like tasks completed, hours worked, project progress, and productivity levels.

How do Activity Reports improve productivity?

Activity reports improve productivity by showing how time is spent, highlighting inefficiencies, and helping managers optimize workloads.

What data is included in TMetric Activity Reports?

The Activity Summary report shows each team member’s name, total time added in TMetric, time tracked via timer or added manually, active and idle time recorded by the desktop app, unknown activity when user activity cannot be confirmed, and the average activity level at the workplace based on keyboard and mouse usage.

Can I export Activity Reports for payroll or clients?

Yes. TMetric allows you to export the Activity Summary report for payroll or clients. You can generate the report with the desired filters and export it in formats like PDF or CSV for easy sharing, billing, or record-keeping.

Activity Report vs. Timesheet – what’s the difference?

Activity Report: Focuses on the "what" and "how" (tasks, time spent, activity levels) for insights and productivity analysis.

Timesheet: Focuses on the "how much" (total hours worked) for administrative functions like payroll and billing.