How to prepare a timesheet: a monthly, step-by-step method

What is a timesheet, and how is it different from payroll?

A timesheet (puantaj in Turkish) shows what each day of the month was for each employee: worked, on leave, on sick leave or a weekly rest day; if worked, how many hours and how much of that was overtime. Payroll is that sheet converted into pay, tax and social security contributions, and is usually prepared in the accountant’s program.

Turkish law prescribes no mandatory document format called a “timesheet”; but it is this record that shows pay, overtime and leave were calculated correctly. In practice a timesheet signed by the employee is evidence frequently relied on in disputes.

Before you start: write down the rules

The same clock-in list produces different timesheets under different rules. So the first job is to put in writing the rules that today live in one person’s head:

• How many hours is the working week? (At most 45 under art. 63 of Law 4857.) What are part-timers’ contracted hours?
• How many minutes of lateness tolerance, and how is lateness beyond it reflected?
• How long is the rest break? (Art. 68 sets the minimum; rest breaks do not count as working time.)
• Which day is the weekly rest day? Is the workplace open on public holidays?
• Is overtime approved in advance or written up afterwards?

Codes used on a timesheet

Turning each day into a code makes the timesheet readable. Codes vary by workplace; the ones below are a common example, not a mandatory standard.

A monthly timesheet, step by step

• 1. Collect the clock-ins. Whatever the source (card, sign-in sheet, phone), merge the whole month into one list.
• 2. Close open records. Find days with no clock-out; confirm the actual time with the manager and note who corrected it.
• 3. Enter leave and sick days. Place approved leave forms and medical reports on their days; update the leave balance.
• 4. Work out net time. For each day, deduct the rest break from gross time.
• 5. Separate overtime. Compare the weekly total with contracted hours and 45 hours; keep extended working time (+25%) and overtime (+50%) in separate columns. Mark night work separately too.
• 6. Mark holiday work. Work on a weekly rest day or a public holiday is a separate line.
• 7. Check and approve. Compare with the previous month; ask about unusual differences. Do not change an approved timesheet; if a correction is needed, make it leaving a trace.
• 8. Send to the accountant. Send the approved timesheet in the same format every month; when the format changes, transfer errors begin.

The five most common mistakes

• Looking at the day, not the week. In law, overtime is work over 45 hours a week (art. 41); one long day is not overtime by itself.
• Counting rest breaks as work. Under art. 68, rest breaks do not count as working time.
• Mixing up extended working time and overtime. For an employee contracted below 45 hours, the excess up to 45 carries +25% and does not count toward the 270-hour annual limit.
• Closing a missed clock-out by guesswork. A guessed time cannot be defended later if who guessed it is not recorded.
• Silently changing an approved month. A figure that changes after going to payroll means two documents that no longer match.

Software does most of these steps automatically; but its result still depends on the rules in step one being defined correctly. For the overtime arithmetic, see the overtime calculation guide.