Updated: March 2024
Whether you manage a small business or lead a large team, accurate timekeeping ensures streamlined operations and information to help you make the best decisions.
So, where do you begin? Timesheet templates are your compass, guiding you toward effective time management.
A timesheet serves as a record-keeping tool, capturing the hours employees dedicate to their tasks. It can be as straightforward as clocking in and out each day or as detailed as tracking individual project components.
💡 Why Use Timesheet Templates?
- Efficiency – Templates simplify the process, eliminating manual calculations and paperwork.
- Accuracy – Ensure precise time entries, reducing errors and payroll discrepancies.
- Flexibility – Choose from hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly formats based on your needs.
Download, edit, and personalize these templates to match your organization’s unique requirements. Whether you’re a solopreneur or part of a team, these resources empower you to manage time effectively.
📊 Free Employee Timesheet Templates
Having a real-time timesheet can be very useful for companies to generate complex project reports, PTO, and leaves based on hours spent, etc.Try our free printable timesheet templates–find the most efficient one for your business, and eliminate manual steps.
1. Daily Timesheet Template
Are you looking to gain better insights into how you spend your time? Look no further! Our daily printable timesheet templates offer a straightforward solution for recording work hours and managing your day effectively.
Key Features:
- Interval Recording: Break down your day into separate intervals, capturing each moment spent on tasks.
- Work Hours: Easily track regular work hours and any overtime you put in.
- Comprehensive Details: Beyond just work, our timesheets include information on vacation time, breaks, and other essential intervals.
Once this data is logged, the total number of worked hours will be automatically calculated. This simple timesheet is ideal for small firms that need to quickly track employee time.
2. Simple Weekly timesheet template and Weekly Timesheet for Multiple Employees
Simplify your work tracking! This template automatically calculates your weekly work hours. Just input your total hours worked from Monday to Sunday. Whether you’re an hourly employee or work part-time, it has you covered.
3. Biweekly Timesheet Template
Use this printable timesheet template if you calculate employee hours on a biweekly basis.
4. Monthly Timesheet Template
For companies that process payroll on a monthly basis, a monthly timesheet template is an invaluable tool. It simplifies the task of calculating employees’ worked hours and ensures accurate compensation.
If you’re seeking a printable monthly timesheet that allows you to record clock-in and clock-out times, look no further. Download our user-friendly Excel template and streamline your time-tracking process with ease.
5. Hourly Timesheet Template
Managing work hours just got easier! Our hourly timesheet template is tailor-made for hourly employees who require daily timesheets. Say goodbye to complexity and embrace efficient tracking.
Hourly Timesheet Benefits:
- Daily Use: Designed for everyday timekeeping.
- Clock In and Out: Easily track employee work hours.
- Efficiency: Streamline payroll processes.
Work Hours Tracker is a reliable alternative for daily hour tracking. Record clock-in and clock-out times seamlessly.
Empower your team with accurate time records. Download the template and simplify your daily routines
6. Detailed Free Employee Timesheet Template
In addition to work hours, detailed timesheets also contain information such as employee’s cost rate, performed tasks, billable hours, non-billable hours, and more.
7. Project Timesheet Template
A project-related timesheet template helps track project activities and hours. It contains data related to a specific project and usually represents indicators of project efficiency and profitability. You can describe specific tasks, and enter billable and non-billable hours. This type of timesheet can be used in organizations where billable hours need to be tracked for sending invoices to customers or where an employee’s time is tracked against projects.
8. Client Timesheet Template
When it comes to specific client engagements, client-related timesheets play a crucial role. These timesheets capture the hours dedicated to a particular project or client. Here’s what you need to know:
- Billable and Non-Billable Hours: Record both billable (chargeable to the client) and non-billable hours (internal work).
- Billable Rates: Include the rates associated with each engagement.
Options for Tracking
- Download Our Template: Access our ready-to-use client-related timesheet template.
- Explore Timesheet Tracking Apps: Consider using specialized apps designed for efficient client time tracking.
9. Timesheet Template for Multiple Employees
If your team comprises multiple employees, our straightforward timesheet is tailor-made for you. Designed specifically for organizations managing hours and payroll, this tool streamlines the process.
However, when dealing with a larger workforce, using an Excel timesheet can become cumbersome—especially when aggregating data. In such cases, consider opting for a timesheet app. It offers a more efficient solution, particularly when you have more than five employees to track.
Remember, the right tool ensures accurate time management and smoother payroll processes. Choose wisely!
10. Consultant Timesheet Template
The consultant’s timesheet template is used by entering information about the client’s project, work dates, tasks to be worked on, as well comments.
11. Timesheet Template with Tasks
12. Time Card Template
Time cards contain records of the start and end times of the working day in order to calculate total worked hours. You can add more detailed data to the time card to calculate profitability.
13. Freelance Timesheet Template
Use this timesheet when you want to record information about the client’s project, work dates, tasks to work on, and client notes.
14. Timesheet Template in Google Sheets
The spreadsheet time tracking method involves entering the time you spend on tasks in a spreadsheet template. Google Sheets templates offer real-time collaboration between editors as well as different options for creating, updating, and sharing spreadsheets.
Download daily, monthly, weekly, detailed, client and projects Google Sheets templates here.
15. Simple Timesheet Template
Use this simple timesheet template if you want to track only the time your employees clocked in and out, and the total hours worked each day of the week.
16. Timesheet with Billing Rates
Tired of creating timesheets from scratch? Look no further! Our billing timesheet template simplifies the process, saving you time and effort.
A timesheet with billing rates will save you the hassle of making a timesheet from scratch each time. This timesheet template will make both monthly salaries and invoicing simpler.
17. Overtime Calculator
Ever wondered how much you’ll earn when putting in those extra work hours? We can help! Our overtime calculator does the math for you.
Here’s how it works
- Input Your Hourly Rate: Start by providing your regular hourly wage.
- Factor in the OT Multiplier: The calculator considers the overtime multiplier (often 1.5x or 2x).
- Discover Your Total Pay: It calculates your earnings for those extended work sessions.
Remember, the actual value may vary based on your location and company policies. So, double-check that multiplier!
Timesheets: Guardians of Time and Finances
Did you know that multitasking without proper time-tracking can slash productivity to a mere 35%?
Even seemingly minor daily tasks—like web browsing, sifting through your inbox, or hunting for that elusive document in a sea of folders—can stealthily steal precious time if left unrecorded.
So, how do you safeguard against burnout and ignite your team’s productivity? The answer lies in the humble timesheet. By meticulously logging your work hours, you not only protect your sanity but also unlock the gateway to financial efficiency.
Remember, time is a currency—spend it wisely!
Types of Timesheets
Paper-based timesheet
Typically, data is recorded in tabular format to record hours worked at or for the company.
38% of US firms still used paper timesheets in 2019. This raises concerns, as managing the workforce using paper-based methods incurs excessive costs and inefficiently consumes valuable time. Traditional paper-based timesheets are outdated and leave too much room for error.
Spreadsheet-Based Timesheets
This type of timesheet could be from Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or a similar spreadsheet application to record employee hours manually.
Many managers are used to working with Excel rather than SaaS time tracking tools. The reason is that these timesheets are simple to use, and managers can use automated excel formulas to compute the total pay based on hourly rates and overtime work.
Online Timesheet Software
With the increasing use of working hours, asking employees to fill out paper timesheets is no longer the norm.
Today’s timesheet evolved from being more than just a time tracker.
Online timesheet software has multiple features to help you improve employee productivity, and it makes it easier for managers and employees to track employee work hours based on the easy entry of working hours for employees, and it’s easy for a manager to track results, costs, revenues, and profitability.
Employees can enter data online via a computer or mobile phone, which facilitates the use of working hours.
When does it make sense to use timesheet templates in Excel?
Certainly! Here’s a revised version of your text:
If you’re seeking straightforward and cost-effective timesheet solutions, and you’re not ready to delve into new time-tracking software, Excel timesheet templates can be a great solution.
These templates are particularly well-suited for companies with uncomplicated work-time rules and straightforward working arrangements. They are an excellent fit for organizations that prefer not to handle employee absences online.
Small to medium-sized businesses worldwide rely on employee timesheet templates to efficiently monitor work hours. The appeal lies in their free availability, security, and user-friendly nature. However, remember that most countries have regulations regarding employee timekeeping.
Advantages of using employee timesheet templates
- Simplicity: Employees only need to log in at the start and end of their work hours.
- Efficient Pay Calculations: Managers can utilize automated Excel formulas to compute total pay based on hourly rates and overtime work.
- Familiarity: The program is widely known, eliminating the need for employee introductions.
- Streamlined Processes: Less energy is expended on changing work procedures.
- Cost-Effective: No additional costs are incurred.
- Transparent Calculations: The system ensures transparency in calculations and formulas.
Disadvantages of using employee timesheets templates
- Not suitable for managing a large number of employees. It takes too much time to manually enter data, especially with many projects or teams
- It’s not as easy to calculate more advanced metrics like project costs. and billing hours.
- Frequent mistakes like writing incorrect formulas or entering numbers incorrectly
- Timesheets in excel are not designed to store historical data, so historical data is not safe
- Excel timesheets can’t track actual work hours in relation to reported work hours
- Excel is very limited in terms of Time and Attendance functionalities, so you may have to create your own formulas for some calculations.
- You need to continuously remind your employees to send their worksheets.
How to find the best solution?
Although automated timesheet software is the best way to improve performance, it is still not used by all companies as part of their routine.
Some of them still use paper timesheets, while the rest companies use timesheets in Excel.
Microsoft Excel might have worked great when your team consists of a few employees.
But, as the number of employees increases, it becomes more difficult to manage them without using more automated solutions.
From timesheet templates to automated software
Due to the allure of sticking to familiar methods, many companies continue to rely on traditional approaches for tracking team time and progress. However, Excel-based timesheets fall short when it comes to adapting to dynamic circumstances.
In organizations with a few dozen employees, the data recorded using Excel can become inaccurate and irrelevant. Moreover, paper-based timesheets present several challenges. Human errors are common, with employees accidentally inputting incorrect formulas or numbers into the wrong columns.
Storing paper timesheets in a location accessible to everyone requires effort, and HR personnel must meticulously review each one, consuming valuable time and leaving room for mistakes.
Modernizing business practices is becoming crucial for growth. Fortunately, powerful software tools offer innovative ways to manage employee working hours more effectively. These tools allow you to rethink and optimize your workforce management.
Remember, embracing technology can lead to more efficient and accurate timekeeping, benefiting both employees and the organization.
Time tracking software – the best alternative to manual employee timesheet templates.
Why is time tracking software the best alternative to old-fashioned ways of tracking?
Simple put, this way of tracking will make timesheet management far more transparent to the employee. It will free up human resources for other tasks that cannot be done by a machine, and give them more time for other important aspects of their job.
It will replace the old school process of manually recording project time and costs and will help you and your team focus on your primary tasks.
Time tracking software vs timesheet template in Excel
Do you want to find the best solution for your company? We will show you the most important advantages and disadvantages of both solutions.
User-friendliness
When it comes to user-friendliness, it is very important for employees to be able to record working hours quickly and efficiently.
No matter if it is a manual or automatic timesheet, it has to be easy.
Excel
✅ Excel is recognizable and there is no need to introduce employees to the program
✅ There is no need to spend energy on changing work processes
❌ Excel cannot give an automatic notification when a timesheet is completed,
❌ It is not suitable for people who spend most of their time out of the office. It may be disturbing to open Excel as it usually isn’t a part of the employees’ work processes.
Time tracking software
✅ No manual administration of timesheets
If you and your team use spreadsheets for other daily business tasks, it will be even easier to start tracking time in them.
You will not have to spend extra energy and effort on defining new time tracking processes and explaining them to your team.
✅ User-friendliness has been included in the systems from the beginning
✅ Employees only need to keep track of their time for the right tasks and do not have to worry about handing over Excel sheets.
❌ Implementation often requires changes in your employees’ routines.
Speed and accuracy
In terms of speed and accuracy, calculating, and analyzing time entries, spreadsheets have several main drawbacks. On the other hand, timesheet apps usually offer a straightforward solution in this regard.
Let’s see the main problems and advantages of each of them.
Excel
✅ Adding time to a spreadsheet is quick and easy. Therefore, employees should not have much trouble entering time in spreadsheets.
❌ Spreadsheet timesheets require employees to enter their names, titles, job, projects, and tasks for each new timesheet they fill out.
❌ It takes time to create timesheet tables in spreadsheets and takes even more time if the manager has decided to make the process a bit automatic, by adding built-in formulas.
❌ HR assistant needs additional time to find the necessary information, such as the time employees spent on vacations, sick leave, or unpaid leave.
❌ Accounting staff needs to open all the timesheets manually to check whether everyone has updated their work time.
❌ You’ll need extra time to restore when you accidentally delete a cell (that is, if you even notice that you’ve deleted something in the first place).
❌ There’s a high chance of data loss when HR managers need to extract the data to separate spreadsheets and apps.
❌ Spreadsheets require manual double-checking.
❌ Mistakes and missing timesheets bring problems with the payroll, which causes errors with employee payment.
❌ The more people you have in your team, the harder it is to store and keep spreadsheets, and the more likely you are to make a mistake.
Time tracking software
✅ Adding time is always easy and fast. When you add hours and define your hourly rates, the timesheet app performs the calculations automatically based on precise and accurate formulas.
✅ With email reminders it’s much less likely that someone will forget to fill out a timesheet on time
✅ Timeline applications allow the entire team to securely store their timesheets in one place. You can also view the weeks of previous timesheets starting this week until the week you first created your account.
✅ Timesheet apps save you from repetitive tasks
Suitability
In terms of suitability for calculating time, spreadsheets are an easy approach to recording working hours, while timesheets apps have the advantage of having dedicated working time options.
Excel
✅ Spreadsheet timesheets allow you to print them out
✅ When you implement built-in formulas in your timesheets, anyone who enters time will be able to see all the formulas used for the calculations. Because of that, timesheets in excel are often transparent.
✅ You have everything you need to make simple timeline templates
❌ Timesheets in Excel offer only manual time entry.
❌ At the end of a workday, It’s hard to remember what you worked on previously.
❌ Spreadsheets don’t offer options that you would normally find in spreadsheet applications. Categorizing work time by tasks, and billability status, defining hourly rates and, generating comprehensive working time reports are just one of those missing options.
❌ Sometimes it can be overwhelming to find your spreadsheet when you need it or jump between different spreadsheets to carry out different tasks.
❌ Spreadsheet timesheets lack professional appeal
Time tracking software
Timesheet app designed to help you with many different tasks, especially to help you log, store, and analyze work time.
✅ Timesheet software helps you analyze your time and productivity level.
✅ There are a lot of different options like the option to define projects, tags for categorizing work time, and hourly rates the timesheet system will use to calculate your earnings
✅ The right timesheet app will help you understand how much time did you waste on secondary tasks and how much time did you spend on a certain project.
✅ The timesheet applications allow you to export reports to PDF, CVS, and Excel
✅ By exporting a timesheet through the app, you will be sure that your data is accurate.
✅ Most timesheet applications also offer you the option to generate SCV and PDF files.
✅ Timesheet apps offer you to track project costs and profitability, and labor costs, and profit calculations. A profit report can help you understand whether you need to increase your billable hourly rates.
✅ Timesheet apps provide print-ready sheets
❌ Timesheet apps may take some time to get used to. Some of your employees may be wary of using the timesheet app at first.
Invoicing
Excel
It is in the billing process that many experience a certain difference in the use of Excel timesheets and time tracking systems.
❌ Low invoicing percentage and delayed invoicing due to missing timesheets
❌ Risk of errors and low invoicing percentage
❌ Complex and long-lasting combination of timesheets to invoices
Invoicing problems keep getting bigger as the company grows, but this is also the case for smaller companies. If you do an invoice in Excel, you can lose money, because you do not invoice enough and you spend too much time doing that in Excel.
Time tracking software
Time tracking systems provide financial gain when you use them to invoice the hours.
✅ Time tracking software increase the invoicing percentage
✅ The time tracking system allows you to pull hours linked to projects or customers and convert them to invoices.
✅ Most systems have integration into the largest financial systems so the chain from hour registration to invoicing is connected.
✅ There is no room for mistakes because data no need to be moved between Excel sheets or systems.
Reporting and analysis
Excel
As your company grows, the need for time analysis increases.
What types and customers are time-consuming? What is your consultants’ realized hourly rate? You can get answers to these questions in both solutions.
✅ There is transparency in calculation and formulas. The formulas are open and you can track calculations and adjust them if necessary.
✅ You can build comprehensive reporting thanks to advanced setup options.
❌ If you want to see data needed for deeper analysis, it takes a high level of users to make enough advanced reports.
❌ Filling in the data in the reports is time-consuming when you need to collect and process timesheets and extract data from different sheets.
❌ There is a high risk that errors occur. It is very difficult to track wrong calculations across Excel sheets.
Time tracking software
✅ Comprehensive and deep reporting
✅ Most time tracking systems have a set of predefined reports that take data directly from time and expense. This makes the job of collecting and preparing timesheets to disappear.
Price
If we take the price into account, spreadsheets emerge as a costlier solution. Of course, there is always a free solution. The same goes for the timesheet app, which allows you to enjoy the basic timesheet features for free.
Excel
✅ There are free alternatives, such as Google Sheets
❌ According to Capterra, the price of Excel starts at $ 8.25 per month per computer. So, if you have a lot of employees, you’ll have to pay a much higher price so that everyone can follow the time in Excel’s timesheets from their devices.
❌ Your firm spends more money while managing employee time in spreadsheets. Managing in that way takes more time and costs, even if you choose to use free spreadsheet timesheets.
Time tracking software
✅ Timeline applications are very different when it comes to their prices. But it can also be free. If you sign up for the free version, you’ll be allowed to use all the essential time tracking features for free.
✅ Timesheet applications reduce the cost of your business as a whole. You can save money through quick time entry and through other benefits
Tips for Improving Time Tracking
As simple as it may seem, a lot of things could go wrong with time tracking.
Some employees find it difficult to record the exact time spent on a task, and some are just too lazy or forgetful to log into the timesheet software daily.
Also, when it comes to manual entering, this aspect makes the process open to errors and estimates.
Therefore, you should pay great attention to tracking employee hours accurately.
You can use these tips to simplify timekeeping and improve labor cost accuracy.
Introduce time tracking to your team
Be smart about introducing tracking software to your team.
Make sure that your employees understand the importance of time tracking tips and best practices, and clearly explain what your time tracking tool is meant for.
if you do not want employees to develop a negative attitude towards the new norms, don’t just train them on how to fill the timesheet. Make sure to educate them on the personal benefits of tracking time.
Give them information on how long their breaks should be, and how they can correct entries if they make a mistake.
Avoid turning time tracking into a chore by explaining why it’s better if their time spent is tracked.
Invest time to make sure everyone understands the benefits of using an online timesheet.
Automate your time tracking system
When it comes to time tracking, automation is the way to go.
If you are still using paper timesheets in your company, now it’s time to take the next step to improve your time tracking practices and get rid of manual timesheets.
When you choose a time tracking app that is a perfect match for your team, you will get 100% accurate timesheets.
Automating your record-keeping provides many benefits, from making it easier for employees to document their working hours to simplifying the record-keeping for your HR.
Make time tracking easy for your managers
If you still use the old ways of tracking time, the process can also be the annoying and the least favorite part for your HR staff.
Managers must routinely collect all reports, and check them for accuracy in terms of calculated working hours and overtime. Also, they will need to edit any errors, while never being sure they’ve caught them all.
Employees are often not very good at reporting their working hours. Therefore It can take a lot of time for managers to prepare the data for analysis.
Collect enough detail about employee work hours
Tracking overtime with accuracy is necessary for transparency and compliance.
That not only ensures that employees receive overtime pay but also allows your organization to better manage its resources and reduce overtime costs.
With the right time tracking tool, you can track hours on specific projects, job sites, and more.
Motivate employees to track time daily
Poor time tracking is costly.
Employees can fill timesheet at the end of the week, but that is not a good idea.
Filling a timesheet each day is much better than at the end of the week, as the memory is still fresh.
Daily time tracking doesn’t have to feel like a chore.
By choosing the right software, you will reduce the unwillingness of employees to fill their timesheets on time.
Make time tracking data transparent
You can restrict who can see time tracking entries on administrators or everyone. But you should try to make the process transparent.
It’s important that the team sees who worked on what and that their teammates regularly fill their working hours to increase their own motivation.
Put your time tracking data to use
When you start using software, you can begin to use the information you collected to gather insights.
With accurate tracking, you can make smart decisions about how you use your resources.
A time tracking platform doesn’t only automate an essential component of your business. It can help your company perform better.
The more accurate data you gather, the more valuable your analysis becomes.
You’ll be able to answer questions about time, and costs much faster, and you’ll be able to plan projects with an extra level of detail that ultimately benefits you.
When you implement a timesheet tool it’s very important that it has a simple, intuitive, and inviting user interface.
The simpler the software, the more your employees will use it on a daily basis.
Simple and easy time tracking software only requires an online registration to fill working hours.
Time Analytics – comprehensive timesheet
Do you feel that you have no insight into how much time your managers or team members have spent on different activities?
Without an appropriate timesheet, managers cannot be aware of the spent time structure of their teams.
Good time management software leads to improved efficiency and productivity, less stress, and more success in life, and also to more opportunities and less time wasted on trivial activities.
All timesheet software should have numerous benefits such as:
- Transparency in work processes
- Increased accountability among employees
- Understanding of billing and operational efficiency
- Knowledge where resource demand is the highest
Time Analytics has all these features of a good time tracking solution.
With this solution, you can plan, organize and control time consumption per employee, client, task, and project.
Whether you’re a consultant, lawyer, engineer, or accountant, this powerful platform will help your company to increase productivity, efficiency, and profitability.
With Time Analytics, you can analyze time tracking data to create more accurate estimates for new projects or find areas where you have too many resources and can save money.
Good time tracking software, like this, should provide more time, more opportunities, stress relief, and the ability to realize the goal.
How do you track team performance online with Time Analytics?
Time tracking per employee minimizes unproductive behavior of employees
Time tracking per client offers to track all time consumption per client, how many hours are charged per client, what tasks are performed, what is the cost of engagement, and what is the profit per client.
You can create an invoice based on real-time data and get an invoice appendix in the form of an appropriate timesheet.
Time tracking per activity provides an analysis of the efficiency of working tasks
Time tracking per service line and project offers an analysis of the profitability of certain projects and lines of services.
Basic features of Time Analytics
The best online time list should require only a few minutes for each employee to enter time per task, project, and client. It is obvious that with manual entries there is a possibility for wrong entries.
When using an online timesheet it should provide notifications to identify incorrect and false data entered.
In order to avoid losing time while consultants fill repetitive tasks, according to customer experience, the time for filling data by the consultant should be in the range from 5 to 7 minutes.
That’s why Time Analytics developed an interface that would require no more than a few minutes per day to enter data for end-users.
Let’s first quickly run through the standard features of Time Analytics software.
Employee’s timesheet tracking
Time Analytics timesheets include records of billable and non-billable hours per employee, projects, clients, and work tasks.
Performance management
Time Analytics dashboards provide an overall picture of an organization’s performance so you can take corrective action based on overall performance and real-time details.
Performance management allows you to track time utilization, billable and non-billable hours per project, employee productivity, client profitability, accuracy in invoicing, and more.
Clients monitoring
This module will give you an opportunity to keep evidence of completed tasks on client requests, and to monitor the profitability of each client and each project.
User-friendly solution
There is an option to use self-prepared templates for repetitive tasks.
Productivity management
Time Analytics can help you discover unproductive behavior, based on tracking billable hours and costs.
Invoicing assistant
Time Analytics prepares invoice data based on time utilization
The paper-based timeline template has worked well for many years, but, in today’s digital world, it is almost unthinkable not to use an automated solution
Now the question is whether Excel is enough?
Or does it make sense to invest in dedicated time tracking software?
The fact is that the use of Excel and basic spreadsheets does not incur additional costs on technology and the mentioned tool does not require significant updates. But, a manual system like this has a high probability of error.
Depending on manual timesheet templates creates a bunch of problems, and there are definitely better ways to handle these disadvantages.
Fortunately, there are more modern and convenient ways to manage timesheets.
Relying on an employee time tracking app provides many benefits that make the process of dealing with an employee timesheet management easier than usual.
Keeping track of time is key to understanding how you spend your time, personally and professionally.
So it’s very important to start using the right software in order to get valuable data on time and be able to use them in future work processes.
Jelena Lukic
Jelena has a Master’s Degree in teaching Serbian literature and language. Creative writing is her biggest passion.
