Time sheets

It's the most hated part of many peoples jobs, filling in that dreaded "crime sheet" every month, but what value do they actually have to a company.

Personally I have never worked for a company which demanded timesheets where the upper management didn't admit (under pressure) that usually they were simply filed and never looked at.

So why are they required? the only reason I can think is mistrust, the company likes to have records as they don't trust their workers. A timesheet can be used against someone simply by piking holes in it and claiming an employee falsified it. Lets face it, when it comes to the end of the month, that's what most people seem to do, make up figures based on half remembered jobs and dates.

I can see limited justification for them if the company services several clients, and bills by the hour, but surely it's down to mangers to keep track of this sort of stuff, let the expensive techie folk do their job rather than bugging them to keep track of what they did for whom and when.