How to track your flextime and overtime balance
Short answer: divide your weekly contract hours by your workdays to get a daily goal, then for every finished workday add (hours worked − daily goal). The running total is your balance. Vacation, sick days and holidays count as the goal being met, and days that haven't happened yet don't count at all.
1. Turn your contract into a daily goal
40 hours over Monday to Friday is 8:00 a day. 38.5 hours over five days is 7:42. Weekend days have a goal of 0, so any time you work on them is pure overtime.
2. Count only finished days
If you add the whole week's goal on Monday morning, you start the week at −40:00 and the number means nothing. Add a day's goal only after the day is over (or once you clock out). While you are still working, only time beyond today's goal shows up as plus.
3. A worked example
Goal 8:00 a day. Monday 8:20, Tuesday 8:40, Wednesday 7:30 (all after breaks). Balance: +0:20 + 0:40 − 0:30 = +0:30. On Thursday at 3 pm you have worked 5:43 — today is still open, so the balance stays +0:30.
4. Days off
A paid vacation day, a sick day or a public holiday counts as 8:00 for that day, so the balance does not move. A half day counts as 4:00, and you add the hours you actually worked that day. An unpaid day removes the goal for that day.
5. Week, month and overall
Keep three numbers: this week (to plan Friday), this month (many employers settle overtime monthly) and overall since you started tracking (your real flextime account).
Let an app keep the account
Hourwell does exactly this: set your weekly hours and workdays once, clock in and out, and the Today screen shows this week's, this month's and your overall balance. Vacation and sick days never eat into it. No sign-in, no subscription.
FAQ
What is a flextime or overtime balance?
It is the difference between the hours you actually worked and the hours your contract asks for, added up over time. Worked more: plus. Worked less: minus.
Do vacation days count as worked hours?
For the balance, a paid vacation, sick day or public holiday normally counts as if you had worked that day's goal, so it neither adds nor removes hours. Check your own contract.
Should today count before I clock out?
Not as a minus. Count today's goal only once the day is finished, otherwise your balance looks negative every morning.