Time Clock Calculator

Apart from the starting and ending times, most calculators include an option to add breaks and overtime, calculate hourly rates, or even download the timesheet they’ve completed as a PDF file and send it to their clients for billing.

Who Uses a Time Clock Calculator?

Time clock calculators are used by hourly employees or individuals who bill by the hour, including:

• Freelancers who have to present their accurate work hours to their clients or send a payment request.
• Lawyers and other professionals who bill by the hour (e.g., consultants, accountants, etc.).
• Individuals who are just starting out to work have to track their work hours in order to get paid.
• Payroll or financial departments are responsible for numerous employees.

Generally, time clock calculators are a helpful tool for any individual or organization required to calculate a specific hourly rate, gross vs. net pay, taxes, tax deductions, or other costs that might impact their income.

Individuals typically use time clock calculators to get into the practice of time tracking before moving on to a more robust and precise tool like a time tracking software. Time clock calculators are ideal beginner time tracking tools, but after a while, they become cumbersome to work with.

This is because most free time clock calculators don’t save the parameters like hourly rates, break lengths, name, tasks, etc., and instead require users to fill them in from scratch every time they want to export a timesheet. Playing catch-up with the calculator might lead to mistakes and inaccurate time tracking.

Time Clock Calculator Use Cases

There can be many use cases for time clock calculators, but they’re mostly used when:

• A company needs to keep employee attendance records.
• Employees have to log in to work.
• The company or enterprise has to process the timekeeping data for payroll.
• The company conducts productivity research.
• The company or enterprise calculates the employee billable rate.
• The company or enterprise has to generate and send out accurate reports to clients.

What Are Some Notable Features of a Time Clock Calculator?

As we mentioned before, time clock calculators can have different features and practicalities. There are free time clock calculators with basic time tracking functions and advanced time tracking software that offers a more robust experience.  

In order for a time clock to be both practical and helpful, it’s recommended that it has the option to:

• Set a custom employee hourly rate.
• Track overtime hours.
• Track absences.
• Add breaks or lunch times.
• Display or hide weekends from the week.
• Switch between a military-style 24-hour format or a regular AM/PM 12-hour format.
• Download the timesheet in PDF or other formats.
• Save and add custom names to the weekly timesheet.
• Add a custom date range instead of week-by-week.