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Employment & leave Australia

Timesheet Calculator

A timesheet is only addition, but start times, finish times and unpaid breaks make it easy to get wrong. This calculator totals a week of shifts, handles shifts that cross midnight, and shows the hours over your overtime line and pay at your base rate.

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DayStartFinishUnpaid break (min)Hours
Monday—
Tuesday—
Wednesday—
Thursday—
Friday—
Saturday—
Sunday—

Total hours for the week

—

Ordinary hours

—

Hours over the overtime line

—

Days worked

—

Pay at the base rate

—

Average hours per day worked

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Day by day

    How do I calculate hours worked on a timesheet?

    Subtract the start time from the finish time and then take off any unpaid break. A 9:00 am start and 5:30 pm finish with a 30-minute break is 8 hours. If the shift finishes after midnight, add 24 hours to the finish before subtracting. Add the days up for the week, and compare the total with your ordinary hours to find any overtime.

    Getting accurate hours

    Record the actual start and finish, not the rostered times, and enter every unpaid break. Most awards require a meal break after about five hours, which is normally unpaid. Rounding to the nearest quarter hour is permitted only if your agreement says so and is applied fairly in both directions.

    Keep your own timesheet even if the employer records hours, because it is your evidence if a pay dispute arises.

    Shifts that cross midnight

    A shift of 10 pm to 6 am is 8 hours, not a negative number. The calculator treats any finish earlier than the start as the following day. For a shift that runs longer than 24 hours, split it across two days.

    To value overtime hours, use the overtime calculator.

    How this is calculated

    The rule, step by step, so you can check any figure by hand.

    • daily hours = (finish − start) − unpaid break, adding 24 hours if the finish is before the start
    • weekly hours = the sum of the seven days
    • overtime hours = weekly hours − the overtime line (if positive)
    • pay at the base rate = ordinary hours × rate (overtime multipliers are in the overtime calculator)

    Times are added in minutes and converted to hours with decimals at the end, so there is no rounding in the middle. A shift of 8 hours and 15 minutes is 8.25 hours, and that is the figure payroll systems usually want. Entering 8.15 by mistake, reading it as 8 hours 15 minutes, understates the time by 6 minutes, which across a year can be a few hundred dollars.

    For a night shift that finishes after midnight, the calculator assumes the finish is on the next day, which is the right answer for any shift shorter than 24 hours.

    A worked example

    Five shifts from 9:00 to 5:30 with a 30-minute unpaid break, at $35 an hour, with overtime beginning after 38 hours.

    1. One shift8.0 hours
    2. Five shifts40.0 hours
    3. Hours over 382.0 hours
    4. Pay at the base rate, 40 × $35$1,400

    40 hours for the week, 2 of them above the 38-hour line.

    Run the 2 overtime hours through the overtime calculator with your award's multipliers.

    Using the result for payroll

    Employers must keep time and wage records for seven years under the Fair Work Act. The total here is a working figure; your employer's payroll system is the official record.

    Part-time and casual rosters

    The tool works the same for any pattern of shifts. Use the overtime line to match your award or agreement: 38 for a full-time week, or a daily limit divided by days if your award sets one.

    What this calculator does not do

    • One shift per day
    • Does not apply penalty rates by time of day
    • Overtime line is weekly only
    • A shift longer than 24 hours must be split

    Common questions

    How do I add up hours and minutes on a timesheet?

    Convert each shift to minutes, add them, then divide by 60. This calculator does that for you and shows hours in decimals.

    Does an unpaid break count as work time?

    No. It is subtracted, so 9:00 to 5:30 with a 30-minute break is 8 hours.

    How are night shifts calculated?

    If the finish time is earlier than the start, the finish is treated as the next day and 24 hours are added.

    What are decimal hours?

    A way of writing time in hours, where 15 minutes is 0.25 and 30 minutes is 0.5, which payroll systems use for pay.

    How long must employers keep time records?

    Seven years under the Fair Work Act.

    Where these numbers come from

    Method last reviewed 2026-10-28 This calculator uses fixed rules rather than rates that change, and its method is re-checked against the sources above at least once a year. Out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.

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