How to calculate work hours with this time card calculator
Enter your start times and end times for each workday, then add your break time. The calculator handles total hours, decimal conversion, overtime, and gross pay from there.
- Choose your time format
Toggle between 12-hour (AM/PM) or 24-hour military time using the format switch at the top of the calculator.
- Enter clock-in and clock-out times
Add your start time and end time for each day you worked. Days left blank won't count toward your totals.
- Add break deductions
Enter the total unpaid break time in minutes for each day, including lunch breaks. The calculator deducts this from your daily hours automatically.
- Set your pay rate (optional)
Enter your hourly rate to see gross pay, including regular earnings and overtime. Set the overtime threshold and rate (1.5× or 2×) to match your employment terms.
- Print or export
Print your completed time card as a physical record, or export to CSV for importing into Excel, Google Sheets, or your payroll system.
How total hours and decimal time are calculated
The time card calculator performs a few conversions you'd otherwise need to do manually in Excel.
Daily hours
Daily hours = (Clock-out − Clock-in) − Break deduction
Clock in at 8:00 AM, clock out at 5:30 PM, and you have 9.5 hours. Subtract 30 minutes of unpaid lunch and the net total is 9.0 hours.
Decimal hours conversion
Decimal hours = whole hours + (minutes ÷ 60)
So 7 hours 45 minutes = 7 + (45 ÷ 60) = 7.75 decimal hours. Most payroll systems multiply decimal hours by the hourly rate.
Overtime pay
Gross pay = (Regular hours × rate) + (OT hours × rate × OT multiplier)
If total hours worked exceed the overtime threshold (default 40 hours per workweek), hours above that threshold are paid at the overtime rate.
A free time card and timesheet calculator for any workday scenario
Hourly employees, payroll managers, and small business owners can all use this calculator to generate weekly or biweekly time cards with breaks, overtime, and gross pay calculated automatically.
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Hourly employees
Enter your clock-in and clock-out times for each day of the week, add your lunch break, and see your total hours and gross pay in seconds.
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Payroll managers
Calculate weekly totals and overtime for employee time cards, export to CSV for payroll processing, or print as a permanent record.
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Small businesses
Track employee time without expensive software. Set pay rates and overtime thresholds to calculate gross pay before you run payroll.
Lunch breaks, break deductions, and labor law basics
Incorrect break handling is the most common source of timesheet errors. The rules vary by state, but the federal baseline is consistent.
Paid vs. unpaid breaks
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), short rest breaks — typically 5 to 20 minutes — are generally paid and must be counted as work time. Meal periods of 30 minutes or more are typically unpaid, provided the employee is completely relieved from all work duties during that time.
If an employee works through their lunch break, that time is paid and should not be deducted. Only fully relieved, unpaid meal periods belong in the break deduction field.
State-specific break requirements
Many states impose stricter rules than federal law. California, for example, requires a 30-minute unpaid meal break after 5 hours of work, plus a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked. Failure to provide compliant breaks can trigger a penalty of one additional hour of pay per violation.
Cross-check your break policy against your state's labor laws. The U.S. Department of Labor and most state labor boards publish current requirements online.
Record-keeping requirements
The FLSA requires employers to retain payroll records, including employee time cards, for at least two years. Some states require three.
Federal overtime rules
The FLSA requires overtime pay for non-exempt employees at a rate of at least 1.5 times their regular pay rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. A workweek is defined as any fixed, regularly recurring 168-hour period.
Who is exempt from overtime?
Exempt employees, generally those in executive, administrative, or professional roles earning at least $684/week, are not entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA. Most hourly workers are non-exempt and are protected by overtime rules.
"Blue-collar" workers performing manual labor are almost never exempt, regardless of pay level. This includes carpenters, electricians, mechanics, and similar trades.
Common overtime thresholds by jurisdiction
* UK limit is an average over a 17-week reference period. Workers may voluntarily opt out of the 48-hour limit in writing (gov.uk).
These are general guidelines. Always verify current rules with your state or country labor board.
Time card calculators vs. time tracking software
A free time card calculator is the right tool for one-off calculations: checking a week's hours, running a quick payroll estimate, or printing a single timesheet. It has real limits once you're managing more than a few employees.
Where manual time cards fall short
Employees reconstructing timesheets from memory at the end of the day routinely undercount their hours. Manual entry also introduces errors in decimal conversion, overtime calculation, and break deductions that multiply across a team.
Excel-based timesheets, the most common alternative to paper, require constant formula maintenance, don't update in real time, and can't remind employees who forget to log their hours.
What dedicated time tracking software adds
Time tracking software like Toggl handles everything a manual time card can't:
- One-click timers on web, mobile apps, and desktop, so hours are logged as they happen rather than reconstructed at the end of the day
- Automatic timesheet generation with no manual data entry
- Billable and non-billable hour separation with client and project assignment
- Payroll reporting by employee, project, or pay period
- Integration with payroll processing tools and project management platforms
- Historical billing rates and time tracking for auditing and compliance
When to use which
For small businesses managing three or more employees, or any team tracking billable hours for clients, dedicated time tracking software typically recovers enough unbilled time within weeks to pay for itself.
Toggl has free and paid plans according to your needs. Start tracking for free →