Timesheet calculator

A timesheet that does the adding up

A timesheet is the record of when a shift started and ended each day, with the unpaid meal breaks in between. The arithmetic of totalling one is simple but fiddly: minutes carry into hours, lunch has to be subtracted, overnight shifts run backwards, and the weekly total then has to be split at 40 hours for overtime. This calculator does each of those steps as you type and keeps the result visible, so you can fill it in day by day through the week.

It is the same engine as the time card calculator on the homepage, with this page focused on the recordkeeping side: rounding, what an employer has to keep, and how to make a timesheet that holds up if a pay question ever comes up.

What a complete timesheet records

• The employee's name and the workweek the sheet covers (the start day and date).
• For each day, the time work began and ended, and the start and end of each unpaid meal break.
• Total hours worked each day and in the workweek.
• Hours paid at the regular rate and at the overtime rate.
• The employee's signature or approval, where company policy requires it.

Federal recordkeeping rules require employers to keep payroll records for at least three years and the time cards behind them for two. Employees are not required to keep their own, but a personal copy is the easiest way to check a paycheck. The Print and CSV buttons above produce one.

Rounding punches

Many time clocks round each punch to the nearest 5, 6 or 15 minutes. Federal rules allow it (29 CFR 785.48) as long as the rounding is neutral: 8:07 rounds down to 8:00 and 8:08 rounds up to 8:15, so over time the employer and the employee each gain and lose about the same. Rounding that only ever goes one way is not allowed. Choose your employer's increment under "Overtime, rounding and breaks" to see what the rounded total should be. The rounding rules guide walks through the 7 minute rule with examples.

Sample weekly timesheet

For employers and managers

If you are totalling timesheets for a few employees, open this page in a separate tab for each one, or use the CSV download to paste each person's week into a spreadsheet. Entries are stored only in the browser that typed them; nothing is uploaded, so there is no account to create and no employee data leaves your computer. For more than a handful of staff, a dedicated time clock system will save time, but for a small crew this is enough to check the numbers before they go to payroll.