Production actuals · built for the timecard run
Time in by show, sequence, department, and task.
Beat is the timesheet a studio actually runs on. Every hour lands where the work was: which show, which sequence, which department carried it, which task should own the actual.
The crew logs a week in minutes. A producer reviews it in one pass. Coordinators and finance get hours they can hand to a bid, a client, or Wrap without a side spreadsheet.
Private alpha. Invite-only, studio-scoped, exportable from day one.
| Show · sequence · task | Mon1 Jun | Tue2 | Wed3 | Thu4 | Fri5 | Sat6 | Sun7 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neon Tidesq040 · Animation · Block — creature walk | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | – | 1.0 | – | – | 12.5 |
| Neon Tidesq040 · Animation · Polish — 0225 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | – | – | 18.5 |
| Rooksq112 · Animation · Layout handoff review | – | – | – | 4.0 | 3.0 | – | – | 7.0 |
| StudioDailies & reviews · non-billable | – | – | 1.0 | – | 1.0 | – | – | 2.0 |
| Day total | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 40.0 |
The product
One hour, four levels of context. That is the whole idea.
Generic time trackers know a client and a project. A studio bids and reviews by show, sequence, department, and task, so that is the shape an hour has to keep from the moment it is entered to the moment finance reads it.
Beat never asks the crew to re-describe their work. Rows come from the shows and tasks they are assigned; they type hours.
Show
Neon Tide
Client Harbor Pictures · budget 900h
Sequence
sq040
Shot group · optional per row
Department
Animation
Comes from the task template
Task
Block — creature walk
Assigned to Maya on 12 May
Tue 2 Jun
3.5h
Billable · note attached
CrewEnter a week, not a form
A grid of your rows across seven days. Tab through cells, type hours, add a note where it matters. Copy last week when the work hasn't changed. Under a minute for most people.
ProducerReview in production terms
One queue for the week: who has submitted, who hasn't, hours by show and department. Approve in bulk, or return a week with a note that says exactly what to fix.
FinanceActuals that hold up
Approved hours lock and carry their audit trail. Export to CSV or pull them through a versioned API. Rates and costs are visible only to the roles that should see them.
Approvals
Sign-off that takes one pass, not a week.
Artists submit. A producer or supervisor reviews hours the way they already think about the show. No approval chains, no HR ceremony, no chasing by email.
- Submit a week in one action; reopen it if it was returned.
- Review by show, sequence, or department, with each person's week at a glance.
- Return a week with a note. The artist sees exactly what to fix.
- Approved weeks lock. Every change before that is in the audit trail.
| Maya ChenAnimation · Senior | 40.0 | Submitted | ReturnApprove | |
| Diego AlvarezAnimation | 39.5 | Submitted | ReturnApprove | |
| Sofia LindqvistLayout | 40.0 | Approved | by you · Mon 08:12 | |
| Hana SatoAnimation | 12.0 | Not submitted | Remind | |
| Kwame BoatengAnimation | 40.5 | Returned | “Wed hours belong on sq112” |
Exports & API
Your actuals leave the building in the shape your reports expect.
Nothing in Beat is trapped. Every table exports as CSV, and a versioned read/write API serves the same hours to Wrap, a finance sheet, or the connector you already run. Beat stays production-native underneath; shapes familiar from the tools studios are migrating off are kept at the edge as a compatibility bridge, so reporting, exports, and connectors keep running and switching risk stays low.
- CSVPeople, projects, tasks, assignments, time entries
- APIVersioned /api/v1, token-scoped per studio
- CSVImport an existing history in one pass
- APICompatibility bridge shapes for existing connectors
{
"time_entries": [{
"id": 80291,
"spent_date": "2026-06-02",
"hours": 3.5,
"billable": true,
"project": { "code": "NT", "name": "Neon Tide" },
"sequence": "sq040",
"task": { "name": "Block — creature walk", "department": "Animation" },
"user": { "name": "Maya Chen" },
"is_locked": true,
"approved_by": "priya@northlight.tv"
}],
"per_page": 100, "total_entries": 412
}Principles
Measure the work. Never the people.
Beat will never
- Log keystrokes or capture screensno
- Track idle timeno
- Rank people with productivity or performance scoringno
- Staff surveillance of any kind, hidden or otherwiseno
- Become payroll, HRIS, or performance reviewno
Beat is built for
- Hours mapped to real production workyes
- Records the artist can read, in fullyes
- Actuals for bid health and financeyes
- Approval without corporate weightyes
- Data you can export and deleteyes
Built to be trusted
Replacing the system of record is a trust decision.
These are the commitments that make Beat safe to adopt for the producer who signs off, the finance lead who reconciles, and the pipeline TD who has to connect it.
- Audit trail
- Every create, edit, and delete on a time entry writes an append-only event with actor and timestamp. Approved weeks lock.
- Studio-scoped data
- Tenancy is enforced on the server. People, shows, hours, and tokens belong to one studio and cannot leak across.
- Role-redacted rates
- Bill and cost rates are visible only to owner, admin, and finance roles, on screen and in exports.
- Exportability
- CSV of every table at any time. Studio data is deleted on request, with the retention policy published.
- Compatibility bridge
- Route shapes, pagination, and fixtures are documented before Beat claims to replace anything, so existing connectors keep working.
- Wrap ingestion path
- Evidence-grade hours coordinators and producers can hand to finance, shaped for the Wrap ingestion path without a maze of side spreadsheets.
Beat is in private alpha with a handful of studios.
Tell us your studio and what you run hours in today. We onboard one studio at a time and import your history with you.
No card, no seat count, no surveillance. Replies come from a person.