A timesheet template provides an easy and free time card calculator for startups and small, growing businesses.
With a timesheet Excel template, you don’t need to create it yourself from scratch, install anything, or learn a new, complicated method.
All you have to do is download our free printable timesheet template, and after reading our guidelines below, you can DIY.
Customise the template as you wish, and then use it the best way to save yourself time and effort.
We’ll explain how to use the timesheet template, and provide tips as we go to optimise the whole timesheet process.
Step #1: Download the free timesheet template
Simply download the free timesheet template, and save it to your computer.
Tip! Keep organised right from the get-go by creating a folder for your new template on your computer, then add another folder into that one and name it “Timesheet Template”.
Once that’s done, copy the template and insert it into another new folder called, “Customised Timesheet Template”. This way, if you happen to mess up while doing your customising, you can easily just make another copy of the original template and start again.
Step #2: Customise the timesheet format
Now it’s time to make the timesheet template your own. Here’s a screenshot of what the first sheet looks like:
The columns currently include:
- Site
- Shift date
- Day
- Shift
- Hours
- Overtime?
- Rate
- Comments
The “totals” sheet includes the following fields, which can be changed to suit your requirements:
- Total Hours Worked
- Total for Normal Rate
- Total Overtime @ 1.5
- Total for Sunday (Non-Overtime)
- Total for Sunday (Overtime)
- Total for Holiday (Non-Overtime)
- Total for Holiday (Overtime)
- Total for Over Hours (+) (For Info)
- Total for Short Hours (-) (For Info)
- Total for Sick
- Total for Absent
- Total for Non-Fin Allowances
- Total for Fin Allowance
- Total for Earnings
- Total Number of Worked Shifts
- Wage per Hour
- Basic Wage
- Subtractive Hours
- Subtract from Basic Wage
- Amount added for Premium Hours
- Total Gross Remuneration
Change what you need to, and delete the example text in both sheets.
Once that’s done, you should have a nice clean template to start inserting real data into.
Tip! Save the customised version into a new folder. This one must be kept blank so that each time you need to use a new timesheet, the entries are blank and waiting for you to insert new data.
Step #3: Optimise your timesheets process
You may already have a process in place and you’re just looking for a better timesheet template, in which case you can skip this step. Otherwise, let’s continue:
You want to make your process as smooth, fast, and error-free as possible so that you don’t spend too much time on it, because you have better things to do than fiddle unnecessarily with the number of hours and time worked.
The first thing to decide is how will your employees complete and submit their hours?
You can either print out copies of the first sheet once you’ve customised it, and get employees to complete and submit it by hand, or you can add the sheet to a special folder on Google Drive or Dropbox, and send each staff member a link to their own timesheet, giving them a deadline by when the sheet must be completed.
Tip! New ways of doing things can be scary, but if you don’t absolutely have to – for logistical reasons – have employees complete their timesheets by hand, getting them to complete them online will make your life so much easier and organised.
In fact, if you want to really want to simplify the process, use a free tool such as Trello to make a card for each staff member, including the link to their timesheet. If you or the employee needs to discuss something pertaining to the timesheet, you can do it right from within the tool so you can keep track of everything instead of using emails to go back and forth, which can get confusing.
Step #4: Add in employees numbers
It’s now time to take the numbers your employees added to the timesheet, and do the calculations.
But first you’ll need to either do the math if employees submitted the numbers by hand. In this case, it’s best to keep duplicating the “shifts” sheet so that each staff member has their own sheet on your computer. Now insert the numbers they gave you, and then calculate the totals in the second sheet. Note! The template cannot automatically add up the numbers, so you will need to calculate them yourself.
Tip! Unfortunately, there is no way we could automate this process for you in a template. Workforce management software does that, to save you a lot of time and effort. However, if you can’t yet afford that option, and it’s logistically possible, consider using a free online time card tool.
As a Senior Product Manager at Adapt IT, I lead the division responsible for one of our flagship products, EasyRoster. Our primary focus is to empower organisations with top-tier Workforce Management Software, enabling them to optimise operational efficiency and streamline processes.
With over 12 years of experience in the industry, I have collaborated with clients across 25+ countries, delivering training sessions and offering labor efficiency consultations to diverse groups of professionals.
In my capacity as Senior Product Manager, I oversee a multidisciplinary team that together, strive to create innovative solutions and maintain our commitment to excellence in the realm of workforce management.
