Timesheet Calculator — Track Weekly Hours & Pay Instantly
A timesheet calculator lets you enter clock-in times, clock-out times, and break minutes for each day of the week, then instantly computes your total regular hours, overtime hours, and gross pay. Enter your times below — this free tool handles break deductions, daily and weekly overtime thresholds, and pay at 1.5× for overtime hours automatically.
| Day | Clock In | Clock Out | Break (min) | Daily Total |
|---|
What Is a Timesheet Calculator and How Does It Work?
Unlike a single-shift work hours calculator that handles one clock-in and clock-out pair, a timesheet calculator aggregates all seven days of a workweek into a single view. It subtracts break time from each day, applies overtime thresholds, and multiplies your totals by an hourly rate to estimate gross pay — all in seconds.
Timesheets are the backbone of payroll for hourly workers, and they are used by employees who log hours on paper or in spreadsheets, freelancers invoicing clients by the hour, staffing agencies tracking temporary workers across multiple job sites, and independent contractors documenting billable time for tax purposes. Whether you fill in a paper timesheet, an Excel template, or an online tool like this one, the underlying math is the same: each day's gross hours minus breaks, summed over the week, split into regular and overtime buckets.
How Do You Fill Out a Weekly Timesheet Correctly?
Completing a timesheet accurately comes down to three steps repeated for every day you work. Here is the process:
Step 1 — Record Your Clock-In and Clock-Out Times
Write down the exact time you start working and the exact time you stop. Use a consistent format — either 24-hour time (e.g., 08:00 to 17:00) or 12-hour time with AM/PM. Mixing formats within the same timesheet is one of the most common sources of errors. If your shift crosses midnight, treat the period after midnight as part of the same work day; our calculator handles overnight shifts automatically.
Step 2 — Subtract Unpaid Break Time
Enter the total number of unpaid break minutes for the day. Under the FLSA, bona fide meal periods of 30 minutes or more where you are completely relieved of duties are not compensable work time. Short rest breaks of 5 to 20 minutes, on the other hand, are generally considered paid time and should not be deducted. If your employer provides a 30-minute unpaid lunch and two paid 10-minute rest breaks, enter 30 in the break field — not 50.
Step 3 — Review Daily Totals and Check the Weekly Sum
After filling in all days, verify each daily total looks reasonable. A common gut check: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM with a 30-minute lunch should equal 8 hours 30 minutes, not 9 hours. Once you are satisfied, check the weekly total against your overtime threshold. If you are a non-exempt employee covered by the FLSA, any hours beyond 40 in a workweek are overtime at 1.5× your regular rate.
Worked Example — A Typical Five-Day Week
Consider an employee who works Monday through Friday at $25.00 per hour with a 30-minute unpaid lunch each day:
| Day | Clock In | Clock Out | Break | Net Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 30 min | 8h 30m |
| Tuesday | 7:45 AM | 5:15 PM | 30 min | 9h 00m |
| Wednesday | 8:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 30 min | 8h 30m |
| Thursday | 8:00 AM | 6:00 PM | 30 min | 9h 30m |
| Friday | 8:00 AM | 4:30 PM | 30 min | 8h 00m |
| Weekly Total | 43h 30m | |||
The weekly total is 43 hours 30 minutes. With a 40-hour overtime threshold, the first 40 hours are regular time and the remaining 3 hours 30 minutes are overtime. Regular pay is 40 × $25.00 = $1,000.00. Overtime pay is 3.5 × $37.50 (1.5 × $25.00) = $131.25. Total gross pay for the week is $1,131.25.
How Are Overtime Hours Calculated on a Timesheet?
Overtime rules depend on whether you are looking at federal law, state law, or both. In many cases state rules are stricter than federal rules, and the stricter standard applies.
Federal FLSA Weekly Overtime
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must receive overtime pay at a rate of not less than 1.5 times their regular rate for all hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek (29 CFR § 778). A workweek is defined as a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods. Employers cannot average hours across multiple workweeks to avoid paying overtime.
State-Level Daily Overtime
Some states impose daily overtime thresholds in addition to the federal weekly rule. California is the most prominent example: non-exempt employees earn overtime for any hours worked beyond 8 in a single workday, and double time (2× the regular rate) for hours beyond 12 in a single workday. Other states with some form of daily overtime include Alaska (over 8 hours), Nevada (over 8 hours for employees earning less than 1.5 times the state minimum wage), and Colorado (over 12 hours or 12 consecutive hours). Always check your state's labor department website for the current rules.
This calculator supports both daily and weekly overtime thresholds. Set your daily threshold to 0 to disable daily overtime and rely on the weekly threshold alone. For California workers, set the daily threshold to 8 hours and the weekly threshold to 40 hours. You can also use our dedicated overtime calculator for more detailed overtime scenarios, including weighted average rates and multiple job classifications.
What Is the Difference Between a Timesheet and a Time Tracker?
The terms "timesheet" and "time tracker" are often used interchangeably, but they serve different purposes and are suited to different workflows. Here is how they compare:
| Feature | Timesheet Calculator | Time Tracking App | Payroll Software |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Summarize weekly hours & estimate pay | Real-time clock-in/out with project tagging | Process pay, taxes, deductions, and deposits |
| Data entry | Manual (enter times after the fact) | Automatic (start/stop timers) | Imported from timesheet or tracker |
| Overtime calculation | Yes — daily and weekly thresholds | Varies by app | Yes — with state/federal rules built in |
| Multi-employee | One at a time | Yes, team dashboards | Yes, full roster management |
| Project categorization | Basic or none | Yes — clients, projects, tasks | Limited |
| Cost | Free | Free to $15+/user/month | $40–$200+/month + per-employee fees |
| Best for | Quick verification, freelance invoicing | Agencies, remote teams, billable work | Businesses running actual payroll |
Use a free timesheet calculator like this one when you need a quick weekly summary to verify a pay stub, prepare a freelance invoice, or estimate your expected pay before payday. Switch to a dedicated time tracking application when you need real-time logging across multiple projects, team-level visibility, or automatic reminders to clock in. Move to payroll software when your business needs to calculate taxes, withhold deductions, and issue direct deposits. For a detailed breakdown of popular time tracking tools, see our time tracking software comparison.
What Are Common Timesheet Mistakes That Affect Your Pay?
Even a small timesheet error can compound over weeks and months, leading to underpayment or payroll disputes. Here are the five most common mistakes and how to avoid them:
1Forgetting to deduct unpaid breaks. If you clock in at 8:00 AM and clock out at 5:00 PM, your gross shift is 9 hours — but if you took a 30-minute unpaid lunch, your net working time is only 8 hours 30 minutes. Failing to subtract that break inflates your hours by 2.5 hours per week (assuming five shifts), which can trigger phantom overtime and cause payroll corrections later.
2Confusing decimal hours with hours and minutes. The number 8.50 in decimal format equals 8 hours 30 minutes, not 8 hours 50 minutes. Meanwhile, 8.75 decimal hours equals 8 hours 45 minutes. Mixing these two systems is one of the most frequent causes of payroll discrepancies. Our time addition calculator can help convert between formats if you are unsure.
3Using the wrong overtime threshold. The federal FLSA threshold is 40 hours per workweek, but your state may have a lower weekly threshold or an additional daily threshold. For example, entering an 8-hour daily threshold when your state does not require daily overtime will overcount your overtime hours and overestimate your pay.
4Not separating regular and overtime hours. Lumping all hours together at one rate underpays you if you worked overtime (since overtime hours should be at 1.5× or 2× your base rate) or overpays you if you miscategorize regular hours as overtime. Always split your weekly total into regular and overtime buckets before applying rates.
5Rounding errors that do not balance over time. While the FLSA permits rounding to the nearest 5, 6, or 15 minutes, the rounding must average out so that employees are fully compensated. If your employer always rounds down, that systematic bias violates the FLSA. Track your exact times and compare them against your employer's rounded totals to ensure fairness.
If you spot any of these errors on your timesheet, correct them before submitting. For guidance on how to calculate your daily work hours step by step, see our guide to calculating work hours.
What Are the Most Common Questions About Timesheet Calculators?
For each day, subtract your clock-in time from your clock-out time to get your gross daily hours. Then subtract your break duration. Add all daily net totals together to get your weekly total. For example, if you work 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM with a 30-minute lunch each day for five days, each day is 8 hours 30 minutes net, totaling 42 hours 30 minutes for the week.
Yes. The calculator supports both federal FLSA weekly overtime (hours exceeding 40 per week at 1.5× your hourly rate) and daily overtime thresholds. You can set custom thresholds for daily and weekly overtime to match your state's requirements or your employer's policy.
This calculator applies a single hourly rate across all days in the week. If you have varying rates (for example, a weekend premium), calculate each rate group separately by entering those days in separate sessions. Then combine the totals manually for your full weekly pay.
You can calculate one employee's timesheet at a time. For multiple employees, run the calculator once per person. For ongoing multi-employee payroll tracking, consider dedicated time tracking software — see our software comparison guide for recommendations.
A work hours calculator typically handles a single shift — one clock-in and clock-out pair. A timesheet calculator tracks an entire week (or pay period) across multiple days, calculates cumulative hours, applies overtime thresholds, and computes gross pay. Use a work hours calculator for individual shifts and a timesheet calculator for weekly summaries.
Multiply your total regular hours by your hourly rate for regular pay. Any hours exceeding your overtime threshold are multiplied by 1.5× your hourly rate. Add regular pay and overtime pay together for your total gross pay. This calculator handles all of these computations automatically when you enter an hourly rate.
Yes, you should record and deduct unpaid lunch breaks. Under the FLSA, bona fide meal periods (typically 30 minutes or longer where the employee is completely relieved of duties) are not considered compensable work time. Failing to deduct unpaid breaks inflates your reported hours, which can cause payroll discrepancies.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It can begin on any day and at any hour. An employer cannot average hours across two or more workweeks to avoid overtime obligations. Each workweek stands alone for overtime calculations (29 CFR § 778).
This browser-based calculator does not currently offer file exports. However, you can use your browser's print function (Ctrl+P or Cmd+P) to save the results as a PDF, or manually copy the results summary into a spreadsheet or document for your records.
This calculator performs precise time arithmetic and overtime calculations based on the values you enter. However, it is designed as an estimation and verification tool — not a replacement for certified payroll software. Actual payroll may involve taxes, deductions, benefits, shift differentials, and other factors not covered here. Always verify final pay amounts with your employer or payroll department.
Multiply the decimal portion by 60 to get minutes. For example, 8.75 decimal hours equals 8 hours and 45 minutes because 0.75 × 60 = 45. Common conversions: 0.25 = 15 minutes, 0.50 = 30 minutes, and 0.75 = 45 minutes. This calculator displays results in hours and minutes to avoid decimal confusion.
If you forget to clock out, your timesheet will show an incomplete or inaccurate entry for that day. Most employers require you to submit a time correction form or notify your supervisor to manually enter the correct clock-out time. Leaving a missing clock-out uncorrected can result in either zero hours or inflated hours for that day, which affects your weekly total and pay.
The FLSA requires employers to keep accurate records of hours worked and wages paid for all non-exempt employees, but it does not mandate a specific format. Employers may use paper timesheets, spreadsheets, time clocks, or electronic systems. The key legal requirement is that the records must be accurate and retained for at least three years.
For an overnight shift, the clock-out time is earlier than the clock-in time because the shift crosses midnight. To calculate correctly, add 24 hours to the clock-out time before subtracting. For example, a shift from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM spans 8 hours: 6:00 + 24:00 = 30:00, minus 22:00 = 8:00. This calculator handles overnight shifts automatically.
Not entirely. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (signed July 4, 2025) allows non-exempt employees to deduct the overtime premium — the extra 0.5× in time-and-a-half pay — from their federal taxable income for tax years 2025 through 2028. The base portion of overtime pay is still taxed normally, and Social Security and Medicare taxes still apply. Income-based phaseouts may limit the deduction for higher earners. Employers must separately report qualified overtime compensation on Form W-2 beginning in 2026.
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Last updated: February 6, 2026