Manual timesheet math is free, but Everhour adds approval controls when recurring payroll review needs structure.
Enter your daily hours and rate to instantly calculate total hours, regular pay, and any overtime — no spreadsheet needed.
The calculator gives you the number — Everhour takes it from there.
One click and you're timing. Start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Everhour.
Set a budget, assign rates, and get alerted before you're over.
Measurement
Track your budget through time or costs
Every report you need — configured your way, always up to date.
Tracked hours flow straight into a polished invoice — no copy-paste, no manual math.
This calculation answers whether a no-cost timesheet total gives you enough information for the immediate payroll or billing question. A free sheet can add clock spans, subtract unpaid meal periods, convert minutes to decimal hours, and show a weekly total. For a single worker, one week, and clean entries, that result is often enough for a rough paycheck check or invoice estimate.
The decision changes when the same calculation must support approvals, corrections, locked periods, or payroll export. Covered, nonexempt employees in the United States must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed workweek. A free total can show 41 hours, but a managed workflow preserves who entered the time, who approved it, and whether later edits changed the payroll basis.
Start with gross recorded time, subtract only unpaid break time, then separate regular and overtime hours when the worker is covered and nonexempt under the FLSA. Short breaks an employer provides, usually about 5 to 20 minutes, stay in paid hours. A bona fide meal period is generally unpaid only when the employee is completely relieved from duty. Work performed while eating stays in hours worked.
For example, a covered nonexempt employee records 44 gross hours in one fixed workweek, takes 3 hours of bona fide unpaid meal periods, and earns $28 per hour. Paid hours are 41. Regular pay covers 40 hours at $28, or $1,120. Overtime covers 1 hour at $42, because FLSA overtime is paid at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate. Total gross pay is $1,162.
Free timesheet math works best when the inputs are already trustworthy. The main cost is review time, not subscription cost. A manager still has to confirm AM/PM entries, work after scheduled clock-out, break treatment, and whether rounded punches average out over time. Federal time-clock rounding is accepted only when it is neutral and does not underpay employees for actual hours worked.
Paid time tracking earns its keep when the same errors repeat. A worker typing 1:30 as 1.30 loses 12 minutes because payroll decimal time uses minutes divided by 60. A team spread across several projects also needs consistent project labels, member permissions, and correction history. A free spreadsheet can calculate the number. It does not create a durable review record by itself.
A one-off calculator is enough for a clean historical check: one employee, one fixed workweek, known unpaid meals, and no disputed edits. It is also enough for quick billing math when the client only needs a total and the source time entries already exist somewhere reliable.
A managed workflow fits recurring payroll, agency billing, or team operations. Everhour Team Management gives admins lock rules, admin time correction, weekly capacity, approval workflow, roles, project assignments, team groups, and team-wide time policy defaults. Those controls matter when a total must move from employee entry to manager approval, then into a payroll or billing handoff without uncontrolled edits.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
High Performer
G2
Summer 2026
Best Ease Of Use
Capterra
Summer 2026
Rated in the top time trackers across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius — with consistent praise for ease of use, integrations, and support.
A free timesheet is enough for a one-week estimate when the entries are complete, breaks are classified correctly, and the worker category is clear. For U.S. covered nonexempt employees, calculate overtime only after paid hours exceed 40 in the fixed workweek. Do not average hours across multiple workweeks.
Free timesheet math usually fails at the inputs: missing clock-out times, AM/PM mistakes, minutes typed as decimals, unpaid meals taken without full relief from duty, and after-shift work left off the sheet. The formula can be correct while the payroll basis is wrong because the recorded time is incomplete.
Free software does not decide that legal and policy question for you. Federal law does not require meal or rest breaks for adult employees, but short breaks an employer provides are paid hours worked. A meal period is generally unpaid only when the employee is completely relieved from duty. State law or employer policy can add stricter rules.
Calculate weekly overtime after subtracting only valid unpaid meal periods from gross recorded time. For covered nonexempt employees under the FLSA, overtime applies to hours worked over 40 in a fixed workweek at not less than 1.5 times the regular rate. Paid breaks remain inside hours worked and count toward that weekly total.
A free spreadsheet can apply a rounding formula, but the policy still needs review. Federal rules allow rounding to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth, or quarter-hour only when the practice averages out over time and does not underpay employees for actual hours worked. A spreadsheet should keep the original punch beside the rounded value.
Everhour Team Management gives admins lock rules, admin time correction, personal tracking limits, weekly capacity, approval workflow, roles, project assignments, team groups, and team-wide time policy defaults. Managers can approve or reject time before reports, payroll review, or billing use the totals.
Everhour timesheets lock submitted time unless it is withdrawn or rejected, and approved time stays locked for regular members. That workflow gives managers a cleaner audit trail when weekly hours need approval before payroll, client billing, or operational reporting.
Use a free calculation for a quick check. Move recurring review into Everhour Team Management when approvals, locked periods, correction history, and team policy defaults protect payroll and billing decisions.
14-day free trial · No credit card · Cancel anytime
