Time Card Calculator

Free time card calculator with lunch breaks and overtime

Use this free time card calculator to enter clock-in, clock-out and lunch breaks for each day. It totals regular hours, overtime hours, decimal payroll hours and gross pay for the week.

Time card calculator with lunch break

Add the unpaid lunch or break minutes for each day and the calculator subtracts them from the shift automatically. A 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM shift with a 30-minute lunch becomes 8.0 paid hours, not 8.5.

Time card calculator with overtime

Enable weekly overtime for hours over 40, or daily overtime if your state or policy requires it. Enter an hourly rate and the tool splits regular pay from overtime pay using the overtime multiplier.

Weekly and 2-week time card calculator

The calculator is built around a weekly time card, but the math also works for a 2-week payroll period: calculate week one, copy the result, then run week two with the same overtime settings. That keeps lunch breaks, daily overtime, weekly overtime, and gross pay visible instead of buried in a spreadsheet.

Payroll hours and decimal hours

Payroll usually needs decimal hours, not just hours and minutes. The calculator shows both formats, so 7 hours 30 minutes becomes 7.50 payroll hours without manual conversion.

How to Calculate Hours Worked

To calculate hours worked from a time card manually, subtract the clock-in time from the clock-out time, subtract unpaid break time, then add daily totals across the week. The formula is:

Hours worked = Clock-out time - Clock-in time - Break time

For example, if an employee clocks in at 9:00 AM, takes a 30-minute lunch break, and clocks out at 5:30 PM, they worked 8 hours: 8.5 hours on the clock minus 0.5 hours of break time.

Time Card Rounding Rules

Many employers round time card entries to the nearest 5, 6, or 15 minutes. Under US federal law (FLSA), rounding is legal as long as it averages out fairly over time. The most common method is the 7-minute rule: round down for 1-7 minutes, round up for 8-15 minutes.

This calculator uses exact times without rounding, giving you the most accurate picture of actual hours worked. If your payroll system rounds, compare the rounded totals against the actuals to ensure rounding isn't systematically shorting employees.

Weekly vs. Daily Overtime

The US federal standard counts overtime after 40 hours per week. But some states have stricter rules:

• California: overtime after 8 hours/day AND after 40 hours/week. Double time after 12 hours/day.
• Alaska, Nevada, Colorado: daily overtime after 8 hours in certain industries.
• Most other states: follow the federal 40-hour weekly threshold only.

This calculator supports both weekly and daily overtime thresholds. Enable daily overtime in the settings if your state requires it. To see the cost impact, use our overtime cost calculator.

Converting Time Card Hours to Payroll

Most payroll systems need hours in decimal format, not hours and minutes. The conversion:

• 15 minutes = 0.25 hours
• 30 minutes = 0.50 hours
• 45 minutes = 0.75 hours

This calculator shows both formats: hours/minutes for readability and decimal hours for payroll. Enter your hourly rate to see gross pay calculated automatically.

Common Time Card Mistakes

• Forgetting to deduct breaks. Unpaid breaks must be subtracted. A 30-minute lunch over 5 days is 2.5 hours per week that shouldn't be on the payroll.
• Mixing 12-hour and 24-hour formats. Is "1:00" 1 AM or 1 PM? This calculator accepts both formats to avoid ambiguity.
• Not tracking overnight shifts. If someone clocks in at 10 PM and out at 6 AM, that's 8 hours across two calendar days. This calculator handles overnight shifts correctly.
• Manual math errors. Even simple subtraction gets messy with time. 5:45 PM minus 8:15 AM isn't intuitive. That's why calculators exist.