How to Fill Out a Timesheet, Step by Step

What goes on a timesheet

A timesheet is a record of when you started and stopped work on each day of a pay period. Your employer uses it to run payroll, so every line turns into money. Most forms ask for the same things, whether it is a paper card, a spreadsheet or a weekly timesheet in an app.

• Your full name and employee number, if you have one.
• The pay period: the first and last date it covers.
• For each day: the date, time in, time out and any unpaid break.
• Daily total hours and a total for the week or period.
• Paid time off, holidays or sick days, marked as such.
• Your signature and, on many forms, your supervisor’s signature.

Some jobs also want a job code, a site or a project for each line. If your form has those columns, fill them in every day. They are often how your hours get billed to a customer.

How to fill out a timesheet step by step

Here is how to fill out a timesheet from top to bottom. Do it at the end of each shift, not at the end of the week. Times written from memory are the most common source of errors.

1. Write your name, employee number and the pay period dates at the top.
2. On the line for each day, write the full date, not just the weekday.
3. Write the time you started work in the time in column.
4. Write the time you stopped work in the time out column.
5. Write the length of any unpaid break, such as 0:30 for a half-hour lunch.
6. Work out the daily total: time out minus time in minus the unpaid break.
7. Mark days off as PTO, holiday or sick, with the hours your employer pays for them.
8. Add the daily totals for the week and convert to decimal hours.
9. Check the math, sign and date the form, and hand it in on time.

How to write time on a timesheet

Write times the way your employer asks: 12-hour with AM and PM, or 24-hour. If you use 12-hour times, always add AM or PM, because 7:00 alone can mean morning or evening. Military time on a timesheet avoids that problem: 1:30 PM is 13:30 and 11:00 PM is 23:00. Write exact minutes, such as 7:52, unless you are told to round.

How to fill out a timesheet with a lunch break

To fill out a timesheet with a lunch break, write your start and end time for the day and put the unpaid break in its own column. Some forms instead have two pairs of in and out times, one before lunch and one after. Both give the same answer.

Short paid rest breaks usually stay inside your worked time, so you do not subtract them. Only take off breaks your employer does not pay for. Which breaks are paid, and whether you must get one at all, depends on your country, state and contract, so check your own rules.

Get the hours for one shift with the hours calculator

How to calculate total hours on a timesheet

To calculate total hours on a timesheet, add the hours and minutes for each day first, then convert the weekly total to decimal hours. Payroll multiplies decimal hours by your rate, so 8 hours 15 minutes must be written as 8.25, not 8.15.

To convert minutes to decimal hours, divide the minutes by 60. Here are the values you will use most often.

Full minutes to decimal hours chart, 1 to 60

If the week goes over 40 hours, some or all of the extra may be paid as overtime, depending on the rules that apply to you. In the example above, 0.5 hours would be over 40.

Timesheet rounding and the 7-minute rule

Timesheet rounding means writing or paying times to the nearest set step instead of the exact minute. In the US, the federal rule in 29 CFR 785.48 allows rounding to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour or quarter of an hour, as long as it averages out and does not shortchange workers over time.

Quarter-hour rounding is often called the 7-minute rule. Times up to 7 minutes past a quarter round down; times 8 minutes or more past round up to the next quarter.

Only round if your employer tells you to, and use their exact method. Rounding rules depend on your country, state and contract. When in doubt, write the exact minutes and let payroll apply the policy.

Overnight shifts, split shifts and days off

An overnight shift crosses midnight, so time out is smaller than time in. Add 24 hours to the end time before you subtract, or count the hours to midnight and after midnight separately. Most employers want the whole shift on the line for the day it started; ask if yours does it differently.

For a split shift, use one line per block of work, or the second in and out pair if your form has one. Add the blocks for the daily total. For paid days off, leave the times empty and write the paid hours in the PTO, holiday or sick column, so they are not mixed up with hours worked.

Common timesheet mistakes to avoid

Most timesheet errors are small, but they delay pay and cause back and forth with payroll. These are the common timesheet mistakes and how to avoid each one.

• Filling it in from memory at the end of the week. Write times at the end of each shift.
• Forgetting to subtract the unpaid break, which overstates hours.
• Subtracting a paid break, which understates hours.
• Adding 8:45 as if it were 8.45. Convert minutes to decimal hours first.
• Leaving out AM or PM, so a shift looks 12 hours long or negative.
• Putting an overnight shift on the wrong day or getting a negative total.
• Writing only weekdays instead of full dates, so the period is unclear.
• Mixing PTO hours with worked hours in the same column.
• Rounding on your own when your employer pays exact minutes.
• Forgetting to sign or missing the deadline for the pay period.

Timesheet template, calculators and time clocks

A printable timesheet template is fine for a few people on fixed shifts. For a monthly timesheet with weekly totals and overtime, a calculator saves you the hand math and the conversion step.

Free printable timesheet templates

Weekly time card calculator with overtime

Once a team grows, writing times by hand becomes the weak point. A tablet time clock records the punch when it happens, so nobody has to remember start times on Friday. ClockBadge Time Clock is opening soon in early access, with badge, card or PIN punches and totals with breaks and overtime.

Join the ClockBadge Time Clock waitlist