44+ Sample Monthly Timesheets

What Is a Timesheet?

The advancement of technology brought significant changes in our lives—from our personal and everyday living to our professional endeavors. It created such a huge impact in this world that changed the way we live our lives. Of all the contributions technology has given the society, the most significant one was providing individuals and businesses a more efficient way to carry out various tasks.

In a company setting, it is essential to track and keep a record of the time an employee spends on paid labor. Traditionally, employers or the human resource staff make use of timesheet, which is literally a sheet of paper containing manually inputted data in a tabular format. It specifies the amount of time a worker spends to complete work-related tasks. Nowadays, the availability of spreadsheets, software, and time-tracking applications eliminated the need for the human resource staff and employees to manually input the starting time and end time to complete a specific project. While its purpose remains the same, digital timesheets give the human resources team a more efficient way to keep track of their employees’ working time. Digital or print, timesheets can either be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly.

How Important Is a Timesheet?

No matter how long an employee stays within a company, there is no guarantee that they will report to work on time every day. A CareerBuilder study revealed that at least once a month, 29% of workers claimed that they came late for work. The study also showed that 41% of employers fired their employees because of tardiness. But how can the human resource staff know the exact time each employee reports to work? Through timesheets. Beyond the number of hours reflected on a timesheet, this document is an essential tool in a company that, without it, various company processes will be hard to accomplish. In this section, let us look into the importance of a timesheet in the different aspects of a company.

Basis for Productivity: A timesheet is an essential tool that measures the productivity of each worker. When employees record the amount of time they spent on a specific task to complete a project, the management will have a clear picture of how productive the workers are in the workplace. Not only that, it enables employers to oversee what every employee is working on throughout the day. Thus, helping them spot unproductive time.Increases Workforce Efficiency: Being able to measure each employee’s productivity and pinpointing their unproductive time can be an avenue in improving the workforce’s efficiency. It helps eliminate inefficiency since employees have a clear idea about which aspects they should work on for them to become more productive workers in the company. Moreover, they can specify which specific tasks can cause delays and find a remedy for it. On the other hand, project managers can also designate each of their team members to a task they do best for the continuous progress of the company.Improves Project Management: With the benefits mentioned above, a comprehensive and updated timesheet enables team leaders to manage projects properly. It enables them to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each employee so that they can properly utilize their strengths and work on their weaknesses. Also, a timesheet presents a more precise amount of time rendered to carry out tasks towards the completion of a project. With this information at hand, they can make necessary adjustments and set reasonable deadlines for their team.Helps Bill Clients Accurately: In service-based businesses that charge clients on a time basis, the timesheet is the key to bill clients more accurately. This document guarantees these customers that progress has been made each day, so they won’t have to question the amount they should pay for the service they received. Furthermore, it enables them to keep track of the tasks being accomplished and time allotted to complete each task. Aside from that, the person who provides the services or the one working on a project may not receive proper compensation and payment without a timesheet.Makes Payroll Calculation Easier: A timesheet is highly essential for the human resource staff in a company, especially when they have to calculate the payroll of each employee. Given that the document specifies the number of hours spent on work-related tasks, the human resource personnel can calculate the exact amount the employees will receive during payday. Apart from the total working hours rendered, other factors affecting the overall compensation of a worker includes night differentials and leaves. If employees input accurate information in their timesheets, it would mean that they will receive proper and just compensation.Tracks Costs: Completing a project entails incurring costs for labor, materials, and the like. With a timesheet at your disposal, it will be easier to keep track of the costs incurred for the employees’ hourly pay rate. As a result, employers can figure out whether or not their business is profitable. For example, if you are charging your clients a fixed-rate for a particular service and you pay your employees on an hourly basis, you can assess if the compensation you give to your employees does not go beyond the rate you offered to the clients. Through this, you can determine if the business is gaining or losing money.Enables Employers to Fully Understand Their Employees’ Workload: A happy workforce is a productive workforce. As an employer, you should not be clueless about how your workers feel about the workload they carry. A timesheet helps employers empathize with their employees and designate tasks evenly to save those employees who are on the verge of burning out. The data reflected on the timesheet can also help employers determine those employees who always work overtime so they can lessen their workload if possible.

Timesheets and Pay Periods

A study conducted by the United States’ Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that most employers (36.5%) in the private sector pay their employees on a biweekly basis. Meanwhile, some employees (32.4%) receive their salary once every week. Other types of pay periods, such as semimonthly and monthly, are less common in private sectors.

The time frame your timesheet covers should correspond with the pay period implemented in your company. It would be helpful if you make use of monthly timesheets if you pay your employees once every month. This way, it will be easier to calculate the payroll since the employees’ timesheets are the basis for their salary and wages. Provided in this section are the different types of pay periods you can implement in your company.

Weekly Pay Period: A weekly pay period means that employees receive their paychecks once every week on a specific day. Knowing that a calendar year consists of 52 weeks, a weekly pay period results in 52 paychecks in a year. This type of pay period is ideal for hourly or trade employees since it will help them manage their cash flow more effectively. Payroll processing will also be easier with a weekly pay period since it does not include lots of data. Its downside, though, is that it can be time-consuming on the part of the human resource or payroll professionals because they have to make calculations every week.

Biweekly Pay Period: A biweekly pay period means that employees receive their paychecks once every two weeks. With this type of pay period, a company’s workers receive 26 paychecks over the course of a year. In most months, employees will have two paychecks and three on some months. With this type of arrangement, workers can effectively manage their personal expenses because they know when they can expect a paycheck from the company. Since the human resource personnel processes the payroll once every two weeks, the likelihood of errors will be lesser as opposed to the weekly pay period.

Semimonthly Pay Period: Often confused with the biweekly pay period, a semimonthly pay period means that employees receive their paychecks twice per month. While the biweekly pay period results in 26 paychecks for the year, the semimonthly amounts to only 24. The usual paydays for this type of pay period fall every 15th and 30th day of the month. If the specified date falls on a weekend, employers should pay their employees on the closest weekday.

Monthly Pay Period: A monthly pay period means that employees receive their paychecks only once per month, resulting in 12 in a year. However, if you want to maintain good employee relationships, then implementing this type of pay period in your company will be a bad idea. Although it has the lowest processing costs on the part of the business, a monthly pay period makes it hard for the employees to manage their finances and may end up financially strained a few weeks after payday. There’s a reason why the monthly pay period is the least preferred as opposed to the other options.

How to Create a Monthly Timesheet

According to the United States’ Bureau of Labor Statistics, full-time workers work for 8.50 hours during weekdays and 5.27 hours for the weekends. Meanwhile, part-time workers spend 5.17 hours on work-related tasks on weekdays and 4.81 on weekends. Whether an employee is working full-time or part-time, it is crucial to keep a record of the time they spent for work. That is why in every company, timesheets are must-haves. In this section, learn how to create a monthly timesheet by following the steps outlined below.

Step 1: Incorporate Your Business’ Branding

Every document you make use of for your business should have a visual representation of your company in some ways. That is why it is essential to incorporate your company’s identity into your timesheet. Much like a letterhead, the top portion of your timesheet should include your company logo, name, address, contact number, and website URL (if applicable.)

Step 2: Enter Employee Information

The first section of the timesheet should reflect relevant information about the employees. Companies with a large workforce assign each employee an identification number to make the data unique for each individual. Aside from the employee’s identification number, other details such as their names, contact number, department, supervisor’s name, and manager’s name should also be in this section. It is imperative to have proper employee identification in the timesheet so that every worker will receive adequate compensation and the right amount of salary during payday.

Step 3: Insert a Data Table

When various data is arranged in rows and columns, it would be easier for the readers or viewers to comprehend the information presented. For this reason, you should make use of a table in your timesheet for it to look organized. In the table, insert blank cells for the employees to input the day, date, time in and time out, break time, total working hours for the day, and overtime.

Step 4: Include Signature Lines

In the absence of time tracking applications, some companies rely on their employees’ integrity in recording their attendance or working hours. For printed monthly timesheets, you must leave enough spaces for the employees and their supervisors to affix their signatures. Doing so will assure the employers that the details written on the timesheet are factual.

To ensure profitability, businesses must first look into the internal factors which influence their success. And although it sounds like an added burden, managing your employees’ productivity can be beneficial for the organization. It helps avoid time thieves and eliminates unproductive hours, which, as a result, saves the company from wasting its resources—time and money. Regardless of the size of your company, a timesheet is an important document you should have. It enables you to have a clearer picture of the workforce’s working hours and keep track of their efficiency.