Published 30 Nov 2022
What is an Employee Timesheet?
An employee timesheet is a record of time an employee spent on a particular task, specific project or client, or simply a data of the number of hours an individual worked for a time period. Employee timesheet is a tool that business owners use as a reference to accurately track time rendered for payroll purposes. Additionally, project managers utilize timesheets to assign tasks effectively, while individual employees use them to efficiently manage time and keep track of daily schedules.
Employee Timesheet Template
Businesses can use this template as a regular employee timesheet. This template can either be downloaded as PDF and manually filled out, or used directly in SafetyCulture (iAuditor). Furthermore, using this template allows you to:
- Indicate essential header items such as employee name, ID number, project name, and date range
- Add a brief description of the project or task
- Specify work date, start and end time, and total number of hours
- Summarize other essential items including total number of work hours for the period
- Complete the timesheet by digitally signing the template
In this article
- Types
- What to Include?
- What is an Employee Timesheet Template?
- Create a Timesheet for Employees Using SafetyCulture (iAuditor)
- Free Employee Timesheet Template
Types
Businesses create employee timesheets according to the project or industry needs. Using the most appropriate timesheet not only helps maintain accurate records, but also ensures that each employee schedule is managed properly. The following are the main types of employee timesheets that businesses can consider using for their operations:
Standard/daily employee timesheet
Standard/daily timesheet is used by manually entering all the necessary data on a daily basis. It is the most basic type of employee timesheet and has a similar design to the traditional pen and paper timesheets. Employees who like to track their records and schedules in an uncomplicated manner use it best.
Weekly employee timesheet
Weekly timesheet, as the name suggests, enables employees or other workers to log hours on a weekly basis. Project-based employees, freelancers, or other positions that only need an overview of the hours worked without going into too much detail use it best. If needed, this can also be modified to bi-weekly or even monthly formats.
Multiple employee timesheet
Business owners or project managers who would like to track a group of employees with a unified document can use multiple employee timesheets. Ideally, it contains a feature that could automatically calculate the total hours worked based on the logged time of each individual.
Techno employee timesheet
This isn’t widely-used but in certain cases, techno timesheets are preferred over the other types. It is a type of timesheet similar to the standard/daily log with an additional “drag and drop” feature that gives a visual representation of the gathered data including the overall schedule and productivity of an employee.
What to Include?
The details needed for employee timesheets can vary according to the business itself but they generally include the following details:
- Employee’s name
- ID number (if applicable)
- Project name
- Pay period or date range
- Project/task details
- Date worked
- Start time and end time
- Hours worked
- Total work hours for the period
- Paid time off (if applicable)
- Leave of absence (if applicable)
- Signature of employee
- Signature of manager/approver
What is an Employee Timesheet Template?
An employee timesheet template is a formatted and ready-to-use document that businesses can take advantage of and use as a regular timesheet. It should contain all the essential information in creating and filling out a timesheet.
Utilizing employee timesheet templates offers time-saving opportunities for businesses and ensures uniformity across the organization. It also helps achieve a higher level of accuracy in tracking employee work hours, productivity, and pay.
While ready-to-use timesheet templates can be in the form of Word, Excel, PDF, or paper-based documents, they can also be in digital format.
Create a Timesheet for Employees Using SafetyCulture (iAuditor)
Utilizing paper-based documents in creating an employee timesheet can be very time-consuming and prone to human errors. It can also make productivity assessment a little more difficult because of inconsistency and other disadvantages that come with the use of pen and paper. Fortunately, businesses, project managers, and employees can now make use of digital tools to streamline the process of timesheet creation.
SafetyCulture is a powerful digital auditing and operations management software that businesses can use when creating a timesheet for employees. With SafetyCulture, you can customize pre-existing employee timesheet templates and start filling out essential details by following the steps below:
Step 1: Fill out the header
Enter the employee name, ID number, project name, and pay period or date range. Be as accurate as possible on this step and ensure that all the details are correct because it’s the backbone of the document. Date range is especially important as this will determine the employee’s pay for that period.
Step 2: Describe project or task details
Describing the task a particular employee does can help track productivity better. This is especially applicable to project-based employees and freelancers. Project details also serve as proof of billable hours to clients.
Step 3: Enter date and hours worked
Manually add the work date as well as the start and end time of work hours. Ensure that this part is accurate because it lets businesses calculate payrolls accurately, enables managers to track productivity and work patterns, and allows employees to also monitor their own working schedules.
Step 4: Calculate total hours
Whether you’re using a daily, weekly, monthly or other types of timesheet, you’ll need to calculate and declare the total work hours rendered for that time period.
Step 5: Fill out the applicable fields
Do not forget to fill out all non-required but applicable fields on the timesheet for a more accurate record of work schedule and work hours.
Step 6: Add signatures
Complete the timesheet by adding essential signatures. It would then have to be approved by the immediate superior or whoever is responsible for approving the employee timesheet.
SafetyCulture also offers the following advantages:
- lets you generate timesheet reports and share them with relevant people and other stakeholders
- stores all your data securely with cloud-based recordkeeping
- allows you to access your documents anytime and anywhere
- enables you to modify access levels accordingly
- integrates with your team’s other tools seamlessly
Free Employee Timesheet Template
Revamp Industries Employee Timesheet Checklist
Use this generic employee timesheet checklist to fill out essential timesheet information and declare the total number of regular hours and overtime hours rendered for the period. This checklist also allows you to add a brief job description and specify if there’s a Leave of Absence (LOA) during the pay period.