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Previously we introduced the simple timesheet template, how to use it and the benefits it holds to businesses and organizations. To recap, timesheets are used to monitor the time you and your workers spend on tasks, to track hours and manage payroll payments accordingly.
They enable you to gain a richer understanding of how, and where, time is spent, and how this can be optimized. But imagine an option where you could formulate a timesheet to calculate this for you, saving a lot of time and effort, whilst still maintaining their purpose.
Benefits of a Daily timesheet excel template
A daily Excel timesheet provides all of the benefits of a simple timesheet. These include increased productivity and efficiency, recording hours, and workplace transparency. However, it makes it a much easier process, simplifying the creation of timesheets, streamlining the preparation and processing with pre-made and pre-formatted templates accessible via Excel.
Rather than entering data into a simple timesheet manually, and calculating hours yourself, an excel timesheet does the hard bit for you. You can manually insert formulas into Excel that calculate the daily working hours for you. Excel templates, however, include these formulas already, saving a significant amount of time and effort.
What to include in a Simple Timesheet
While there are Excel templates which have predefined components, you may also create your own. Sections you may want to record include:
- Manager - Who is responsible for the timesheets and/or projects.
- Employee name - May seem obvious, but make sure each timesheet is named so it’s obvious to HR whose timesheet is completed.
- Date - To indicate which day is being recorded.
- Time in and Time out [obviously!] - Where employees record their hours. This is not limited to time in and time out but rather, could be the times spent on individual tasks.
- Total hours - The total number of hours worked either to work out billable hours, or for project management control.
- Breaks - Any breaks taken, whether that be a lunch break, or any other planned/unplanned breaks should be recorded.
- Overtime - Any overtime the employee has worked so that they can be compensated accordingly, and to see where time could be better managed.
- Task description - If the timesheet is made for project management purposes, the task that is being recorded must be defined
- Projects - Timely tip: Project managers should define the title of projects so it is clear what project the timesheet related to
Types of Daily Timesheet Excel Template
Timesheets can be applied to any time frame, whether that be daily, weekly or monthly, however, the focus of this article relates to the types of daily timesheets. So what can daily timesheets be used for:
- Payroll timesheet - Perhaps the most common form of timesheet particularly for shift work. A payroll timesheet is used for logging employees hours, calculating their total hours to process their payrolls.
- Task timesheet - This allows you to effectively manage your employees hours and see how much time they spend on specific tasks and activities, to track their progress and see where their time is best spent.
- Project timesheet - Unlike a task timesheet which is used to track the time that is spent on specific tasks within a project, a project timesheet manages the time spent on the tasks within the project itself. This can be used to monitor the time spent on tasks, keeping everything on track.
How to use a Daily Timesheet Excel Template
Whilst there are many Excel daily timesheets that are pre-made and readily accessible which will calculate the total hours for you when you enter the data, it is very simple to create your own. The following section provides a step by step description of how to do so.
- You must first create a simple template in Excel, by adding the required headings and sections, including the individual tasks that are being managed.
- You must then enter a time value into the time in, and time out section, to do this you must format the cells correctly so Excel knows that it is a timeframe being inserted. You should select the desired cell and right click, selecting format cells. In the pop up window go to the tab titled ‘number’ and choose the category of time. Here you can choose the time format that is needed and is most convenient for further operations.
- Then you should fill in the time you started and time you finished on the individual tasks.
- To calculate how many hours have been spent on each one, you should type ‘=’ into the total hours section selecting the time out cell and subtract it from the time in cell.
- To apply this to all of the individual tasks, drag down on the right hand side to the other cells you want to fill.
Summary
Excel timesheets provide a simple way for tracking and managing time, calculating total hours automatically without manual intervention, saving time and reducing errors.
Whilst time tracking is an incredibly important management process, and tools such as Excel really help, the process still involves manual input of data which can be outdated and time-consuming!
Timely tracks time automatically with 100% accuracy, eliminating the need for manual data entry.You can wave goodbye to the hassle of traditional timesheets requiring data entry, redirecting your time to more important tasks.
Daily Timesheet Excel Template Download
