Check out our free printable timesheet templates your team can use to manually track their time. We also offer alternatives if manual time entry isn’t the right fit.
Free Downloadable Timesheet Templates for Your Business
Small businesses use timesheets to track the number of work hours for their employees over a period, while independent contractors and freelancers use them to bill clients for time worked. Timesheets take the guesswork out of time tracking. For those needing a timesheet template, you can download any of our six free printable timesheets (depending on how often you pay your employees’ wages): weekly, biweekly, monthly, semimonthly, daily, and project-based.
If you are looking for an electronic timesheet software you can use for free and have one physical location (with up to 20 employees), consider Homebase. You can create and replicate a weekly schedule, and your employees can log their time through a mobile app. All the time calculations are done by the system to ensure overtime compliance, saving you time and reducing math errors. Sign up to try it out today.
Weekly Timesheet Template
Thank you for downloading!
If you’re spending too much time building timesheets, consider using a time tracking and scheduling software like Homebase. It has a FREE plan for one-location businesses with up to 20 employees.
With Homebase, you can create schedules in minutes, turn your devices into portable time clocks, and keep your employees connected with an all-in-one communication app. It even has an affordably priced payroll solution.
If you need to calculate employee time worked, overtime, PTO, and wages earned on a weekly basis, the weekly timesheet template may be right for your small business. Calculations are handled for you based on formulas included within the spreadsheet cells.
Biweekly Timesheet Template
Thank you for downloading!
If you’re spending too much time building timesheets, consider using a time tracking and scheduling software like Homebase. It has a FREE plan for one-location businesses with up to 20 employees.
With Homebase, you can create schedules in minutes, turn your devices into portable time clocks, and keep your employees connected with an all-in-one communication app. It even has an affordably priced payroll solution.
If you pay or calculate wages every other week, then use this biweekly time card template, which has room to add two weeks’ worth of time worked. You can use Microsoft Excel or Google Spreadsheet if you want it to handle the calculations for you. Otherwise, a PDF is available for your employees to complete manually. Of course, this means you’ll have to add up their hours by hand.
Monthly Timesheet Template
Thank you for downloading!
If you’re spending too much time building timesheets, consider using a time tracking and scheduling software like Homebase. It has a FREE plan for one-location businesses with up to 20 employees.
With Homebase, you can create schedules in minutes, turn your devices into portable time clocks, and keep your employees connected with an all-in-one communication app. It even has an affordably priced payroll solution.
If you pay or calculate wages on a monthly basis, or need to keep track of hours worked (such as for nonprofits that want to track the days and hours worked by volunteers), the monthly timesheet for employees will be your best choice. Like the other timesheet templates, this one is customizable if you download the spreadsheet version.
Semimonthly Timesheet Template
Thank you for downloading!
If you’re spending too much time building timesheets, consider using a time tracking and scheduling software like Homebase. It has a FREE plan for one-location businesses with up to 20 employees.
With Homebase, you can create schedules in minutes, turn your devices into portable time clocks, and keep your employees connected with an all-in-one communication app. It even has an affordably priced payroll solution.
If your company pays on a semimonthly basis, then your timesheet will need to have fields to track time worked for days one to 15 and days 16–31. You can manually input each day and date into the spreadsheet or simply list the month (this spreadsheet will allow you to create a new tab for each month of the year). Employees can then input their time worked into the correct month’s tab (January, February, March, etc.), so you’ll have a running total of all hours that employee worked for the year in one file.
Daily Timesheet Template
Thank you for downloading!
If you’re spending too much time building timesheets, consider using a time tracking and scheduling software like Homebase. It has a FREE plan for one-location businesses with up to 20 employees.
With Homebase, you can create schedules in minutes, turn your devices into portable time clocks, and keep your employees connected with an all-in-one communication app. It even has an affordably priced payroll solution.
In some situations, like when employees are all working an event or spending the day at an off-site training session, you may need a daily timesheet. You’ll want all your employees to sign in and out on one daily timesheet so that you can track hours worked by all attendees on one page. Nonprofit organizations may prefer this timesheet format to track volunteer hours worked each day. You can also revise the form to add a column for the employee signature, but you have to download either the Excel or Google Spreadsheet version.
Project Timesheet Template
Thank you for downloading!
If you’re spending too much time building timesheets, consider using a time tracking and scheduling software like Homebase. It has a FREE plan for one-location businesses with up to 20 employees.
With Homebase, you can create schedules in minutes, turn your devices into portable time clocks, and keep your employees connected with an all-in-one communication app. It even has an affordably priced payroll solution.
The project timesheet template can be used by freelancers who need to calculate hours worked on projects. It can also be used in offices where workers’ time is tracked against customers or projects, or when staff needs to designate billable hours so that you can invoice customers properly.
Tips for Using Timesheet Templates
Our free printable timesheets are easy to use. You just need to download the form you want and fill out the required fields. We’ve added some of the basic information needed (such as data fields for employee names and time periods), but you’re free to revise it based on your business needs—provided you download the Excel or Google Spreadsheet versions.
However, to fully utilize our timesheet templates, here are a few reminders and tips.
- Choose the template version: If you find that our timesheet templates are sufficient enough to meet your time tracking needs, you can simply download it as a PDF file and manually add the details needed (e.g., start and end times, employee name, number of hours, etc.). Note that you’ll need to calculate the totals by hand. You can also download the template as an Excel or Google Spreadsheet file and modify the sections, such as adding new data fields or columns/rows. This will allow you to customize the template to fit your time tracking needs.
- Share the template with employees: Communicate with your employees the type of form they need to accomplish and how to fill it out. You can distribute the form via email or save it in a shared Google Drive. If you decide to use a paper form, ensure that the document is stored in a place that’s easily accessible by employees. You may also want to consider creating a clock in/out policy, which includes guidelines for recording and calculating work hours, as well as the applicable disciplinary actions for policy violations.
- Set submission deadlines: Set a reasonable deadline for employees to submit the accomplished form. Ensure that you provide enough time for the workers to complete the form and for your payroll administrator to review the document and use the indicated total hours worked (both regular and overtime hours) for pay processing.
- Timesheet approval: Make sure that the timesheets submitted are signed by the employee and supervisor or manager. The signed document will serve as proof that both parties have verified all of the time details as correct. Not only does this provide a record of the actual hours worked, but will also help avoid potential payroll disputes.
New to handling payroll? Check out our how to do payroll guide for helpful tips. If you have a very small team and don’t mind using spreadsheets to compute pay, read our guide on how to calculate payroll using Excel.
Pros & Cons of Using a Free Printable Timesheet Template
Using a printable timesheet template to calculate and track employees’ hours has highlights and drawbacks. It is good for those with a limited number of employees and budget. However, it may not be right for your business if you need more advanced payroll processing features.
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Reporting. Timesheet templates offer reporting capabilities such as pivot tables and financial reports. | Inaccurate Hours. Timesheet templates, like Excel files, don’t provide the option of tracking hours in real time. You must rely on the accuracy of the employees’ input. |
| Cost Efficient. Since these timesheet templates are free to use, there is no cost involved other than the overhead to manage the spreadsheets. | Input Errors. Using a timesheet template can result in errors, as you must be sure you are on the correct line when inputting time. |
| Simple to Use. Most employees and business owners already know how to use spreadsheets, making this type of time tracking easy to understand. | Time Consuming. Entering data into a spreadsheet and verifying the accuracy can be time-consuming for a small business. |
If you have more than 10 employees, have issues with time fraud (like time theft), or prefer to use a time tracking software for your timesheets, check out the following buyer’s guides to find a solution that’s right for you.
- Best Time Tracking Software
- Best Time & Attendance Systems
- Best Free Time Tracking Software
- Best Employee Time Clocks
- Best Time Tracking Software for Freelancers
Timesheet Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Expand the questions below to get answers to some of your most frequently asked timesheet questions.
Yes, timesheets provide you with an accurate way of recording and tracking your employees’ actual hours worked, including the applicable minutes or hours for payment (e.g., regular and overtime pay) and deduction (e.g., unpaid leave, tardiness, and undertime).
A timesheet for employees should contain the following details:
- Employee name (or employee ID, if applicable)
- Pay or time period
- Rows for each day of the period or client/project
- Columns for start and end times, regular/overtime hours, and total hours worked
- Columns for vacation/sick hours or break times (as needed)
- An area for employee and supervisor to put their signature to validate the timesheet’s accuracy
Employees should fill in and check their timesheets on a daily basis (at least) to ensure that their time logs are correct. If you use project timesheets to record client billable hours, we recommend having your workers complete this as soon as they can so they don’t forget the tasks they completed and the time spent on each activity/project.
Bottom Line
Tracking time worked correctly is crucial to your business, and choosing the best timesheet template should be decided by your pay frequency and the type of spreadsheet that works best for your growing needs. Excel-based timesheets may work well for your needs; however, they can lead to accuracy errors, which can be costly for your business.
New to managing employees? Check out our guide to employee management for practical advice.
