Translator work spans client files, deadlines, and admin time. Everhour adds structured reporting when one-off records stop being enough.
Enter your time in and out for each day. Overtime and gross pay are calculated automatically.
| Day | Time In | Break Start | Break End | Break | Time Out | Total |
|---|
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.
A translator timesheet should show where the workday went: translation, revision, post-editing, client messages, quoting, file handling, billing, accounting, training, breaks, and other non-translation tasks. That split matters because many translators price by project, word, hour, or a mix of methods. A flat weekly total hides the work that shaped the invoice.
Freelance translators need client-by-client records because self-employed workers accounted for 27% of interpreter and translator jobs in 2024. Small translation teams need the same discipline for utilization and deadline planning. A clean week might show 18 hours on client translation, 4 hours on post-editing, 3 hours on quoting and communication, and 2 hours on billing and records.
Each entry needs a date, client, project, source and target language pair when relevant, task type, start and stop time or duration, billable status, rate basis, notes, and invoice status. Written translation projects often involve websites, marketing materials, user documentation, and other digital files, so project names should match the client file or delivery milestone.
Task categories should stay practical. Use translation, review, post-editing, formatting, client communication, quoting, billing, accounting, and non-billable business development. CAT tools and translation memory can speed repeated content, but the timesheet still needs the time actually spent. A 2.5-hour entry for "Client A, product guide, English to Spanish, post-editing, billable" gives you more control than "translation work."
Translator rates need more than a target annual income. ProZ.com's rate calculator uses planned working hours per week, the percentage of working hours spent translating, and average words translated per hour. That means a timesheet should reveal the share of paid time that actually produces translated words, compared with quoting, email, file prep, invoicing, and other business work.
A common mistake is treating every work hour as translation capacity. Part-time and irregular schedules are common for interpreters and translators, and workloads can swing from light weeks to long deadline pushes. If you plan for 30 working hours but only 18 are translation hours, your per-word or project rate needs to carry the remaining admin time.
A simple weekly timesheet is enough for a one-off invoice, a short translation job, or a solo review of billable and non-billable hours. It should give you a defensible total by client and task, plus enough detail to answer a client question about scope, delivery, or extra work.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when recurring clients, multiple translators, approvals, or reporting drive the business. Everhour Reporting can group logged time by client, project, task, member, billable time, labor cost, invoice status, and other columns, then export reports in CSV, Excel/XLSX, or PDF for billing review and records.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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A translator timesheet should include translation, revision, post-editing, formatting, quoting, client communication, file preparation, billing, accounting, training, and other admin work. Separating these categories shows the difference between time spent producing translated text and time spent running the translation business.
Translators should track both when rate planning matters. Word counts show output, while hours show effort, admin load, and profitability. A project with 3,000 words and 6 total hours tells you more than either figure alone, especially when the total includes review, formatting, and client communication.
Freelance translators do not always need start and stop times for a client invoice, unless the contract requires that detail. Start and stop times help reconstruct a workday, support internal records, and separate overlapping admin work from billable project time. Duration-only entries work best when the notes and task categories are precise.
A translator payroll timesheet for covered nonexempt work must show daily hours worked and the total hours worked in each workweek when the FLSA minimum wage or overtime provisions apply. Federal rules allow any timekeeping method, as long as the employer keeps complete and accurate records.
The FLSA does not require overtime premium pay solely because work happens on Saturday, Sunday, a holiday, or a regular rest day. Covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed 168-hour workweek, at not less than 1.5 times the regular rate, unless a different law or agreement adds more.
Everhour Reporting lets translators and teams build reports with 45+ columns, grouping, filters, date ranges, and export options. A report can separate client, project, task, billable time, labor cost, invoice status, and comments before billing review.
Track translation, post-editing, and admin time with records that feed client reports. Everhour turns logged hours into customizable reporting for billing review, profitability checks, and cleaner translation records.
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