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How to Calculate a Biweekly Timesheet

By Frame Sixty Labs · Last updated: October 2, 2026

What is a biweekly timesheet?

A biweekly timesheet covers one pay period of exactly 14 days: two complete workweeks, paid together. There are 52 ÷ 2 = 26 of them in a year. For someone on a 40-hour week, a full period is 2 × 40 = 80 hours, and 26 periods come to 26 × 80 = 2,080 hours a year.

The detail that matters most is in the first sentence: it is two workweeks, not one 80-hour block. A biweekly timesheet is really two weekly timesheets stapled together, and nearly every mistake on one comes from forgetting where the staple is.

How do you calculate a biweekly timesheet step by step?

1. Mark where each workweek starts and ends. Your employer sets the workweek (Sunday to Saturday and Monday to Sunday are both common). Draw the line between week one and week two before adding anything.
2. Work out each day’s hours. Clock-out minus clock-in, minus any unpaid break. 7:30 AM to 4:15 PM is 8:45; less a 0:30 lunch it is 8:15. If the subtraction is the hard part, see how to calculate hours between two times.
3. Add week one in hours and minutes. Add the minutes, carry every 60 into an hour, and write down the subtotal.
4. Add week two the same way.
5. Check each week for overtime separately. Compare each subtotal with 40:00. Do not compare the period total with 80.
6. Add the two subtotals for the pay-period total.
7. Convert to decimal hours and multiply by the rate. Minutes ÷ 60 gives the decimal part. Regular hours are paid at the hourly rate, overtime hours at 1.5 times it.

Worked example: a two-week pay period at $24 an hour

An hourly employee earns $24.00 an hour, takes a 30-minute unpaid lunch every day, and has a Monday-to-Sunday workweek. Here are the punches for one biweekly period:

Week one, as a running total: 8:15 + 9:05 = 17:20, + 8:40 = 26:00, + 9:30 = 35:30, + 8:20 = 43:50.

Week two: 7:45 + 8:00 = 15:45, + 6:30 = 22:15, + 8:10 = 30:25, + 5:25 = 35:50.

Pay period: 43:50 + 35:50. The minutes are 50 + 50 = 100, which is 1 hour 40 minutes, so the total is 78 + 1 = 79 hours and 40 minutes: 79:40.

Why can’t you just compare the total with 80 hours?

Because the overtime test is weekly. Under the general US federal rule, a non-exempt employee is owed overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek, and a long week cannot be averaged against a short one in the same pay period.

In the example the period total is 79:40, which is under 80. Read off the bottom line alone, it looks like there is no overtime at all. Split by week, it is a different picture:

• Week one: 43:50 − 40:00 = 3:50 of overtime.
• Week two: 35:50, all regular time.
• Period: 40:00 + 35:50 = 75:50 regular and 3:50 overtime. Check: 75:50 + 3:50 = 79:40.

This is also why a day logged in the wrong week matters even when the total does not change. Move that first Friday’s 8:20 into week two and the weeks become 35:30 and 44:10. The period is still 79:40, but the overtime is now 4:10 instead of 3:50. For the full weekly method, see how to calculate overtime and time-and-a-half.

How do you turn a biweekly timesheet into gross pay?

Convert each bucket to decimal hours, then multiply. To convert, keep the hours and divide the minutes by 60.

• Regular: 75:50 is 75 + 50 ÷ 60 = 75.8333 hours. 75.8333 × $24.00 = $1,820.00.
• Overtime: 3:50 is 3.8333 hours. The overtime rate is $24.00 × 1.5 = $36.00, and 3.8333 × $36.00 = $138.00.
• Gross pay: $1,820.00 + $138.00 = $1,958.00.

Compare that with paying the whole period at straight time: 79:40 is 79.6667 hours, and 79.6667 × $24.00 = $1,912.00. The difference is $46.00, which is exactly the half-time premium on the overtime: 3.8333 × $12.00 = $46.00.

One more trap sits in the conversion itself. 79:40 is 79.67 decimal hours, not 79.40. Typing the minutes after a decimal point gives 79.40 × $24.00 = $1,905.60, which is $6.40 short of the straight-time figure before overtime is even considered. Minutes are sixtieths of an hour, not hundredths; hours to decimal covers every conversion.

How many hours should a biweekly timesheet have?

Twice the weekly schedule. Multiply by 26 for the yearly figure.

Real timesheets rarely land on the round number. The example above was a 40-hour schedule that came out at 79:40, and no single day in it was exactly 8:00.

How is biweekly different from semi-monthly?

The two get mixed up constantly, and they produce different timesheets. Biweekly means every two weeks. Semi-monthly means twice a month, usually on fixed dates such as the 15th and the last day.

The averages come from the same 2,080-hour year: 2,080 ÷ 24 = 86.67 hours, which is 86:40, and 2,080 ÷ 12 = 173.33, which is 173:20. Semi-monthly periods also vary in length, so the hours on the timesheet change from one period to the next even on a fixed schedule.

The practical difference for an hourly worker: a biweekly period always contains two whole workweeks, so the overtime check is clean. A semi-monthly period often ends mid-week, and that week’s overtime cannot be worked out until the week itself is finished. How many work hours are in a month goes through the monthly numbers.

What is biweekly pay as a monthly or yearly figure?

Multiply by 26 for the year, then divide by 12 for an average month. Do not multiply by 2 to get a month.

A full 80-hour period at $24.00 is 80 × $24.00 = $1,920.00. Over a year that is $1,920.00 × 26 = $49,920.00, and $49,920.00 ÷ 12 = $4,160.00 a month on average. Doubling one paycheck gives $3,840.00, which understates the month by $320.00.

The gap exists because 26 paychecks do not divide evenly into 12 months. Most months have two paydays, and two months each year have three. A year is also a day or two longer than 52 weeks, so occasionally a calendar year contains 27 biweekly paydays.

What are the most common biweekly timesheet mistakes?

• Reading overtime off the period total. Under 80 hours does not mean no overtime. Subtotal each week first.
• Putting a day in the wrong week. The total survives and the overtime does not, as the 3:50 versus 4:10 example shows.
• Skipping the unpaid breaks. Ten days at 0:30 each is 5:00 across the period. Leave them in and the example reads 84:40 instead of 79:40. See paid vs unpaid breaks on a timesheet.
• Treating H:MM as a decimal. 79:40 is 79.67, not 79.40.
• Converting every day to decimal, then adding. Rounded figures drift: week two’s rounded daily decimals in the table add up to 35.84, while the true week is 35.83. Add in hours and minutes and convert once at the end.
• Using semi-monthly numbers for a biweekly period. 80 hours and 86.67 hours are different pay periods.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours is a biweekly pay period?

Twice your weekly hours: 80 on a 40-hour week, 75 on 37.5 hours, 60 on 30 hours. Actual timesheets rarely land exactly on those figures, which is why the days are added in hours and minutes.

How many biweekly pay periods are in a year?

Usually 26, because 52 ÷ 2 = 26. Occasionally a calendar year contains 27 biweekly paydays, since a year is a day or two longer than 52 weeks.

Is overtime calculated on 80 hours in a biweekly pay period?

Generally no. Under the general US federal rule, overtime for non-exempt employees is counted over 40 hours in each workweek, and the two weeks are not averaged. A period of 43:50 and 35:50 totals 79:40, under 80, yet week one still contains 3:50 of overtime. Some states and employers have additional or different rules.

Is biweekly the same as semi-monthly?

No. Biweekly is every two weeks: 26 pay periods a year of exactly 14 days. Semi-monthly is twice a month: 24 pay periods of 13 to 16 days. A full-time biweekly period is 80 hours; a full-time semi-monthly period averages 86.67 hours, or 86:40.

How do I convert a biweekly total to decimal hours?

Keep the hours and divide the minutes by 60. 79:40 is 79 + 40 ÷ 60 = 79.67 decimal hours. It is not 79.40, which would understate the total by 16 minutes.