You sat for the same family four evenings this week, one ran past midnight, and on Friday nobody is quite sure how many hours that was. This guide covers a few habits that keep the hours clear for sitter and parents, then how to log them with Hours Cat, our work hours tracker for iPhone. It works whether you're the sitter or the nanny keeping your own hours, or a parent keeping a record of a sitter's.
Agree the basics before the first evening
Most mix-ups about babysitting pay start before anyone clocks in. Settle these first, and write them down:
- The hourly rate. Agree it before the first booking, not at the door at midnight.
- What changes it. Some families and sitters agree something different for late nights, extra children or short notice. Whatever you agree, agree it up front.
- When the clock starts and stops. From the time you arrive, or from when the parents leave? Until they walk in, or until you get home?
- How often you settle up. After each evening, every week or every month.
What a sitter should earn, and any tax or employment rules for nannies, depend on where you live. This guide doesn't cover them.
Write it down the same day
Note the start and end on the night itself, not at the end of the week. Add anything out of the ordinary while it's fresh: the parents were late home, you stayed over, you paid for a takeaway.
Set up the family as a job
- Open Hours Cat. The first time, it asks What are you tracking? Tap My hours.
- Open the More tab and tap Jobs.
- Tap New job and type a name under Job or client name. A sitter might use the family's surname. A parent might use the sitter's name.
- Type the Hourly rate you agreed. It's optional, but without it you only see hours, not what they come to. Pick the Currency.
- Tap Save.
The rate is used for new shifts. If you agree a new rate later, past evenings keep the rate they were worked at.
Clock in and out
On the Clock tab, check the job's name at the top, then tap Start when the evening begins. Tap Stop when it ends. The shift is saved the moment you tap Start, so closing the app doesn't lose it.
If you step away unpaid, tap Break, then Resume when you're back. Breaks are taken off the hours.
While the shift runs, you can type a note under This shift, in Add a note: what you did, where. Use it for the extras you agreed: "Parents home 1:15, stayed late" or "Paid for pizza."
A shift that runs past midnight stays one shift, so a late night isn't split in two.
Forgot to tap Stop?
It happens when the parents get home and everyone's chatting. Touch and hold Stop, choose Stop at a different time…, and pick when you really finished. If a shift has been running for a long time, the Clock tab also asks "Forgot to stop?" with a Fix button that does the same.
Add an evening by hand
Didn't have your phone out? Tap + and fill in New shift: the Date, Start and End. If the end is earlier than the start, Hours Cat counts it as ending the next day, which is how most late nights work. Add a Note if you like, then tap Save.
If one evening was at a different rate you both agreed, open that shift and change its Hourly rate. Only that shift changes.
See what's owed
The Clock tab shows Today and this week as you go, and what the hours come to once there's a rate. Past midnight, Today becomes This shift until you stop. The Timesheet tab shows the week's hours worked, what was earned, a bar for each day, and every shift underneath. The arrows go back to earlier weeks.
Earnings are the hours after breaks times the rate, with any pay rules you turn on in More (they're all off until you do). Hours Cat doesn't add tips, travel or anything else you agreed, so note those and add them yourself.
Share a timesheet with the family
- On the Timesheet tab, tap Export.
- Pick the Period, such as this week or last month, or set your own From and To dates.
- Add your name in Your name on the timesheet (optional) if you want it at the top.
- Tap Share PDF, Spreadsheet (CSV) or Print.
The PDF lists the date, start, end, break and hours for every shift, your notes under each one, the total, and the pay when there's a rate. At the bottom there are lines to sign and date, one marked Approved by, if you both want to sign it off. More on the export in how to make a timesheet on iPhone, and on doing the sums by hand in how to calculate hours worked.
Sitting for more than one family?
Your first job is free. Keeping several families apart, each with its own rate, is part of Hours Cat Pro. See how to track hours for multiple jobs.
What Hours Cat doesn't do
- It doesn't tell you what to charge or pay, or anything about tax or employment rules.
- It doesn't send the timesheet for you. You share, save or print it.
- It doesn't sync between phones. The sitter and the parent each keep their own record, on their own phone.
What it costs
Clocking in and out, breaks, notes, your history, editing and Undo, one job with its rate and currency, and the PDF and CSV timesheet for any dates are free, with no limits on shifts or history. There's no watermark, no ads and no account. Hours Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase that adds several jobs, each with its own rate, currency and colour; overtime per job; pay every two weeks or twice a month, with a pay stub; and your job's colour on the Lock Screen. More on the Hours Cat page.
Your hours are kept on your device and in your own backups unless you share, save or print them.
Quick answers
Can I track babysitting that goes past midnight?
Yes. A shift that runs past midnight stays one shift, and on the PDF its end time shows +1.
Can a parent use it to log a sitter's hours?
Yes. Make a job with the sitter's name and rate, and clock in and out when they arrive and leave.
Does it work out what I'm owed?
Once you set an hourly rate, it shows the hours times the rate. Tips and extras you add yourself.
Try Hours Cat
Try Hours Cat: free, no watermark, no sign-up → iyio.com/apps/hours-cat