Time card calculator

How do I calculate hours on a time card?

1. For each in/out pair, subtract the in time from the out time. Change PM times to the 24-hour clock first (5:00 PM is 17:00).
2. Add the pairs for the day. A gap between pairs is a break: short rest breaks of up to about 20 minutes are paid under federal rules; a meal break, ordinarily 30 minutes or more, is not.
3. Take off any unpaid break you did not punch out for.
4. Add the days for the workweek, and turn the total into decimal hours for pay (8:30 is 8.5).
5. Mark the overtime: hours over 40 in the workweek, plus daily overtime where your state has it.

The calculator shows each day in hours and minutes and in decimal hours, the week’s total, and both the exact and rounded totals when you choose rounding.

A worked example, by hand

To total a time card, take each day’s out time minus its in time, subtract unpaid breaks, add up the days, then pay hours over 40 in a workweek at 1.5 times your rate (some states also count overtime by the day). A 48-hour week at $22 an hour in California is 40 hours regular and 8 hours overtime: $1,144.00 before tax, about $916.59 after tax.

1. Each split-shift day (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday): 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM is 4:00, and 12:30 PM to 5:00 PM is 4:30. The 30-minute lunch gap is unpaid, so the day is 8:30 (8.50 in decimal).
2. Wednesday: 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM is 10:30; less a 30-minute unpaid lunch taken without punching out, 10:00. Saturday: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, 4:00.
3. The week: 4 × 8:30 + 10:00 + 4:00 = 48:00 hours (48.00).
4. California’s daily rule: hours over 8 in a day are overtime: 0:30 on each split-shift day and 2:00 on Wednesday, 4 hours in all. The rest is 44 hours, which is over 40, so the weekly rule makes 4 hours more overtime: 40 hours regular and 8 hours overtime.
5. Pay: 40 hours × $22.00 = $880.00, plus 8 hours × $33.00 (1.5 × $22.00) = $264.00. $1,144.00 for the week.
6. Take-home: a year of weeks like this is $59,488.00; after federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, California tax and SDI it is $47,662.90, about $916.59 a week (single).

The result panel above starts on this example.

How does time clock rounding work?

Federal rules (29 CFR 785.48(b)) let an employer record start and stop times to the nearest 5 minutes, the nearest tenth of an hour (6 minutes) or the nearest quarter hour (15 minutes), as long as it evens out over time and does not leave people underpaid for the time they actually worked. Read the rule on eCFR.

• Quarter hour (15 minutes): 1 to 7 minutes past the mark rounds down, 8 to 14 rounds up. Clocking in at 8:07 records 8:00; at 8:08, 8:15.
• Tenth of an hour (6 minutes): 8:02 records 8:00 and 8:03, exactly halfway, records 8:06 (we round halfway to the later mark).
• 5 minutes: 8:02 records 8:00 and 8:03 records 8:05.

Rounding that always favors the employer (rounding every clock-in up and every clock-out down) does not even out, and is not allowed. Choose your employer’s rounding to check a paycheck; the result shows how much rounding added or took off.

How is overtime counted on a time card?

By the workweek: any fixed run of seven days. Hours over 40 in it are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate, and two weeks are never averaged. Four states also count overtime by the day:

• California: time and a half for hours over 8 in a workday, double time over 12, and over 40 in a workweek. On the seventh day in a row in one workweek, the first 8 hours are at time and a half and the rest at double time.
• Alaska: time and a half for hours over 8 in a workday, and over 40 in a workweek. Employers with fewer than 4 employees do not have to pay it.
• Nevada: time and a half for hours over 8 in a workday, and over 40 in a workweek. The daily rule is only for pay under 1.5 times the state minimum wage ($18.00 an hour, on $12.00); above it, only the weekly rule applies.
• Colorado: time and a half for hours over 12 in a workday, and over 40 in a workweek.

A shift differential (extra pay for nights or weekends) is part of your regular rate under federal rules, so overtime is paid on it too. With a differential on some hours, your regular rate for the week is all your straight-time pay divided by all your hours.

From 2025 to 2028, the extra half on federal overtime comes off your taxable income: $88.00 in the example week. See what the no tax on overtime deduction saves you.

Can I save my weeks and print a time card?

Yes. Tick Save weeks on this device and each week you save stays in this browser, with a history to reopen, Copy last week for a schedule that repeats, and a CSV of every saved week. Nothing is sent to us, and unticking the box deletes them.

Print gives a clean time card on its own: each day’s punches, breaks and hours, the week’s totals, pay and signature lines, with no menu or ads. Copy link shares the card (never your name), and Download CSV opens in Excel or Google Sheets; you can import it again later.

What does this calculator leave out?

• It is an estimate, not legal or tax advice. Your employer’s time clock, union contract or policy can pay more than the law requires.
• An overnight shift counts on the day it started. California and some employers split a shift that crosses midnight between two workdays; the weekly total is the same either way.
• Exempt jobs, alternative workweek schedules, and the special overtime rules of some industries (farm work, health care, transport and others).
• Tips, bonuses and commissions. A bonus tied to hours or output is part of the regular rate for overtime; enter a rate that includes it, or use the shift differential.
• Take-home pay treats every week (or two-week period) of the year like this one, with nothing taken before tax, such as a 401(k) or health insurance.