# Time card

Source: https://storiara.com/glossary/time-card
Last updated: 2026-09-14
Author: Charles Hirschhorn, Storiara

> A time card is the weekly record a crew member submits for payroll, listing each day's call time, meal break start and end, and wrap time, plus the job classification, rate, kit rental, and mileage. The department head approves it, and the payroll company uses it with the deal memo to calculate pay, overtime, and meal penalties.

## What a week looks like on a card

A grip on a 12-hour guarantee, hours shown as clock times and as decimal hours:

| Day | Date | Call | Meal out | Meal in | Wrap | Hours worked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 3/9 | 6:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 1:00 PM | 7:36 PM | 12.6 |
| Tue | 3/10 | 6:30 AM | 12:00 PM | 12:30 PM | 8:12 PM | 13.2 |
| Wed | 3/11 | 12:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 6:30 PM | 1:24 AM | 12.9 |
| Thu | 3/12 | 12:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 6:30 PM | 12:00 AM | 11.5 |
| Fri | 3/13 | 11:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 5:30 PM | 11:06 PM | 11.6 |

Monday's arithmetic: 6:30 AM to 7:36 PM is 13 hours 6 minutes, or 13.1 hours. Subtract the half-hour meal and you get 12.6. Many production payroll systems record hours in tenths (one tenth is 6 minutes), which is why wrap times like 7:36 turn up so often.

Other boxes on the card: position and union local if any, rate, kit or box rental days, mileage, [per diem](https://storiara.com/glossary/per-diem), whether a meal was non-deductible, and the crew member's and department head's signatures.

## How the numbers become pay

The [payroll company](https://storiara.com/glossary/payroll-company) reads the card against the [deal memo](https://storiara.com/glossary/deal-memo) and any union agreement. On Monday the grip worked 12.6 hours, so on a 12-hour guarantee 0.6 hours is [overtime](https://storiara.com/glossary/overtime). On a union show the agreement also decides when [meal penalties](https://storiara.com/glossary/meal-penalty) apply, when [turnaround](https://storiara.com/glossary/turnaround) is violated (Wednesday's 12:00 PM call came after Tuesday's 8:12 PM wrap, which is 15.8 hours, so no problem), and how a [sixth day](https://storiara.com/glossary/sixth-day) is paid. Use the [overtime calculator](https://storiara.com/tools/overtime-calculator) to check a week before you submit.

## Mistakes that delay checks

Writing call sheet times instead of actual times comes up most often, and the DPR will disagree with the card. Leaving meal times blank makes it impossible to calculate penalties. Crossing midnight confuses people: a 1:24 AM wrap belongs on Wednesday's line, not Thursday's. Missing department head signatures send cards back. And kit rental claimed on the card that isn't in the deal memo will be cut.

## Where it connects

Accounting compares time cards to the [daily production report](https://storiara.com/glossary/daily-production-report) crew times, and cast times are checked against [Exhibit G](https://storiara.com/glossary/exhibit-g). Before the first card can be processed, the crew member needs completed [start paperwork](https://storiara.com/glossary/start-paperwork). The [film crew time cards guide](https://storiara.com/blog/film-crew-time-cards) covers the process in more detail.

## Frequently asked questions

### When are time cards due?

Usually at the end of each work week, often on the last shoot day or the following morning. Late cards mean late checks, because the payroll company processes the whole crew on a fixed cycle.

### Should you write the call sheet time or the actual time?

The actual time you started and finished work. If you were called for 7:00 but the department started you at 6:30 to pre-rig, 6:30 goes on the card, with the department head's approval.

### Who approves crew time cards?

The department head signs off on their crew's cards, and the UPM or production accountant reviews them against the daily production report before payroll processes them.