Table of contents
- Free online timesheets
- The problem with manual timesheets
- Try free timesheet software instead
- Frequently asked questions
- It’s time to move on from manual timesheets
Looking for the right free timesheet template? You’ll have to consider your team’s pay periods, the projects they work on, your preferred format, and a number of other factors before making a decision.
Fortunately, we’ve designed our own downloadable timesheet templates for daily, weekly, and monthly payroll. Just choose between PDF, Excel, Word, Google Sheets, or Google Docs to get started.
With the right timesheet template in place, you can track more accurate work hours, streamline payroll, and reduce admin time for your team. Let’s explore a few options.
Logging your hours in a timesheet template is only helpful when you can easily adapt it to meet your team’s needs. Pay periods dictate a timesheet’s structure, so we’ve created different template categories to limit the time you spend on timesheet formatting.
If you pay your full-time employees on a monthly basis, give this timesheet template a try. You’ll be able to streamline your payroll process and eliminate monthly administrative work.
Download:
For teams that make payments every other week, a bi-weekly timesheet template is a lifesaver. It’s important to note that this is different from a bi-monthly timesheet. Instead of making payments on the 15th and 30th of each month, you’ll have 26 pay periods a year.
Download:
If you pay employees on a weekly basis, you know firsthand how challenging the quick turnaround time can be. This template will help you stay on top of the process and help employees reach their weekly hours goals.
Download:
Daily hourly timesheet templates give you a more detailed look into your team’s workflow. Use this template if you want to track how your team spends their time on different tasks as well as recurring items on their schedule that consume the most time.
Start your free, full-featured Hubstaff trial for 14 days of free timesheets.
Try Hubstaff freeHave your freelancers sort tracked time by project so that you know exactly what they’re working on. Freelancers can use this template to track billable hours for each of their clients and projects.
Download:
If you manage field teams, shop workers, or other employees that don’t work from a computer, printable timesheets can help. Print them out as a PDF, Google Doc, or Google Sheet. Or, send them via email for employees to complete when they’re back in the office.
Download:
If you’re tired of tedious admin work, timesheet templates are a huge help — but they aren’t a perfect solution. Manual timesheets are a challenge for a number of reasons.
Even the best timesheet template in the world can’t automate the process of filling out a timesheet. You’ll still need to remind employees to set aside time to complete timesheets throughout every pay period.
Every employee will need to be trained on your timesheet process. That includes not only filling out timesheets but also transferring the information to a payroll provider to pay your teams.
Even with training, mistakes can and do happen. You’ll need to build a timesheet correction and review process too. This will require more time and training for each of your employees.
Timesheets involve a lot of estimating and rounding of hours worked, so discrepancies are always a possibility. Minutes that aren’t recorded properly on a daily basis can accumulate into hundreds of wasted hours (and lost revenue) each year.
Keeping your team’s timesheets organized is easy at first. That said, it doesn’t take long for them to pile up — especially since companies are required to hold these records for at least three years (and up to six in special circumstances). If you ever need to revisit a timesheet, you’ll need to dig through files.
Reporting time isn’t the only purpose timesheets serve. They also determine how much to pay your hourly team. Once your team has submitted their timesheets, you still have to manually check if the hours and calculations are correct. It also takes time for payments to process as well.
Fortunately, there are powerful apps that can help you automate timesheets for your team.
Hubstaff’s timesheet automation capabilities make it a popular choice for teams looking to reduce admin work.
Start by signing up for a free account. From there, you can create an organization and add users for a small per user per month fee.
Once you have your team up to speed, they can use the Hubstaff time clock app to clock in and track time to their projects, tasks, and to-dos. When an employee presses start, an entry is automatically added to their itemized online timesheet.
As they switch between various projects, Hubstaff will track time spent on each one. At any time, users can edit time entries, add manual time, or leave notes by navigating to Timesheets > View & edit on the Hubstaff web app. With the built-in time off feature, timesheets will also include any paid time off, sick leave, lunch breaks, and other employee time.
At the end of each pay period, each user will receive an email reminder to submit their timesheet. They’ll have a chance to make last-minute changes or submit time. Employers can then approve timesheets and send them off for payment with a few simple clicks.
Hubstaff is far more than a timesheet app — especially when paired with other tools. With over 30 different app integrations, you can improve time tracking, project management, and accounting for your team.
When you set up an integration between Hubstaff and Gusto, approved timesheets will be converted into payments automatically.
You can also enable integrations with popular payment platforms like QuickBooks, PayPal, and Wise. Whether your team is comprised of full-time employees or freelancers, you’ll have plenty of options to streamline payroll and accounting for your team.
Timesheets are a record of an employee’s hourly work that employers use to pay them.
Timesheets were originally named for the physical sheet of paper they were written on. These days, time tracking apps provide timesheets in a number of digital formats so that all regular hours and overtime hours are recorded.
Step 1: Choose a format
Step 2: Title your timesheets
Step 3: Add labels, columns, and rows based on your team member’s payment schedule
Step 4: Deploy the timesheet to your employees
Step 5: Offer training on how to fill out timesheets and correct mistakes
While you can make your own timesheet, it’s best to start with a time care template or use a time tracking solution to simplify the process.
Yes, there is. Microsoft Office provides timesheets and other templates for most products in their suite at templates.office.com. Download the Excel template for a sleek time card that calculates totals automatically.
Technically, no. That said, Google Sheets has a timesheet template. While it’s not Google’s official version, you can check out our Google Docs timesheet template.
First, start by downloading the Microsoft Word timesheet template. From there, you can customize column headings, pay periods, and other settings to your liking with minimal effort.
Yes. The Google Workspace Marketplace has a tool called TimeSheet that records your Google Calendar events as time entries.
You can download an Excel timesheet template from Microsoft. Or, check out a guide on how to create a timesheet in Excel here.
Yes, our free timesheet calculator factors lunch and other breaks into the day.
Well, there you have it. Whether you choose one of our free timesheet templates or go a step further with a timesheet automation app, you can cut down admin time significantly.
No matter which method you choose, leave manual timesheet creation in the past. You owe it to yourself and your team to cut down on non-billable tasks and grow your business.
Turn tracked time into automated timesheets with a free 14-day Hubstaff trial.