Time sheet here we go with Excel and software

Calculating my time sheet of your employees’ work helps you ensure they are properly paid. There are various methods of monitoring and calculating employee hours worked using an hour sheet. Therefore, you need to carefully choose the best time tracking process and teach your team how to use it. Before we proceed, let us know the monthly timesheet.

What is the timesheet?

Timesheet is a table used to record the time spent by an employee doing various tasks. Your employees enter their exact start of the day and their time off – then they leave. The total time required for each task is then calculated. This is very easy.

It is helpful to keep track of how long an employee has been working. This not only makes the hour sheets for the entire hourly payroll process much more transparent, but also keeps your employees organized. Ideally, this is the required data field for the chart:

  • Name and employee identification number, if applicable
  • For each day of the week require one row
  • Date column, start and end time
  • In some cases, the columns include overtime and sick leave
  • An area for managers and employees to sign to certify the accuracy of the information on the monthly timesheet

What is time entry?

Every business or organization needs to accurately track the time their employees spend on tasks and projects. Time tracking requires employees to enter the time they start and finish the work time sheet on a task or project on schedule. This data is then used when billing customers and for payroll accounting.

Why should companies use timesheets?

Businesses can meet deadlines, stay on budget, and achieve success when they use their time efficiently. To do this, you must be able to keep accurate records. This makes the schedule essential for any successful business.

Timesheet application

  1. Payroll: Timesheets help employers track hours worked using hour sheets, vacation time, accruals, and pay adjustments. Time tracking software systems also provide employers with a trackable payroll approval workflow. Inaccurate data entry is a major cause of payroll errors. Time tracking software systems reduce these data entry errors to keep your payroll smooth.
  2. operational accounting: Schedules are a valuable tool in management accounting. They help managers keep track of task start and end times. This is especially useful when managers need to know which tasks are taking longer and identify areas that are delaying getting work done and given in the work time sheet.
  3. Law firm appointment: It is important for law firms to keep client hour sheet records up to date and details of the services they provide to their clients. The scheduler helps law firms keep track of accounts based on customer service hour sheets.
  4. Schedule for freelancers: Time is money for freelancers. Many freelancers charge their clients hourly rates, so accurate time tracking is a top priority. For those working in a different location from their clients, it can become difficult to keep track of the time spent on projects. With a time tracking system, a freelancer can accurately measure time spent and share records with clients. This helps clients see where their money is going and also provides freelancers with accurate records.
  5. Schedule for accountants: The profitability of the accounting business depends on how efficiently employees devote their time to customers. High usage and high billing means high profits. Timesheet and time tracking software can help accounting firms keep track of their accounts and time. Therefore, choosing the right software is an important decision for an accounting business.

Here are the 2 methods of timesheets excel and software!

Let us see the Excel timesheet!

Almost every business (whether it’s a new business or an established business) needs a timesheet to track the hours their employees work using work time sheet

However, the requirements of each company are very different. And while the market offers a wide variety of ready-to-use Excel timesheet templates, it’s hard to say that you’ll find one that meets all your needs.

So why not make a schedule for your business yourself? Here are some other reasons why or why creating a schedule in Excel might be a good idea

Pros

  • Supervise your employees better
  • Save big expenses

Cons

  • Resource allocation
  • Subject to manipulation

How to make a timesheet in Excel?

Straight to the point – how to make a chart in Excel? very easy. See below

Format your timesheet

We start by formatting our table. Before we build our schedule in Excel, we need to keep it in good shape.

  • Select and merge the first three rows and about twelve columns (columns A through L).
Merging the first few cells of excel spreadsheet
  • This will create your timesheet header. It is best to add your company name and logo here to personalize it.
  • Select the merged cells.
  • Go to the Home tab > Fill Color and select the color of your choice. We are in the gray for now
Filling color in the header
  • Be generous with the colors here (preferably your corporate theme colors).
  • Go to the Home tab > Center Align and Align Text.
Center aligning the header
  • Bold text to make it louder by going to the Home tab > Bold button
Adding the name and logo of the company

Arrange your timesheet

Trust me, once you have a header, you are halfway there

So we’re done with the headers and now it’s time to work out our schedule.

  • Select about six rows (or as many as needed) below the header.
  • Go to the Home tab > Wrap Text.
Option to Wrap text in Excel sheet

The Word Wrap option limits the cell contents to the cell’s boundaries. And if the content doesn’t fit into the existing cell size, the subject line will be resized automatically.

  • Add any details you want to include in the schedule.
  • Make them bold after typing them by pressing Ctrl + B.

We state the name, employee ID, department, manager name, etc. Just select a cell and type whatever you want. Then leave a bit of space in front for the user to type

Adding labels to the timesheet
  • Select one or two cells for each of the information fields above.
Selecting of cells
  • Go to the Home tab > Merge and Center
Merging Cells

This creates space for the user to write whatever is required.

  • To better define these data fields, select the merged cells.
  • Go to the Home > Frame > Underframe tab.
Applying bottom borders

This is what the final timesheet excel form looks like

Bordering the information fields

Create a grid for the timesheet

Now it’s time to create the main grid where employees will fill in the time details.

There are no hard and fast rules about how a network should be. You can make it however you like. Add as much detail as you like and style it however you want

  • Divide the grid into columns. Just like we create columns for day, date, time etc.
Making a grid
  • Add rows to this grid as needed. We added 5 rows for the five working days of the week.
Adding rows

We’ve also added example rows to show users how each field should be filled in.

  • Bold text in headers (both for rows and columns) by selecting it and pressing Ctrl + B.
Boldening the grid

Don’t be that simple. To make the grid more attractive, fill the header with color.

  • Select column and row headings.
  • Go to the Home > Fill Color tab.
  • Select your preferred color from the color drop-down menu. For now we’ll use a lighter gray color
Choosing a fill color
  • It looks like below.
Headers with grey color

Borders and some finishing touches

Although the schedule seems complete, there are still some adjustments to be made. Like adding a border

  • Select a network.
  • Go to the Home tab > Frames > All Frames.
Adding simple borders

This is what it looks like.

Grid with borders for multiple employees

Nice job with borders! To add more detail to the grid, you can outline it with a thick border. To do this:

  • Go to the Home tab > Frame > Thick Outer Frame.
Adding thick outside borders.

Does it look better now?

Grid with thick outside borders.
  • Complete the graphic by adding some space for employee signatures and signers
Signatures

Now that we’re done, make the chart easier on the eyes by removing the gridlines from your spreadsheet.

  • Go to the View tab > uncheck the Gridlines option.
Removing gridlines

It looks cleaner now

Weekly timesheet template

Know that even the sky is not the limit for you. You can add more information fields, rows, columns, grids, and more.

Automate your timesheet (use formulas)

Excel without formulas doesn’t even sound like Excel. Let’s simplify the employee schedule by automating some calculations in it. Our tables provide an accurate summary of the time each employee spends at work.

So if you want to incentivize employees based on the number of hours they spend at work, you need to add up the hours worked each day in the hour sheets. And the total hours for the whole week

Now let’s set up a formula in Excel to automate this calculation.

  • Select a cell under the Total Hours heading.
Selection of Cells
  • Go to the Home tab > Format > Other Number Formats.
Accessing more number formats
  • In the Format Cells dialog box, select Time in the left pane.
  • Choose the time format highlighted below.
Applying the right time format

It represents the total hours in 00:00 format as 12:30 (12 hours 30 minutes).

  • In the Total Hours column across from the example row, enter the following formula:
    • = E14 – D14 – (G14 – F14) + (K14 – J14) – H14 – I14
Writing the formula to calculate regular and overtime hours

Let’s break down the formula for you here:

  • E14: Waiting time (after the employee’s official working hours end)
  • D14 : Time at (beginning of employee’s official working hours)
  • G14 – F14 : total rest time (end of rest period – start of rest period)
  • K14 – J14: Amount of overtime (end of overtime – start of overtime)
  • H14: All time absent
  • I14: sick leave hours

So, using the formula above, we tell Excel to calculate the total hours worked each day as follows:

Duties – vacation + overtime – absences – sick leave

Note: For this formula to work as intended, you should note that all of the specified cells are formatted as times

To change the time cell format:

  • Select this cell.
  • Go to the Home tab > Format > Time.
  • Press OK.
Excel timesheet formula to track hours

Excel calculates the total number of hours for the example row as 10. And yes, the calculation makes sense.

  • Drag and drop the same formula across the list.

Now when the employee enters the relevant hours for each day, Excel automatically calculates the total hours for that day based on the above formula

Finish by adding up the hours for each day. Now let’s set up the formula for adding up the hours for the whole week.

  • To do this, write the SUM function in the Total Hours field below.

= TOTAL (L14 : L18)

Excel timesheet calculator

L14:L18 includes the range of cells where the total hours for each day are entered.

Be careful not to include example lessons in the TOTAL section. And that’s it. Your schedule is now automatic

Printing your Timesheet

There are two ways you can use your schedule in Excel. You can use it as is (as an Excel file) or print it and have an employee fill it out on paper

To blank time sheet to print your schedule when it’s finished:

  • Press Ctrl + P (the print command hotkey).

This will take you to the blank time sheet to print window shown below

The Print Command
  • Under Settings, select Print active sheet only.
Command to print active sheets only
  • Set the orientation to landscape.
Setting the print orientation to landscape
  • Select the paper size you will use for printing. We’ve set ours to A4.
Printing dimensions set to A4

You need to make sure your schedule fits on one page. And if not, you can scale it down until you can visualize it all on one page

  • Under the zoom options, select Collapse all columns on one page.
Scaling set to shrink all columns

Note: Printing graphics may require you to make some final formatting changes to get the print you want.

If you decide to print your timetable, here are tips to help you print easily

Prepare a printout of your schedule by putting everything in place. When you’re done, save it as a PDF file. This way you have improved the final appearance of the print. After that, all you have to do is launch the PDF file and run the print command by pressing Ctrl + P keys.

  • Check if the print preview looks good and print it.
Final Print Preview of excel timesheet template

The print preview above looks like it’s done, so I think we’re done

Limitations of manual time tracking with templates

There are some limitations to using spreadsheets or documents to track time. It is better and more efficient to automate timesheets with a tool like given below.

1) The human error factor

2) Difference between actual hours worked and reported hours worked

3) You cannot change or update the data

4) Performance is difficult to assess

5) Historical data problem

6) You don’t have access to “real-time” reports.

7) Your tendency to fall

Use an automatic timesheet tracking device

If you need a more efficient time tracking method that takes less time to manage and analyze, an automated online tracking tool is for you.

Professional time tracking software such as Time Doctor is a great alternative to manually tracking employee time. This software is a time tracking tool that provides you with automated reports on the work activities of your employees, including:

  • The tasks they do
  • The time it takes them
  • What websites do they visit during regular business hours?
  • on and off time and many more.

Keeping track of work hours has never been easier with this clock based software!

Some of the key features of the automated tool
  • Simple time tracking for tasks
  • usage monitoring
  • Advanced Reporting

Here are some of the reports you can access when you use software:

  • Report Schedule
  • Time Usage Report
  • Daily schedule report
  • Project report
  • Attendance report
  • Reports of poor time usage
  • Web and Application Usage Reports
  • Privacy Settings
  • Multiple integrations

Best automatic timesheet tracking software

1. ClickTime

The first is ClickTime, an incredibly easy-to-use online scheduling software that helps you track employee time usage, improve team workflow, and plan budgets and time effectively. Interactive dashboards help you track the availability, costs and productivity of your employees.

With ClickTime, you can schedule and allocate employee time, generate reports, and perform employee analytics. The analytics feature provides more than 80 reports on trends and time usage insights.

With this software, your employees can track billable and non-billable hours. Especially? There are integrations with CRM, project management tools, payroll automation, and communication tools.

Basic function
  • Offers a simplified schedule
  • Provides an interactive dashboard
  • There are multiple integrations
Price
  • Starter plans start at $12/user/month
  • Team plan for $16/user/month
  • Premium plan $28/user/month
2. Hourstack

If you are looking for a very simple and basic scheduling software, Hourstack is a great choice! It offers basic time tracking and reporting features. With this tool, you can manage multiple workspaces, export data, manage teams, and generate reports for all your users, teams, and projects.

Hourstack offers a Kanban-like dashboard that you can use to create time entries and run them as sticky notes. The allocated time and actual time for each entry in this software will help you estimate, plan and complete your tasks.

Especially? Hour Stack also has a rollover feature that allows you to move tasks to a later date.

Basic function
  • Provides a Kanban-like dashboard
  • Keep track of the allocated and actual time of each login
  • It has a rollover function
Price
  • Personal: $7/one user/month
  • Professional: $15/user/month
  • Enterprise: Custom
3. Hubstaff

Are you looking for a tool that offers powerful features to monitor the work activities of your employees? Then Hubstaff is an excellent scheduling software to consider!

With this tool, you can track your employees’ website usage and monitor their activity through keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can even take a screenshot of your screen every 10 minutes.

Hubstaff automatically logs your employees’ first and last mouse movements or button clicks to

give you accurate results about their check-in and check-out times. Individual activity levels allow you to determine how productive each employee was over a period of time.

Plus, Hubstaff connects to payroll, meaning you don’t have to do manual calculations for hour sheets payroll.

Basic function:
  • Offers advanced employee monitoring capabilities
  • Track mouse movements and keystrokes
  • Related to payroll
Price
  • The basic version costs $4/user/month per year
  • The premium version is available annually for $8/month.
4. Time Doctor

Time Doctor is packed with features to track your time automatically and visualize it in the form of various reports. There is a timer that tracks your employees and their tasks from the moment they log in.

There are dynamic reports and schedule reports that display and visualize the total time your employees spent on reports in a certain period.

With its time usage reporting feature, Time Doctor helps you divide up the time users spend on each project. With the daily timeline report, you can do the same for your day-to-day activities.

Apart from that, the features also include attendance reports to help you view absences of the week and project reports to help you check the time spent on specific projects. With all these features, there’s practically no room for inaccurate time tracking in Time Doctor!

Basic function
  • Provides automatic time tracking capabilities
  • View some reports
  • Split the task duration
Price
  • Starting at $7 per month per user
  • Standard plan – $10/month
  • Premium Plan – $20/month

Why should you avoid traditional time tracking methods?

Because of this, the following methods are not proper time tracking tools:

1. Punch Clocks

However, some problems may arise, such as

  • Long Lines: Employees may have to stand in long lines to get on and off. And the last employee in line can be the last to start their daily task.
  • Human Error: An employee can misplace his card and get the wrong timestamp. Correcting errors can be difficult, time consuming and expensive.
  • Takes a Friend card: An employee takes another person’s card to punch them, thereby paying the company for the time they weren’t actually working.

2. Scan the ID card

Scanning ID cards is similar to my time sheet system.

3. Paper Forms

Although employees fill out paper forms in their free time, they can be inefficient and cumbersome.

Here are some problems with using a paper schedule:

  • It can get lost and it will take a lot of work to replace it.
  • Data is prone to human error.
  • Printing, signing, scanning, and emailing manual schedules takes valuable time.
  • Some employees may have illegible handwriting that could be misread by approvers and result in inaccurate payroll.
  • Printing, storage, archiving, and maintenance costs will increase.

4. Excel spreadsheets

  • Excel spreadsheets are digital versions of paper forms. Employees enter in and out times in Excel spreadsheets and send them to their managers.
  • If you’re still unsure about using automatic scheduling, here are the benefits to help you decide.

3 Key Benefits of timesheet Automation

Let’s look at the benefits of using an automatic scheduler:

1. Save time

2. Improve chart accuracy

3. Increase employee productivity

Conclusion:

The benefits of a digital timetable are too numerous to list. We’ve covered a few people who seem to constantly work with paper my time sheets, hoping to illustrate how they can make your work life easier. There’s less room for human error, they speed up any process, make payroll and project tracking easier… And digital trackers just seem to get better and better over time. So why not upgrade and save a lot of money, time and resources.