An Excel timesheet is often enough for a small team: one file per person, one sheet per week, and a few formulas for overtime and for vacation and sick leave balances. You can also get our free Excel timesheet template, already built, with the form further down.
Updated October 9, 2026, based on Quebec's Act respecting labour standards as of August 12, 2026.
Which rules do you enter first?​
Create an Excel file and name the first sheet "Rules". Enter the values that apply to the employee:
- in B1, hours worked per day;
- in B2, vacation days per year;
- in B3, sick days per year;
- in B4, the weekly overtime threshold (more on this below).
These values come from your workplace policy. Legal minimums depend on your province: for Quebec, see Overtime, sick leave and vacation in Quebec.
Every formula reads the Rules sheet. When someone's schedule changes, you change it in one place.
How do you build the first week?​
Add a sheet named "Week 1". Build it completely, then copy it for the following weeks.
Which cells does the employee fill in?​
One column per day, from Monday (column B) to Sunday (column H), and three rows to fill in:
- row 2, hours worked;
- row 3, vacation hours;
- row 4, sick hours.
Which formulas do you add?​
Three rows are calculated automatically. In the Monday column:
- row 5, Total:
=SUM(B2:B4); - row 6, Overtime:
=B5-Rules!$B$1; - row 7, Time off owed:
=Rules!$B$1-B5.
Copy these formulas through Sunday by dragging the cell's fill handle to the right: Excel adjusts the column letters. In the columns for days off, usually Saturday and Sunday, replace Rules!$B$1 with 0.
Row 6 compares each day to the scheduled hours. With 7 scheduled hours, an 8-hour day gives 1 and a 6-hour day gives -1. Row 7 shows the same difference with the opposite sign: the time to make up.
How do you calculate vacation and sick leave balances?​
Add three columns: Total (I), Earned (J) and Balance (K).
- In I2,
=SUM(B2:H2), copied down to row 7. - In J3,
=Rules!B2/52*Rules!B1-I3, and in J4,=Rules!B3/52*Rules!B1-I4. - In K3,
=J3, in K4,=J4, and in K6,=I6.
Column J adds the week's share and subtracts the hours taken. Example: with 20 vacation days of 7 hours, the weekly share is 20 Ă— 7 Ă· 52, or 2.69 hours. A week with one 7-hour vacation day gives 2.69 - 7 = -4.31 hours.
Fill in the week to test it before moving on.
How do you calculate overtime as the law defines it?​
Row 6 tracks a difference from the schedule. The law, however, counts overtime above a threshold set by each province. In Quebec, the threshold is 40 hours a week (section 52 of the Act respecting labour standards), and each hour above it is paid at the prevailing hourly wage plus 50% (section 55).
Enter 40 in B4 of the Rules sheet, then add in I8: =MAX(0,I2+I3-Rules!$B$4). The formula adds hours worked and vacation hours, because in Quebec annual leave and statutory holidays count as days of work for this calculation (section 56). If you add a row for statutory holidays, add it to the formula too.
Example: a support worker works 35 hours and takes 7 hours of vacation. The formula gives 35 + 7 - 40 = 2 overtime hours, paid at the regular wage plus 50%, the equivalent of 3 hours.
Elsewhere in Canada, the threshold, the hours that count and sometimes a daily threshold differ: adjust B4 and the formula to your province.
State in your policy whether overtime is paid or taken as time off. In Quebec, time off that replaces payment equals the hours worked plus 50% (section 55).
See it with your own rules
Feuille de temps applies these thresholds on every timesheet, daily and weekly, according to your organization's rules.
How do you create the following weeks?​
Clear the test data, then right-click the "Week 1" tab to move or copy it. Name the copy "Week 2".
In the copy, carry the previous week's balances forward:
- K3 becomes
=J3+'Week 1'!K3; - K4 becomes
=J4+'Week 1'!K4; - K6 becomes
=I6+'Week 1'!K6.
Repeat up to week 53, each time referring to the previous week. A 365-day year is 52 weeks and one day, so it spans 53 Monday-to-Sunday weeks.
How do you adapt the file for each person?​
Save one copy of the file per person. For someone who works 6 hours a day or has 25 vacation days, change only B1 or B2 in their Rules sheet: all 53 weeks update accordingly.
Formatting is up to you. Greying out formula cells shows the team what to fill in, and conditional formatting can highlight a negative balance.
The template we send follows the same logic, shifted by one column and one row: the days start in column C and hours worked in row 3. It does not include the legal threshold: add B4 and the overtime formula as described above. The template is in French (sheets "Règles" and "Semaine 1").
Get the free Excel template
Leave us your details and we will send you the template by email.
Where does an Excel file reach its limits?​
One file per person and 53 sheets per file: for a team of 10, that is 10 files to open to know everyone's balances, and 530 sheets to maintain. A formula overwritten by mistake throws off every following week's balance without warning, and a rule change in the middle of the year has to be copied by hand into every file. We compare both approaches in Why use timesheet software in a non-profit?
Sources​
Feuille de temps​
Feuille de temps is timesheet software built for non-profits. Once we have set up your rules with you, it calculates overtime premiums and keeps the whole team's vacation, sick leave and overtime banks in one place.Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate overtime in an Excel timesheet?
Enter your province's weekly threshold in the Rules sheet, then compare it to the week's total with a formula such as =MAX(0,I2+I3-Rules!$B$4), which adds hours worked and vacation hours. In Quebec, the threshold is 40 hours and vacation counts toward that total.
How do you track vacation and sick leave balances in Excel?
Each week, add the share earned (days per year Ă· 52 Ă— hours per day) and subtract the hours taken. Each week's balance carries the previous week's balance forward and adds that difference.
How many sheets does a full year take in Excel?
One per week, so 53 sheets to cover every week of a calendar year, plus the Rules sheet.
How do you adapt the same Excel template for each team member?
Save one copy of the file per person and change only the values in the Rules sheet. The formulas in all 53 weeks update accordingly.
Is the Excel timesheet template free?
Yes. Fill in the form in this article and we will email it to you. It is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.