Weekly Timesheet Calculator

How to Use the Weekly Timesheet Calculator

1. Add an employee and manager name
2. Add a placeholder for the employee and/or manager signature
3. Decide if you want the time displayed in decimal format
4. Add your time entries with start and end dates/times, project, and descriptions
5. View the calculated totals at the end of each entry and overall
6. Export your timesheet to PDF or CSV for easy sharing and record-keeping

How to fill out a weekly timesheet?

As mentioned earlier, the purpose of filling out a timesheet is to track the time spent on a project to invoice your customer accurately. When dealing with invoices and money, it's essential for the timesheet to meet specific criteria to prevent disputes or requests for justification from the customer.

A comprehensive timesheet should include the following details:

• Start date and time
• End date and time
• Project name
• A concise description
• The time spent, which is the interval between the start and end times
• Total hours spent at the end
• In some companies, signatures from the employee and/or the manager may be required

Including a description is often necessary, and even if it’s not mandatory, it's advisable to add one to avoid conflicts. Maintaining a minimum level of transparency helps sustain a good relationship with your customers. However, it's important not to provide too much detail, as this can create unnecessary noise. A good description should highlight the key aspects of the work done.

For example, if you're a web developer working on a new site for a customer, and the customer has multiple projects, you should specify the project name. Typically, a project is divided into smaller parts (sprints), so your description should include the sprint, a separator, and a brief description of the work. For instance, "Authentication: Started to work on the username and password method."

Regarding the hours spent, different methods exist. Some freelancers track their time down to the minute using a time tracking tool, while others track their time with a margin of 15 to 30 minutes. For example, if you spend 1 hour and 5 minutes on a task, you might invoice 1 hour and 15 minutes if you use a 15 minutes margin.

As a freelancer or consultant, you have various tasks such as responding to emails, opening projects, and reviewing discussions, which can be time-consuming. If you don't account for these activities, you might end up invoicing less than the actual time spent, as some customers may take advantage of your time by asking questions or requesting calls. Remember, working in an office environment also involves time lost due to interruptions from colleagues, replying to emails, and social interactions. Customers will account for this time in their invoices, so you should do the same.

A word of caution: it might be tempting to fill out your timesheet at the end of the week. If you only have one or two customers with one or two projects, and you allocate specific times during your week, this might work. However, more often than not, you’ll have multiple customers and projects in a single day, making it difficult to remember and estimate your time accurately.

Therefore, it's recommended to use a time tracking software like TimeSavvy to keep track of your time spent per project each day. This will make it easier to fill out your timesheet accurately.

Free PDF templates

We also offer a PDF templates that you can download. These templates provide an alternative for those who prefer working with PDFs over CSVs.

Like for the CSV files, you can also generate an empty PDF by adding as much lines as needed with the Weekly TimeSheet Calculator, and press the "Export to PDF" button.

• 5 lines Weekly Timesheet template
• 7 lines Weekly Timesheet template
• 10 lines Weekly Timesheet template
• 14 lines Weekly Timesheet template