Timesheet template (Excel and Word, UK)

What is in the pack

• Weekly timesheet (Excel): 7 day rows, automatic total hours, standard and overtime split, weekly totals and an optional pay estimate.
• Fortnightly timesheet (Excel): the same layout across 14 days for two-week payroll cycles.
• Monthly timesheet (Excel): 31 day rows with monthly totals; leave spare rows blank in shorter months.
• Printable weekly timesheet (Word): a clean one-page table with signature and approval lines, for staff who fill timesheets in by hand.

Every Excel file has a README tab explaining the formulas and assumptions. Nothing is locked and there are no macros, so you can adapt the layout freely.

How the automatic hours and overtime work

• Total hours: end time minus start time, minus break minutes. Times are entered as hh:mm, so 09:00 to 17:30 with a 30 minute break gives 8.00 hours.
• Overtime: you set a standard hours per day figure under the table (default 8). Hours above it land in the overtime column, hours up to it in the standard column.
• Night shifts: if the end time is before the start time the sheet adds a day, so 22:00 to 06:00 shows 8 hours rather than a negative number.
• Pay estimate: optional. Set an hourly rate and an overtime multiplier (default 1.5) and the sheet shows estimated gross pay for the period. It is a guide, not a payroll calculation.

Why I built this

I spend most of my time helping UK businesses fix messy operational data, and timesheets are where a lot of that mess starts. Hours typed as text, breaks forgotten, overtime worked out differently every week. These templates force the arithmetic to be consistent so the numbers going into payroll are actually right. Rates last checked: 15 July 2026.

How do I calculate total hours on a timesheet?

Take the end time minus the start time, then subtract unpaid breaks. For example 09:00 to 17:30 with a 30 minute break is 8.5 hours minus 0.5 hours, which is 8 hours. The Excel timesheets in this pack do that calculation for you.

How does the timesheet template excel version calculate overtime?

You set a standard hours per day figure (the default is 8). Any hours above that on a given day go into the overtime column automatically. You can also set an hourly rate and an overtime multiplier to get an estimated gross pay figure.

What is the difference between the weekly, fortnightly and monthly timesheets?

They are the same layout with a different number of day rows: 7 for weekly, 14 for fortnightly and 31 for monthly. Pick whichever matches your payroll cycle. Each one has its own totals row and pay estimate.

Does the timesheet template work in Google Sheets?

Yes. The workbooks only use portable functions like IF, MIN, MAX, ROUND and SUM, so you can upload them to Google Drive and open them in Google Sheets without anything breaking. There are no macros.

Do employers have to keep records of hours worked in the UK?

Yes. Under the Working Time Regulations 1998 UK employers must keep adequate records to show they comply with the 48 hour average weekly working limit, and HMRC expects records that support minimum wage compliance. A completed timesheet is a simple way to cover both.

Does the timesheet handle night shifts?

Yes. If the end time is earlier than the start time the spreadsheet assumes the shift ran past midnight and adds a day, so a 22:00 to 06:00 shift correctly shows 8 hours before breaks.

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