free timesheet templates
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Free Timesheet Templates for Excel, Google Sheets, PDF, and More [Download]

Looking for the right free timesheet template? You’ll have to consider your team’s pay periods, the projects they work on, your preferred format, and a number of other factors before making a decision.

Fortunately, we’ve designed our own downloadable timesheet templates for daily, weekly, and monthly payroll. Just choose between PDF, Excel, Word, Google Sheets, or Google Docs to get started.

With the right timesheet template in place, you can track more accurate work hours, streamline payroll, and reduce admin time for your team. Let’s explore a few options.

Free online timesheets

Logging your hours in a timesheet template is only helpful when you can easily adapt it to meet your team’s needs. Pay periods dictate a timesheet’s structure, so we’ve created different template categories to limit the time you spend on timesheet formatting.

Monthly timesheet templates

If you pay your full-time employees on a monthly basis, give this timesheet template a try. You’ll be able to streamline your payroll process and eliminate monthly administrative work.

Bi-weekly timesheet templates

For teams that make payments every other week, a bi-weekly timesheet template is a lifesaver. It’s important to note that this is different from a bi-monthly timesheet. Instead of making payments on the 15th and 30th of each month, you’ll have 26 pay periods a year.

Weekly timesheet templates

If you pay employees on a weekly basis, you know firsthand how challenging the quick turnaround time can be. This template will help you stay on top of the process and help employees reach their weekly hours goals.

Daily timesheet templates

Daily hourly timesheet templates give you a more detailed look into your team’s workflow. Use this template if you want to track how your team spends their time on different tasks as well as recurring items on their schedule that consume the most time.

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Project timesheets for freelancers

Have your freelancers sort tracked time by project so that you know exactly what they’re working on. Freelancers can use this template to track billable hours for each of their clients and projects.

Printable timesheet templates

If you manage field teams, shop workers, or other employees that don’t work from a computer, printable timesheets can help. Print them out as a PDF, Google Doc, or Google Sheet. Or, send them via email for employees to complete when they’re back in the office.

The problem with manual timesheets

If you’re tired of tedious admin work, timesheet templates are a huge help — but they aren’t a perfect solution. Manual timesheets are a challenge for a number of reasons.

They take time to fill out

Even the best timesheet template in the world can’t automate the process of filling out a timesheet. You’ll still need to remind employees to set aside time to complete timesheets throughout every pay period.

They require training and clear expectations

Every employee will need to be trained on your timesheet process. That includes not only filling out timesheets but also transferring the information to a payroll provider to pay your teams.

They lead to mistakes

Even with training, mistakes can and do happen. You’ll need to build a timesheet correction and review process too. This will require more time and training for each of your employees.

Time reported isn’t always accurate

Timesheets involve a lot of estimating and rounding of hours worked, so discrepancies are always a possibility. Minutes that aren’t recorded properly on a daily basis can accumulate into hundreds of wasted hours (and lost revenue) each year.

Organizing timesheets gets harder over time

Keeping your team’s timesheets organized is easy at first. That said, it doesn’t take long for them to pile up — especially since companies are required to hold these records for at least three years (and up to six in special circumstances). If you ever need to revisit a timesheet, you’ll need to dig through files.

There is still a lot of manual work involved

Reporting time isn’t the only purpose timesheets serve. They also determine how much to pay your hourly team. Once your team has submitted their timesheets, you still have to manually check if the hours and calculations are correct. It also takes time for payments to process as well.

Fortunately, there are powerful apps that can help you automate timesheets for your team.

Try free timesheet software instead

Hubstaff’s free timesheet automation capabilities make it a popular choice for teams looking to reduce admin work.

Start by signing up for a free account. From there, you can create an organization and add users for a small per user per month fee.

Once you have your team up to speed, they can use the Hubstaff time clock app to clock in and track time to their projects, tasks, and to-dos. When an employee presses start, an entry is automatically added to their itemized online timesheet.

Hubstaff timesheets

As they switch between various projects, Hubstaff will track time spent on each one. At any time, users can edit time entries, add manual time, or leave notes by navigating to Timesheets > View & edit on the Hubstaff web app. With the built-in time off feature, timesheets will also include any paid time off, sick leave, lunch breaks, and other employee time.

At the end of each pay period, each user will receive an email reminder to submit their timesheet. They’ll have a chance to make last-minute changes or submit time. Employers can then approve timesheets and send them off for payment with a few simple clicks.

Integrations

Hubstaff is far more than a timesheet app — especially when paired with other tools. With over 30 different app integrations, you can improve time tracking, project management, and accounting for your team.

When you set up an integration between Hubstaff and Gusto, approved timesheets will be converted into payments automatically.

You can also enable integrations with popular payment platforms like QuickBooks, PayPal, and Wise. Whether your team is comprised of full-time employees or freelancers, you’ll have plenty of options to streamline payroll and accounting for your team.

Frequently asked questions

It’s time to move on from manual timesheets

Well, there you have it. Whether you choose one of our free timesheet templates or go a step further with a timesheet automation app, you can cut down admin time significantly.

No matter which method you choose, leave manual timesheet creation in the past. You owe it to yourself and your team to cut down on non-billable tasks and grow your business.

Never fill out a timesheet again

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