Timesheet Calculator
Fill in a timesheet for any pay period, weekly, biweekly, twice a month, or monthly, using the real calendar dates. Get total hours, decimal hours, and overtime counted by workweek.
Fill every weekday with the same shift
Loading the current pay period…
Total hours (h:mm)
0:00
Total hours (decimal)
0.00
Regular
0.00
Overtime
0.00
Gross pay
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Collecting timesheets from a team every pay period? HiveDesk fills them in automatically from tracked time and routes them for approval.
Track it automatically →How to Calculate Timesheet Hours
- Set the pay period. Pick the frequency and the first day of the period. The calculator lists every date in it, including weekends.
- Enter clock-in, clock-out, and unpaid break for each date worked. Use “Fill every weekday” for a regular schedule, then adjust the days that were different. Leave days off blank.
- Choose rounding if your employer uses it. Clock times are rounded before the day is totaled.
- Read the totals and the workweek table. Hours over 40 in a workweek are overtime. Workweeks cut off by the start or end of the period are marked partial.
- Download the CSV to attach to an approval email or import into a spreadsheet.
A day's hours are the end time minus the start time minus the unpaid break, converted to decimal by dividing the minutes by 60. 8:52 AM to 5:11 PM with a 30-minute lunch is 7 hours 49 minutes, or 7.82 hours. If the end time is earlier than the start time, the shift is treated as ending the next day.
Timesheet or Time Card: Which Calculator to Use
The two words are used interchangeably, and both add up hours worked. HiveDesk's two calculators are built for different jobs:
| Timesheet calculator (this page) | Time card calculator | |
|---|---|---|
| Pay periods | Weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly | Weekly, biweekly |
| Rows | Actual calendar dates in the period | Days of the week |
| Workweek | Sunday or Monday start; partial weeks flagged | Monday to Sunday |
| Overtime | Over 40 per workweek (federal) | Federal, daily over 8, or California rules |
| Output | CSV download | Printable card with names, and CSV |
| Best for | Monthly and twice-monthly payrolls, reconciling a period | A signed weekly or biweekly card for one employee |
For a single week without dates, the hours calculator is quickest, and the payroll hours calculator turns hours into a paycheck with estimated taxes.
Why Twice-a-Month Timesheets Split Workweeks
A semimonthly period runs from the 1st to the 15th and from the 16th to the end of the month. Those dates rarely line up with a seven-day workweek. Here is the September 1–15, 2026 period with a Sunday-to-Saturday workweek:
| Workweek | Days in this period | Weekdays in this period | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, Aug 30 to Sat, Sep 5 | 5 | 4 | Partial |
| Sun, Sep 6 to Sat, Sep 12 | 7 | 5 | Complete |
| Sun, Sep 13 to Sat, Sep 19 | 3 | 2 | Partial |
Only the middle week falls entirely inside the period. The first workweek started in August, so its overtime depends on hours already paid in the August 16–31 period, and the last one finishes in the September 16–30 period. Federal rules require the overtime for each workweek to be paid on the regular payday for the period in which that week ends, so the last week's overtime is settled on the next paycheck.
A worked case: an employee works 9-hour days Monday to Friday in the first workweek. Monday, August 31 belongs to the August 16–31 period, so those 9 hours are paid on the August paycheck at straight time. Tuesday to Friday, September 1–4, add 36 hours to this period. The workweek totals 45 hours and ends on Saturday, September 5, inside the September 1–15 period, so the 5 hours of overtime are owed on the September 1–15 payday, even though only 36 of the week's hours appear on this timesheet.
That is why the calculator lists workweeks separately and marks partial ones: straight-time hours can be paid as they fall, but overtime has to wait until the whole workweek is known. For more on the rules, see overtime pay laws by state.
Work Hours in Each Month of 2026
Weekdays and full-time hours (8 hours a day) per month and per semimonthly half, before holidays. Hourly employees on a twice-a-month or monthly payroll are paid for the hours in the actual period, so paychecks change with the calendar.
| Month | Weekdays | Hours | 1st to 15th | 16th to end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22 | 176 | 11 days, 88 hrs | 11 days, 88 hrs |
| February | 20 | 160 | 10 days, 80 hrs | 10 days, 80 hrs |
| March | 22 | 176 | 10 days, 80 hrs | 12 days, 96 hrs |
| April | 22 | 176 | 11 days, 88 hrs | 11 days, 88 hrs |
| May | 21 | 168 | 11 days, 88 hrs | 10 days, 80 hrs |
| June | 22 | 176 | 11 days, 88 hrs | 11 days, 88 hrs |
| July | 23 | 184 | 11 days, 88 hrs | 12 days, 96 hrs |
| August | 21 | 168 | 10 days, 80 hrs | 11 days, 88 hrs |
| September | 22 | 176 | 11 days, 88 hrs | 11 days, 88 hrs |
| October | 22 | 176 | 11 days, 88 hrs | 11 days, 88 hrs |
| November | 21 | 168 | 10 days, 80 hrs | 11 days, 88 hrs |
| December | 23 | 184 | 11 days, 88 hrs | 12 days, 96 hrs |
| 2026 | 261 | 2,088 | ||
Subtract paid holidays to get working days; the work days in a month calculator does this for any month and holiday list, and work days in a year covers the full year. Salaried employees are usually paid the same amount each period regardless of these counts.
Decimal Hours and Rounding on Timesheets
Timesheet totals go to payroll in decimal hours. The common minute values:
6 minutes
0.10 hr
12 minutes
0.20 hr
15 minutes
0.25 hr
20 minutes
0.33 hr
30 minutes
0.50 hr
40 minutes
0.67 hr
45 minutes
0.75 hr
50 minutes
0.83 hr
Six-minute rounding (tenths of an hour) is common in legal and professional services because each increment is exactly 0.1 hour. Quarter-hour rounding is common in hourly workplaces: 1 to 7 minutes round down and 8 to 14 round up. Either is allowed only if it averages out and does not consistently cut paid time. The minutes to decimal calculator and the time to decimal chart have every value from 1 to 60.
Common Timesheet Mistakes
Most timesheet errors come from a handful of habits. Each one changes the hours that reach payroll:
Writing minutes as decimals
7 hours 30 minutes entered as 7.30 instead of 7.50 loses 12 minutes. Over a semimonthly period of 11 shifts that is more than two hours of unpaid time.
Filling in the schedule instead of the actual times
A timesheet that shows 9:00 to 5:30 every day is almost always a copy of the schedule. Late starts, early finishes, and stay-lates all disappear, and the employer loses the record it would need in a wage dispute.
Averaging overtime across the pay period
A biweekly or semimonthly total of 80 hours can still contain overtime if one workweek ran over 40. Check each workweek, including the partial ones at the start and end of the period.
Putting an overnight shift on the wrong day
A 10 PM to 6 AM shift belongs to the date it started. Splitting it across two dates, or subtracting the times without adding 24 hours, produces a negative or doubled day.
Deducting paid breaks
Only unpaid meal breaks where the employee is fully relieved of duty should be subtracted. Short rest breaks of about 20 minutes or less are paid work time under federal rules.
Rounding in one direction
Rounding clock-ins up and clock-outs down, or rounding only when it shortens the day, is the pattern most often found in wage audits. If you round, round both directions to the nearest increment.
Timesheet Approval and Record-Keeping
A timesheet becomes a payroll record once it is approved. For non-exempt employees, federal rules require employers to keep the hours worked each day and each workweek, and to retain time cards for at least two years and payroll records for at least three. A simple approval routine prevents most disputes: the employee submits by a fixed deadline, a manager checks it against the schedule, and corrections are made before payroll rather than after.
If you need a blank form rather than a calculator, the free timesheet templates include weekly and monthly versions, with or without client and project columns. For the process itself, see what a timesheet is and the timesheet approval process. Teams that outgrow spreadsheets usually move to timesheet software that fills in hours from tracked time, with approval built in.
Timesheets That Fill Themselves In
HiveDesk tracks hours automatically, builds timesheets for any pay period, and routes them for approval before payroll. $5/user/month, 14-day free trial.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate timesheet hours?
For each day, subtract the clock-in time from the clock-out time and subtract any unpaid break. Convert the result to decimal hours by dividing the minutes by 60, then add the days together. For overtime, total each workweek separately and count hours over 40 in each one.
What is the difference between a timesheet and a time card?
A time card traditionally records clock punches for one employee for a week or two, often printed for signature. A timesheet records the hours worked on each date of a pay period and is often used for any pay frequency and for tracking time against projects or clients. In practice the terms overlap; the calculation is the same.
How do I calculate my monthly hours?
Count the working days in the month and multiply by your daily hours. In 2026, months have between 20 and 23 weekdays, so a full-time 8-hour schedule works 160 to 184 hours a month before holidays. The average is 173.33 hours (2,080 hours a year divided by 12).
How can I calculate my work hours for two weeks?
Enter each day of the two weeks and add them, but check overtime week by week. 42 hours in the first week and 38 in the second is 80 hours in total with 2 hours of overtime, because each workweek is judged on its own under federal law.
How is overtime handled on a semimonthly or monthly timesheet?
Overtime is still based on the workweek. Because semimonthly and monthly periods do not line up with seven-day weeks, the first and last workweeks are often split across two pay periods. Their overtime depends on the hours on both sides of the boundary and is due on the payday for the period in which the workweek ends.
Should I round times on a timesheet?
Rounding is allowed to the nearest 5 minutes, 6 minutes (a tenth of an hour), or 15 minutes if it is neutral over time. Many employers now record exact minutes instead, because automatic time tracking makes rounding unnecessary and removes the risk of rounding that favors the employer.
How long should employers keep timesheets?
Under federal rules, time cards and the records used to calculate wages must be kept for at least two years, and payroll records for at least three. Many states require longer.