Printable time cards
Each card here prints on one page of US Letter (the two-per-page sheet holds two weekly cards), with a line for each day, a total hours line, a pay section and lines for two signatures. Open its PDF and print it at 100%, or select Edit above to load it into the template, switch to A4, add names, dates or your logo, and download it again.
Several people on one page each day? Print an employee sign-in sheet instead: a numbered line per person, with the times in and out, the hours and a signature.
Time card template to change before you print
The card at the top of this page is a time card template. Pick the pay period, the break columns and Letter or A4 paper, then open Names, dates and style to print the employee, the company, the dates, a color or your logo on it. Each layout is also a printable timesheet template, and the weekly cards print two to a page with a cutting line between them.
How to fill out a time card
- Write the employee's name and the pay period at the top, or pick a first day under Names, dates and style to print the dates.
- Each day you work, write the time you start in In and the time you stop in Out, as the clock shows it. On a card with lunch columns, also write when you clock out for lunch and when you clock back in.
- Write unpaid break minutes in Break, such as 30 for a 30-minute lunch. Leave paid rest breaks off the card.
- Work out each day's hours: Out minus In, minus the unpaid break. Then add the days for the week.
- Sign and date the card, and have a supervisor sign it if your employer asks for that.
Here is a weekly card filled in, with the hours our calculator works out for each day:
| Day | In | Out | Break | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8:00 AM | 4:30 PM | 30 min | 8:00 |
| Tuesday | 7:55 AM | 4:40 PM | 30 min | 8:15 |
| Wednesday | 8:05 AM | 5:10 PM | 45 min | 8:20 |
| Thursday | 8:00 AM | 6:00 PM | 30 min | 9:30 |
| Friday | 8:00 AM | 2:00 PM | 0 min | 6:00 |
| Week | 40:05 | |||
Wednesday's line in that card, and the week.
- Wednesday on the clock
- 5:10 PM − 8:05 AM = 9:05
- Minus the 45-minute break
- 9:05 − 0:45 = 8:20
- Week
- 8:00 + 8:15 + 8:20 + 9:30 + 6:00 = 40:05
- Decimal hours
- 40 + 5 ÷ 60 = 40.08
- Overtime
- 0:05 over 40:00
Under federal law, every minute a nonexempt employee works over 40 hours in the workweek is overtime, so this week has 5 minutes of it. Source: DOL Fact Sheet #23.
Time card examples
Each sample below is a card from the template above, filled in, with the hours, overtime and pay worked out by our time card calculator. Use them to check your own worksheet, then load the same layout above and print it blank.
Weekly time card with lunch
Four times a day: in, lunch out, lunch in and out. A day's hours are the time from in to out minus the lunch, so Wednesday, 8:02 AM to 4:30 PM with a 45-minute lunch, is 7:43. The week adds up to 39:08, under 40, so there is no overtime, and at $18 an hour the gross pay is $704.40.
Biweekly time card with overtime in week 1
Week 1 has five 9:30 days, 47:30; week 2 has four 8-hour days, 32:00. The two weeks come to 79:30, less than 80, and the card still shows 7:30 of overtime, because each workweek is counted on its own (29 CFR 778.104). At $22 an hour that is 72:00 × $22 + 7:30 × $33 = $1,831.50.
Night shift time card
On the card, a shift that starts at 10:00 PM and ends the next morning goes on the line of the day it starts. Monday, 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM with a 30-minute break, is 8:00, and Thursday ran to 7:15 AM, 8:45. The week is 40:45, 0:45 of it overtime, and pays $801.94.
Semi-monthly timesheet
A semi-monthly timesheet covers the 1st to the 15th or the 16th to the end of the month. This one is March 1 to 15, 2027: 11 weekdays of 8 hours, 88:00, which at $21 an hour is $1,848.00. Overtime still goes by workweek, not by pay period; at 8 hours a weekday no week here passes 40 hours. The semi-monthly timesheet calculator splits a period into its workweeks.
Fill in the time card form online
Choose Fill in online above the card to type the times instead of writing them. Each day's hours and the total add up as you type, with the same math as our time card calculator: end time minus start time, minus unpaid breaks, with hours over 40 in each workweek counted as overtime. Add an hourly rate to see gross pay, with overtime at time and a half.
The PDF, Word, Excel and CSV downloads and the printout then carry your times, so you can print a finished card, sign it and hand it in. The times stay in this browser and are not uploaded. For rounding, California overtime, several employees or a Punch in button, use the time card calculator; it can print and export a finished card too.
PDF, Word, Excel and CSV downloads
Blank cards to download as they are, on US Letter with a break column and the pay section:
- Weekly time card: weekly time card PDF, Word or Excel
- Biweekly time card: biweekly time card PDF, Word or Excel
The other printable time cards above each have a PDF too. For A4 paper, Word or Excel versions of those layouts, or your own names and dates, set the card above and download it from there. The buttons make each file in your browser:
Drawn in your browser at the exact page size: 8.5 × 11 inches for US Letter, 210 × 297 mm for A4. Print it at 100% or Actual size so the rows keep their height.
Word
The same card as a Word document: one table on one page of Letter or A4, with the header, a row for each day, the totals and the lines to sign. Change the labels or add your logo, then print it.
Excel
A spreadsheet that does the math. Type the first day and the times, like 8:00 AM or 17:30, and the hours, overtime and pay add up.
CSV
The card's days, times and hours as plain text with commas, for payroll software or any spreadsheet.
Sends the preview to your printer. To keep a copy, choose Save as PDF as the printer.
The Excel file opens in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers and LibreOffice. For Google Sheets, upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets, or open a blank sheet and choose File › Import; the formulas keep working. The Word file opens in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages and LibreOffice; for Google Docs, upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs. Its hours don't add up by themselves, so for math use the Excel file. The logo goes on the PDF and the printout, not on the spreadsheet or the Word file.
What a time card should show
Federal rules don't prescribe a form for time records; what matters is what the record holds (29 CFR 516.1). For each employee covered by the federal minimum wage and overtime rules, employers keep these items, among others:
From the federal recordkeeping rule, 29 CFR 516.2(a)
- The employee's full name
- (a)(1)
- The time and day the workweek begins
- (a)(5)
- Hours worked each workday
- (a)(7)
- Total hours worked each workweek
- (a)(7)
A card with a line for each day and a total covers the hours. The pay rate, wages and deductions go in the employer's payroll records.
Employers may use any timekeeping method they choose, such as a time clock, a timekeeper, or workers who write in their own times, as long as the record is complete and accurate. Time clocks are not required. Sources: DOL Fact Sheet #21 and 29 CFR 785.48.
For workers on a fixed schedule, an employer may keep the schedule, note that it was followed, and write down the exact hours only when someone works more or less than scheduled. State laws can ask for more, and the federal rules don't excuse those. Sources: 29 CFR 516.2(c) and 516.1(c).
Breaks, overtime and rounding
Breaks. Write only unpaid breaks on the card. Rest breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes count as hours worked, while a bona fide meal period, ordinarily 30 minutes or more with no duties, does not. Sources: 29 CFR 785.18 and 785.19. Some states require meal or rest breaks; see lunch break laws by state.
Overtime. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, nonexempt employees earn at least time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek, a fixed and recurring period of seven days. Weeks are not averaged, so a biweekly card totals each week on its own. Sources: 29 CFR 778.104 and 778.105. The overtime calculator works out the pay.
Rounding. Some employers round punches to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour or quarter hour. Federal rules accept that only if, over time, employees are still paid for all the time they actually work (29 CFR 785.48). See rounding time punches.
How long to keep time cards
| Record | Keep at least | Federal rule |
|---|---|---|
| Time cards and sheets with each day's starting and stopping times | 2 years | 29 CFR 516.6 |
| Payroll records | 3 years | 29 CFR 516.5 |
The federal rules list the "time and earning cards or sheets" that show each employee's daily starting and stopping times among the records to keep for 2 years. The records must be kept safe and accessible at the workplace or at a central records office, and be open to inspection by the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (29 CFR 516.7). Some states require longer. Source: DOL Fact Sheet #21.
Questions
Are these printable time cards free?
Yes. Download, print and copy as many cards as you need, for personal or business use. There is no sign-up and no watermark; a small line at the bottom says where the card came from.
Can I download the time card template as a PDF?
Yes. Download PDF makes the card in your browser at the exact size of US Letter (8.5 × 11 in) or A4 paper (210 × 297 mm), blank or with the times you typed. Nothing is uploaded to make it.
Is there a time card template for Excel or Google Sheets?
Yes. Excel downloads the same card as a spreadsheet with formulas that add up the hours, overtime and pay. In Google Sheets, choose File › Import and upload the file, or open it from Google Drive.
Is there a timesheet template for Word or Google Docs?
Yes. Word downloads the card as a .docx document: the same table as the PDF on one page of Letter or A4, blank or with the times you typed. Edit it in Microsoft Word, or upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs. For hours that add up as you type, use the Excel file.
How do I calculate my time card?
For each day, subtract the start time from the end time and take off unpaid breaks: 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM with a 30-minute lunch is 8:00 hours. Add the days for the week. For payroll in decimal hours, divide the minutes by 60, so 7:45 is 7.75 hours. The time card calculator does the math, and the decimal hours chart lists every minute.
What is a time card at work?
A time card is the record of when an employee starts and stops work each day, used to pay hourly workers for the hours they work. It can be a paper card filled in by hand, a card stamped by a time clock or a digital timesheet. For employees covered by the federal minimum wage and overtime rules, employers must keep the hours worked each workday and each workweek (29 CFR 516.2).
Is a time card the same as a timesheet?
For hourly work, yes: both record the days worked, the times in and out and the hours. A time card usually covers one employee for a week or two, and a timesheet can also cover a month or list hours by job or project. The weekly and biweekly cards here work as a weekly timesheet template, and the monthly sheet as a monthly one.
How do I write hours on a timesheet?
Write clock times as they happen, such as 7:55 AM, and unpaid breaks in minutes. Write each day's total in hours and minutes, like 8:15, or in decimal hours, like 8.25, whichever your payroll asks for. Don't mix the two: 8:30 is eight and a half hours, which is 8.50 in decimal hours, not 8.30. If the time clock prints 24-hour times like 1730, the military time converter gives the 12-hour time, 5:30 PM.
What is the time card formula in Excel?
With In in column C, Out in column D and unpaid break minutes in column E, the hours worked in decimal hours are =(MOD(D2-C2,1)-E2/1440)*24. MOD keeps a shift that ends after midnight from turning negative, and 1440 is the number of minutes in a day. Leave off *24 and format the cell as [h]:mm to see hours and minutes instead.
How many hours is a biweekly pay period?
Full time at 40 hours a week is 80 hours in two weeks. Overtime is still counted week by week: 50 hours in one week and 30 in the next is 80 hours with 10 hours of overtime (29 CFR 778.104).
How long should employers keep time cards?
At least 2 years for time cards, and at least 3 years for payroll records, under federal rules. Some states require longer. See how long to keep time cards.
Can an employer deduct time for lunch?
Yes, when lunch is a bona fide meal period: ordinarily 30 minutes or more, completely relieved from duty (29 CFR 785.19). Time you work through lunch counts as hours worked. In its guidance for health care employers, the Department of Labor says an employer that deducts a meal break automatically must make sure employees actually get it (Fact Sheet #53).
Can I add my company logo?
Yes. Open Names, dates and style, select Add your logo and choose a PNG, JPG, WebP or SVG image. It prints in the top left corner of the card and of the PDF. The image stays in your browser.
Will these cards fit my punch clock?
No. Mechanical time clocks need card stock sized for that clock model. These cards are for writing in times by hand, or typing them here.