How to fill out a timesheet
A timesheet is a record that may be read months later by someone who was not there. These are the habits that make it hold up.
A timesheet is a record that may be read months later by someone who was not there. These are the habits that make it hold up.
Three things determine whether your sheet will reconcile with payroll, and all three are worth confirming once rather than guessing every week:
What a correct sheet looks like. Note that Wednesday is recorded as two shifts rather than one shift with a break, and that Thursday's overtime is visible rather than smoothed away.
| Date | Day | In | Out | In | Out | Break | Hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 3 | Mon | 08:00 | 16:30 | — | — | 30 | 8.00 | Line 2 |
| Mar 4 | Tue | 08:00 | 16:30 | — | — | 30 | 8.00 | Line 2 |
| Mar 5 | Wed | 08:00 | 12:00 | 12:45 | 16:45 | 0 | 8.00 | Punched out for lunch |
| Mar 6 | Thu | 08:00 | 18:30 | — | — | 30 | 10.00 | Cover for J. Reid |
| Mar 7 | Fri | 08:00 | 12:00 | — | — | 0 | 4.00 | Half day — approved |
| Mar 8 | Sat | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Mar 9 | Sun | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Week total | 38.00 | 2.00 h daily OT (Thu) | ||||||
The week is 38 hours, below the 40-hour weekly threshold — but Thursday still generated 2 hours of daily overtime in a state that has a daily rule. That is exactly the case a weekly total alone would hide.
| Mistake | Why it costs you |
|---|---|
| Writing 7.45 for 7 hours 45 minutes | Understates by 18 minutes every time. The correct decimal is 7.75. |
| Deducting a break you also punched out for | Double-counts the deduction, losing 30 minutes a day. |
| Rounding your own hours down "to be safe" | You are not required to. Record what you worked. |
| Recording totals instead of times | Nothing can be verified later, and disputes default against the vague record. |
| Leaving off pre-shift or post-shift work | Setup, handover and closing down are usually compensable time. |
| Filling the week in from memory on Friday | Contemporaneous records carry weight; reconstructions do not. |
| Not keeping a copy | If the sheet is lost or altered, you have nothing. |
Employers covered by the FLSA must retain time records for non-exempt employees for at least two years, and payroll records for three. Keeping your own copy for the same period costs nothing and is the only thing that helps if pay is ever disputed after the fact.
The TimeWorked timesheet keeps entries in your browser and exports a CSV or JSON backup; the blank templates print a sheet with signature lines if your employer wants paper.
Record the date and the actual clock-in and clock-out times for each shift, put unpaid break minutes in their own column, total in decimal hours, add notes explaining anything unusual, and fill it in daily rather than from memory at the end of the week.
Payroll normally wants decimal hours, so 7 hours 45 minutes is entered as 7.75. Writing 7.45 is the single most common timesheet error and understates the time by 18 minutes.
If you clock out and back in, record two shifts and leave the break field at zero — the gap is already excluded. Use the break field only when you stay clocked in through an unpaid break.
No. Record what you actually worked. Rounding is your employer's policy to apply, and rounding yourself down means giving away time nobody asked you to give.
Anything that explains the numbers: project or client codes, why a day was short or long, whose shift you covered, and any break you were called out of. This is the field that settles queries months later.
At least two years. That matches the FLSA record-retention requirement for employers, and it covers the period in which most wage disputes arise.
A full week with breaks, overtime, saving and export.
Weekly, biweekly and monthly sheets to print or export.
The 0–59 minute payroll conversion chart.
Which breaks are paid, and which states require them.
When rounding punches is lawful and when it is not.