A timesheet is three calculations in one: hours worked, the overtime split, and what those hours are worth. Get the split wrong and the pay error compounds into tax, benefits and record-keeping.
Gross pay for this week
$1,037.50
41 hours worked, 1 of them at 1.5x
| Day | Hours | Regular | Overtime | Pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 8 | 7 | 1 | $212.50 |
| Tue | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0 | $212.50 |
| Wed | 9 | 9 | 0 | $225.00 |
| Thu | 8 | 8 | 0 | $200.00 |
| Fri | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0 | $187.50 |
| Total | 41 | 40 | 1 | $1,037.50 |
Hours are the hours you entered, adjusted by the rounding rule below. Overtime is split after the daily rule is applied, so a long day is never counted twice against the weekly threshold.
| Rule | Setting | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly overtime | After 40 hours | 1 overtime hours |
| Daily overtime | Not applied | No day exceeded it |
| Punch rounding | None | 0 minutes |
| Overtime multiplier | 1.5x | $12.50 of premium |
| Average rate actually earned | $25.30 | 41 hours |
The overtime premium is the extra pay the multiplier created, above what the same hours would have paid at the regular rate. Rounding up always adds to payroll cost, which is worth knowing before choosing it.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Billable hours a week | 25 |
| Total hours on this timesheet | 41 |
| Utilisation | 61% |
| Billable hours a year | 1,200 |
| Revenue those hours produce | $30,000.00 |
| Effective rate across every hour | $15.24 |
Add a monthly retainer above to check whether the hours it covers are being paid at your rate.
Enter the hours for each day of the week and this calculator applies the 40-hour weekly rule, an optional daily rule, punch rounding and your rate, then shows the billable-hours reality behind the number.
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees are owed 1.5 times their regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. The workweek is a fixed, repeating 168-hour period, not a calendar week that changes with the schedule.
Overtime is calculated on the regular rate, which includes non-discretionary bonuses and shift differentials, not just the base hourly rate. A week with a production bonus therefore has a higher overtime rate than a week without one.
Some states owe overtime after a set number of hours in a single day, with 8 hours the usual threshold and 12 hours bringing double time in a few places. Where both rules exist, the employee is normally paid the greater of the two, not both.
The calculator applies the daily rule first and then lets the weekly threshold operate on what is left, which avoids paying the same hour twice. Set the daily threshold to zero if your state has no daily rule.
Employers may round punch times to the nearest increment, but a rounding practice that consistently favours the employer is not permitted, which is why nearest is the safer setting than always up. Rounding to 15 minutes is common; rounding to the nearest hour is not.
Unpaid breaks have to be genuinely free from work and usually at least 20 minutes. Short breaks of five to twenty minutes are generally paid, and a lunch break during which you keep answering messages is not a lunch break.
Gross pay divided by hours worked is the effective hourly rate you actually earned, and it is usually lower than the overtime rate you were paid for the last hour of the week. The billable check underneath shows the same figure for invoiced work: a 25-hour billing week inside 40 working hours earns the headline rate for 62.5% of the time.
If a client offers a monthly retainer, dividing it by the hours it covers gives an implied hourly rate. Comparing that with your rate is the fastest way to see whether the retainer is a discount in disguise.
Each example below was run through the calculator on this page when the site was built, so the numbers match what you see when you enter the same inputs.
Gross pay for this week
$1,187.50
45 hours worked, 5 of them at 1.5x
45 hours in the week means 40 at the regular rate and 5 at $37.50, for a gross of $1,187.50 rather than the $1,125 the same hours would pay at the flat rate.
Gross pay for this week
$1,025.00
40 hours worked, 2 of them at 1.5x
Exactly 40 hours, but two of them are overtime because of the ten-hour Monday: $950 regular plus $75 of premium.
Gross pay for this week
$800.00
40 hours worked, 0 of them at 1.5x
Seven hours 54 minutes rounds to eight hours on each day, adding half an hour of paid time over the week.
After 40 hours worked in a single workweek, at 1.5 times the regular rate, for employees who are not exempt. The workweek is a fixed and repeating seven-day period that does not have to start on a Monday.
No. Overtime is calculated one workweek at a time, so a 50-hour week followed by a 30-hour week still owes ten hours of overtime even though the average is 40.
The regular rate includes non-discretionary bonuses and shift differentials, so it can be higher than the base hourly rate. Discretionary bonuses and most expense reimbursements are excluded.
Yes, and the employee is generally owed the greater of the two rather than both. The calculator applies the daily rule first and then the weekly threshold to the hours that remain, which is the same effect.
Rounding is allowed if it is neutral over time, which is why rounding to the nearest six or fifteen minutes is common. A rule that always rounds in the employer favour can underpay and is not permitted.
Short breaks of five to twenty minutes normally count as hours worked. Meal breaks of 30 minutes or more are unpaid only if you are genuinely relieved of all duties, which a working lunch is not.
Last reviewed 2026-09-14. This page is an estimate tool, not financial, tax or legal advice.Read the full disclaimer.