Excel gives you a familiar time record format, while Everhour adds team controls when weekly sheets need approval and correction.
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.
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Use the sheet to capture one workweek in a format a manager, client, bookkeeper, or payroll reviewer can read without follow-up. Each row should tie time to a date, person, project, task, and hour type. For U.S. payroll records, covered employers must keep daily hours worked and total hours worked each workweek for employees covered by FLSA minimum wage or overtime provisions.
The workweek matters because federal overtime for covered nonexempt employees is based on a fixed, regularly recurring 168-hour period. Covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate. Hours cannot be averaged across two or more workweeks for FLSA overtime purposes.
A practical Excel sheet needs employee name, week start date, work date, start time, end time, unpaid break time, total hours, project, task, billable status, rate, notes, and approval status. U.S. billing and payroll examples normally use USD. Separate billable and non-billable time so client invoices do not absorb internal meetings, training, or admin work.
Add daily totals and a weekly total near the top or bottom of the sheet. A reviewer should see regular hours, overtime hours, and total hours without rebuilding the math. The FLSA does not require a specific timekeeping form or system, but the method must be complete and accurate for covered nonexempt workers. Excel works only when entries stay consistent and reviewable.
The common spreadsheet failure is late reconstruction. A person filling in Monday through Friday from memory on Friday afternoon usually rounds, forgets task switches, and loses break detail. Require the date, actual work segment, project or client, and a note for corrections. A changed cell without context creates confusion during billing review or payroll cleanup.
Retention also matters. Employers must keep payroll records for at least three years and basic time and earnings records, including daily start and stop time cards or sheets, for at least two years. Store final versions by employee and pay period, then lock or archive approved files. A shared workbook should limit edit rights after approval so the final record stays stable.
A spreadsheet is enough for a freelancer, a small project, or a one-time weekly hours summary. It works best when one person enters time, one reviewer checks it, and the result goes into a single invoice or payroll process. The file becomes fragile when multiple people edit rows, managers need approval history, or hours feed several projects, clients, and pay periods.
A managed workflow handles those handoffs directly. Everhour Team Management adds lock rules, admin time correction, personal tracking limits, weekly capacity, approval workflow, roles, project assignments, team groups, and team-wide policy defaults. That structure turns weekly time from a file someone maintains into a controlled record managers can approve before payroll, billing, or reporting.
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An Excel timesheet should include employee name, workweek, date, start time, end time, unpaid breaks, total daily hours, weekly total hours, project or client, task, billable status, notes, and approval status. For covered nonexempt workers under FLSA minimum wage or overtime provisions, employer records must include hours worked each workday and total hours worked each workweek.
Excel can satisfy FLSA recordkeeping needs if the employer keeps complete and accurate records for covered nonexempt workers. The FLSA does not require a specific timekeeping form or system. The spreadsheet still needs daily hours worked, weekly totals, and records that support payroll review. Employers must also preserve payroll records for at least three years and basic time and earnings records for at least two years.
A U.S. spreadsheet should show weekly overtime clearly because the federal FLSA baseline uses hours worked over 40 in a workweek for covered nonexempt employees. A workweek is a fixed 168-hour period. Daily overtime columns belong only when a state rule, employer policy, contract, or payroll practice requires that additional breakdown.
Weekend work is not automatically federal overtime by itself. The FLSA does not require overtime premium pay solely for Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or regular rest-day work unless weekly overtime is triggered or another law, policy, contract, or agreement applies. The sheet should still label the date accurately so the reviewer can apply the correct rule.
Uncontrolled edits after approval make a spreadsheet unreliable. A late change to hours, breaks, project codes, or billable status can alter payroll, invoices, and project reports without a clear audit path. Use locked final files, dated correction notes, and a single owner for approved versions. Teams with frequent corrections need an approval workflow instead of editable shared rows.
Everhour Team Management lets admins set lock rules, correct time for team members, apply personal tracking limits, manage weekly capacity, and route timesheets through approval before payroll or billing review. Roles, project assignments, team groups, and team-wide policy defaults keep team records organized without relying on separate spreadsheet permissions.
Everhour Reporting turns logged time, budgets, costs, and project data into configurable reports that can be exported as CSV, Excel/XLSX, or PDF. Teams can filter by project, member, client, task, billable time, labor cost, invoice status, and other columns before exporting the file for review or archive.
Replace fragile weekly files with controlled team time records. Everhour gives managers lock rules, corrections, limits, capacity, and approvals before hours move into billing, payroll review, or reports.
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