Free Monthly Timesheet Templates (includes User Guide)

Monthly Timesheet Templates for Excel and Google Sheets

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, organizations are required to keep records of their employees’ work hours. While the regulations apply to everybody, in most states, companies have the freedom to choose what type of monthly timesheet template and method to use.

For instance, Workforce’s 2021 survey reported that 10% of U.S. businesses prefer manual timekeeping systems like spreadsheets and printed timesheets. If you’re among that percentage, keep reading to find and download the printable & FREE monthly timesheet templates that are perfect for your needs.

What Is an Employee Timesheet?

A time tracking spreadsheet allows organizations to record the amount of time an employee spends working on various tasks. A user can enter the time they started work and the time they logged out. You can also find a time sheet template that requires people to specify which tasks they’re working on at a given time.

“Explore our latest offering to discover customizable templates designed to revolutionize your time tracking process. With Traqq’s expert insights, learn how to leverage these templates to accurately record your work hours and activities.”

Using a simple monthly timesheet template can be incredibly beneficial in the entire payroll process. It keeps the total billable time transparent while encouraging employees to stay organized. In general, a monthly timesheet template in Excel should contain the following:

  • The name of the employee
  • The date, start time, and end time
  • The days of the week
  • A column for overtime hours
  • An area for supervisor and employee validation or signature

Monthly Timesheet Templates

Creating tables from scratch to track billable time and calculate total pay can be a complex process. Small business owners often complain about how difficult it is to monitor work hours when they’ve just hired their first freelancer or employee. However, they are not quite ready to pay for an attendance management system.

To ease your burden, we’ve included printable monthly timesheet templates in this article. All you need to do is download the file and customize the fields according to your preferences.

Monthly Timesheet with Overtime Tracking

Monthly Timesheet with Overtime Tracking

If your employees regularly log overtime work, then this monthly timesheet template is ideal for you. It contains the Start Time, Lunch Start/End Times, and Time Out. It also indicates the regular billable time and regular hours.

Get your FREE monthly timesheet with overtime tracking for Google Sheets.

How to Use the Monthly Timesheet with Overtime Tracking

Click File and select Make a Copy.

Click File and select Make a Copy.

Once you’ve created a copy of the monthly timesheet template, input the Employee Name, Title, Manager, and Hourly Rate.

Once you’ve created a copy of the monthly timesheet template, input the Employee Name, Title, Manager, and Hourly Rate.

Next, go to the Week-by-Week Data section and type your Start Time, Lunch Start, Lunch End, and End Time. The Regular Hours column should automatically populate itself. If you have Overtime Hours, enter the data manually.

Start Time, Lunch Start, Lunch End, and End Time sections on the timesheet

The Total Hours and Total Pay columns will populate automatically at the end of each week. At the end of the month, you will also see the total pay for the month.

week beginning, total hours, total pay

Simple Monthly Timesheet

simple monthly timesheet

This printable monthly timesheet template is a simpler version of the previous spreadsheet. It only contains the Start Time and End Time. In between, the user can indicate their Lunch Start/End Times.

Get your FREE simple monthly timesheet template for Google Sheets.

How to Use the Simple Monthly Timesheet Template

Click File and select Make a Copy.

How to Use the Simple Monthly Timesheet Template

Once you’ve created a copy of the monthly timesheet template, input the Employee Name, Title, Manager, and Hourly Rate.

Employee Name, Title, Manager, and Hourly Rate

Go to the appropriate date and input your Start Time, Lunch Start/End Times, and End Time. The total work hours for the day should populate automatically.

Start Time, Lunch Start/End Times, and End Time on the timesheet

At the end of the month, you will see the total work hours and total pay.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday

Why Do You Need Monthly Timesheets?

As we’ve mentioned, they simplify the entire attendance management and payroll process. Whether you’re an independent contractor or you’re managing a team, maintaining timesheets can make invoicing easier. Let’s break down how that happens:

Monthly Timesheets Are Records that Resolve Disputes

The primary reason why you’ll need a printable monthly timesheet template is because it acts as a record of the employee’s work hours. It will show you how many regular and overtime hours they put in. With a reliable and organized way of tracking billable time, you can gauge worker performance. Now, if you’re working with contractors or freelancers, timesheets make it easier to generate invoices and pay people accurately.

Meanwhile, if there is a significant payroll dispute between the employer and employee, the timesheet will serve as a record. If the data is accurate, payment issues will be resolved easily.

Monthly Timesheets Aid in Creating Accurate Client Quotes

When you have a record of the total hours you worked, it is easier for you to provide accurate quotes to your customers. A simple monthly timesheet template can help independent contractors confidently provide budget estimates to potential clients.

Now, if you’re a freelancer and you’re already working with clients, maintaining timesheets will create transparency in your invoices. Your customers will know how long it takes for you to complete certain tasks. As such, you can justify the amount you charge for the billable time you worked.

Monthly Timesheets Boost Efficiency

A detailed monthly timesheet template allows workers to indicate the time they spend on routine tasks. As a result, managers can collect data for calculating the hours that specific activities consume. By identifying repetitive tasks, they can generally improve team productivity.

What Are the Disadvantages of Using a Monthly Timesheet Template?

Indeed, there are several benefits that come with using a simple monthly timesheet template. However, it’s still not the ideal method for monitoring work hours, especially if you’re a freelancer or a team manager. Here are some of the reasons why:

Excel Timesheets Are Time-Consuming

Timesheet templates are supposed to free up your time. However, they end up giving you extra work, simply because they don’t automate the process.

Even with a simple monthly timesheet template, you have to do everything manually. Now, if you’re managing several freelancers and employees, you’ll need to review their timesheets individually. You even have to create individual reports to validate the accuracy of their monthly invoices.

What’s more, you need to transfer the data to a separate invoice template to calculate your freelancer’s pay. You can do everything yourself and waste time or you can hire someone else to do it for you, which can be an avoidable expense.

Time Tracking Spreadsheets Can Be Inaccurate

According to a 2008 analysis by University of Hawaii professor Ray Panko, 90% of spreadsheet documents have mistakes. If you’re encoding data and calculating billable time manually, the element of human error is always present.

Even if you’re using a simple monthly timesheet template, you can get overwhelmed and confused with the numbers and data you’ll have to handle. Manual Excel timesheets don’t even record the exact time it takes to complete the task. Instead, you’d have to rely on estimates.

Because you’re eyeballing the task duration, you’re also jeopardizing the entire billing process. You may end up mistakenly including breaks.

Timesheet Templates Don’t Measure Productivity Accurately

The time spent on tasks is not the only basis for measuring productivity. You also need to know how employees spend those work hours. With a timesheet template, you will only see the total billable time assigned to a project or a task.

Even so, the data won’t tell you exactly what they did during the recorded time. You’re not sure if they’re putting in productive work or cyberslacking and spending time on social media. As a result, you don’t get an accurate view of how productive people are when tracking time for tasks or projects.

Ditch the Monthly Timesheet Template and Automate Time Tracking

Indeed, it’s not practical to track work hours using a printable monthly timesheet template. The entire process is time-consuming and even prone to errors.

So, what’s the best way to simplify the entire payroll process?

Well, you can use Traqq – a convenient time tracking app.

Aside from logging time, Traqq will also give you insights into productivity. Indeed, it will ease the workload of any manager and freelancer. After all, employees won’t have to worry about manually entering time data. At the same time, managers won’t have to calculate time manually.

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