Biweekly Timesheet Template & How to Fill It Out

A biweekly timesheet template tracks two workweeks on a single sheet, which is why it's the most common format in US payroll — it lines up neatly with a biweekly pay cycle. The catch is that "biweekly" describes how you pay, not how you calculate overtime. Get that distinction right and a biweekly template is the cleanest way to run payroll. Get it wrong and you can quietly underpay people.

What a biweekly timesheet includes

The layout is two week-blocks stacked on one page. Each needs:

• Employee name and role
• Date for all 14 days
• Time in and time out for each shift
• Break duration, marked paid or unpaid
• Daily total in decimal hours
• Weekly subtotal — one for each of the two weeks
• Regular vs. overtime split, per week
• Pay-period total at the very bottom

The non-negotiable detail: two separate weekly subtotals, not just a single 80-hour total. Overtime almost always depends on hours in one workweek, so a combined total can hide it.

How to fill it out, step by step

1. Enter the pay period dates. Write the start and end date, and mark where week one ends and week two begins.

2. Record daily times. For each day worked, enter clock-in and clock-out. Converting to 24-hour time first makes the math easier — 5:30 PM becomes 17:30.

3. Subtract unpaid breaks. Take off lunches and other unpaid breaks. Leave paid rest breaks in.

4. Total each day in decimals. Convert minutes by dividing by 60. Thirty minutes is 0.5, so 7 hours 30 minutes is 7.5 — not 7.30.

5. Subtotal each week. Add the seven daily decimals for week one, then again for week two. Keep them separate.

6. Split regular and overtime per week. If a week is over 40 hours (the standard US threshold), the excess is overtime for that week.

7. Get it approved. A signature or manager approval turns the sheet into a record you can rely on.

Why the two weeks matter

Say someone works 46 hours in week one and 34 in week two. The pay-period total is 80 — right at "full time," so it's tempting to pay 80 straight hours. But week one had 6 overtime hours, and week two being light doesn't cancel them out. Overtime is earned week by week and can't be averaged across the pay period. A biweekly template that only shows 80 makes this mistake invisible; one with weekly subtotals makes it obvious.

Common biweekly timesheet mistakes

• Averaging the two weeks to stay under 40 — overtime is per week.
• Writing minutes as decimals (7.45 instead of 7.75).
• Forgetting to mark the week boundary, so the subtotals blur together.
• Skipping unpaid break subtraction.
• No approval step, leaving you without a defensible record.

Skip the manual totaling

A template works, but every total is entered and calculated by hand — and biweekly means twice the rows to get right each period. Timesheet Maker records clock-ins from any device, totals each workweek automatically, splits overtime correctly, and produces an approvals-ready biweekly summary, so payroll is a review instead of a recalculation.

Frequently asked questions

What is a biweekly timesheet? A timesheet covering two consecutive workweeks — 14 days — on one sheet, matching a biweekly pay schedule.

How do I calculate overtime on a biweekly timesheet? Total each of the two weeks on its own and apply overtime to any week over the threshold (40 hours in a standard US workweek). Never average the two weeks together.

Is biweekly the same as semi-monthly? No. Biweekly is every two weeks (26 pay periods a year); semi-monthly is twice a month on fixed dates (24 periods). They rarely line up.

Can I use one template for both weeks? Yes — just keep the two weeks visually separated with their own subtotals so overtime is calculated correctly.

Get the format right

Track both weeks, total each separately, and split overtime per week. When the manual math starts costing you time, try Timesheet Maker free.