Timesheet
Definition, rules and examples

What a timesheet contains

Timesheets range from a paper form to a digital record built from clock punches. A useful timesheet for an hourly team usually shows:

• Employee name and the pay period or workweek covered
• Date, clock-in time, and clock-out time for each shift
• Unpaid meal periods and any paid breaks
• Daily total hours and weekly total hours
• Regular hours and overtime hours separated
• Job, location, or department codes if pay rates differ
• Notes on edits and approvals by a supervisor

How a timesheet works: a worked example

Here is a hypothetical week for a warehouse associate paid $20.00 per hour, with a workweek that runs Sunday through Saturday.

Under federal law, hours over 40 in the workweek are overtime. This week has 40 regular hours and 4 overtime hours:

• Regular pay: 40 × $20.00 = $800.00
• Overtime pay: 4 × $30.00 (1.5 × $20.00) = $120.00
• Gross pay for the week: $920.00

You can run your own numbers with the time card calculator or the overtime calculator.

Federal rules for timesheets

The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require a particular timesheet format. The Department of Labor's recordkeeping fact sheet (#21) says employers may use a time clock, a timekeeper, or have workers write their own times, and that "any timekeeping plan is acceptable as long as it is complete and accurate." The same fact sheet says records for nonexempt workers must include, among other items:

• The day and time the workweek begins
• Hours worked each day
• Total hours worked each workweek
• The regular hourly pay rate, straight-time earnings, and overtime earnings
• Additions to and deductions from wages, total wages, and the pay date and period

Retention: According to the fact sheet, payroll records must be kept for at least three years, while records on which wage computations are based, such as time cards, work and time schedules, and records of additions to or deductions from wages, must be kept for two years. Records must be available for inspection by the Wage and Hour Division.

Fixed schedules: The fact sheet also allows employers with workers on a fixed schedule to keep a record of the schedule and note that it was followed, but when the worker works more or less than the schedule, the employer must record the hours actually worked.

The overtime rule itself comes from the DOL's overtime fact sheet: nonexempt employees must receive at least time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. Some states add daily overtime or other rules, so check your state labor department.

Best practices for accurate timesheets

• Capture punches in real time instead of reconstructing hours at the end of the week.
• Record actual start and stop times, including meal periods.
• Have employees review and confirm their timesheet each pay period.
• Require a manager approval before the timesheet goes to payroll.
• Log every change with who made it, when, and why.
• Store timesheets in a way you can produce quickly for an audit or dispute.

Common timesheet mistakes

• Filling in hours from memory. Week-end recall tends to drift and produces rounded, inaccurate numbers.
• Auto-deducting meal breaks. If someone works through lunch, that time is work time.
• Splitting overtime across weeks. Overtime is counted per workweek, not averaged.
• Missing off-the-clock work. Pre-shift setup or post-shift cleanup still counts as hours worked.
• Losing records. Throwing out time cards before the retention period ends leaves you without evidence.

Paper, spreadsheet, or digital timesheets

All three can meet the federal standard if the records are complete and accurate, but they differ in how much effort that takes.

For a small team with a stable schedule, a paper or spreadsheet timesheet can work for a while. As headcount, locations, or overtime grow, manual timesheets tend to create the most payroll corrections, because every number passes through someone's memory and someone's typing. A digital system that captures punches in real time removes both steps.

Whatever method you use, decide who is responsible at each stage: the employee records time, the supervisor reviews and approves, and payroll processes only approved timesheets. Put the deadline for each step in writing so late approvals do not delay paychecks.

Timesheet approval workflow

A short, repeatable approval routine catches most errors before they reach payroll. At the end of each workweek, the employee reviews their hours and flags anything missing. The supervisor then checks for missed punches, unusually long or short shifts, overtime that was not expected, and meal periods that look wrong, and either approves the timesheet or sends it back with a note. Payroll processes only approved timesheets. Keeping this cycle weekly, even when you pay biweekly, means problems are fixed while everyone still remembers the week.

Employee time sheet: what each row should show

A basic employee time sheet has one row per workday with the date, time in, meal break start and end, time out and total hours. At the bottom, it shows weekly regular hours and overtime. Totals are usually written in decimal hours for payroll; use the timesheet conversion chart to convert minutes. For a ready layout, see the time in time out sheet, or let a clock in clock out app fill it in automatically.

How EZTime helps

EZTime builds the timesheet automatically from clock punches made on a GPS mobile time clock with geofencing, NFC tags, a tablet kiosk, or biometric clocks. Managers see daily and weekly totals, get overtime and break alerts, and fix missed punches through timecard corrections that keep a full audit trail. When the period closes, payroll-ready Excel and PDF exports feed any payroll software; EZTime does not run payroll itself. Pricing starts from $2 per employee per month with a 14-day trial. Learn more about the attendance clock or see pricing.

This is general information, not legal advice.