In this phase, we manually enter time and attendance data, a crucial aspect of accurate payroll management. This hands-on approach mimics real-world scenarios and allows you to assess the system's responsiveness, ensuring seamless calculations, deductions, and overall accuracy. This process not only prepares you for parallel testing but also establishes a robust foundation for smooth transitions to live payroll operations.
Important
When transitioning to the live phase, you will seamlessly integrate accurate Time and Attendance (T&A) data from your chosen source. During parallel testing, it's advisable to input current data manually into the payroll platform. This is to validate accurate application handling and to enhance your grasp of the process.
It is imperative to have completed all preceding steps in the implementation journey before starting parallel testing.
Instructions
Add Manual Timesheets
- Log into your Employment Hero Payroll platform.
- Navigate to Business > Timesheets > Create Timesheets.
- The controls will automatically generate a default period according to the employee's pay schedule and their inclusion in pay runs. For instance:
- Upon accessing the 'create timesheets' screen, the date range will initially default to the ongoing work week/period, encompassing the current week that coincides with 'today.'
- Upon selecting an employee, the date range will adapt to the pay schedule of their last included pay run (excluding pay runs where timesheets were only used for exceptions), with the period's end date aligning with that pay run.
- The controls will automatically generate a default period according to the employee's pay schedule and their inclusion in pay runs. For instance:
- Choose your employee from the dropdown menu to access the timesheet grid. If you attempt to input data for dates before an employee's start date, the platform will generate a warning on the timesheet line and prevent data input for those dates.
- Choose the appropriate work type for the employee (custom and award work types are categorised separately). If a specific Work Type is not defined, the recorded hours will automatically be allocated to the default pay category for the employee during the import into a pay run.
- Specify the start and end times for the shift. When entering these times, a simple entry like "9a" will be recognised as 9:00 am. Similarly, "530p" will be identified as 5:30 pm. The duration field provides a clear indication of the total hours attributed to the employee's timesheet.
- Include break start and stop times if applicable to the employee's schedule.
- (Indicate which breaks are paid and which are unpaid.)
- Select from the predetermined list of locations assigned to the employee. If a specific Location isn't specified, the logged hours will be automatically associated with the employee's default location upon import into a pay run.
- To clear a timesheet line, click the red 'x' icon on the line's right side. Edited or cleared actions are not available for approved/processed/rejected timesheets.
- Complete only the relevant rows. If an employee did not work on certain days, those lines can remain empty.
- After making all necessary modifications, click on the drop-down next to save and select Save and approve.
Important
For employees paid on an hourly basis or based on timesheets, apply any leave requests directly to their timesheets before importing them into a pay run. This makes sure that accurate leave deductions are reflected in their payroll calculations.
Advanced Editing
Certain supplementary timesheet particulars cannot be entered through the timesheet grid; instead, they are to be input via the timesheet editor. These particulars encompass:
- Timesheet Notes: Additional notes pertinent to the timesheet.
- Additional Breaks: For instances requiring multiple breaks.
- Higher Classification: Pertaining to employees on an employment agreement who undertake elevated responsibilities for a specific duration.
Should any of these require inclusion, access the timesheet editor by clicking the 'pencil' icon located on the right-hand side of the grid. Click Apply.
Actions Menu
Clicking on the 'Actions' button during timesheet creation unveils a range of supplementary functionalities:
- Add Another Timesheet Line: When an employee completes multiple shifts on a single day, this action facilitates the addition of another line for that specific day.
- Add Standard Hours: This option becomes visible if an employee has predefined standard working hours configured through their Employee profile Pay Run Defaults page.
- Copy Timesheets from Last Week: This feature pre-fills the current timesheets with data from the previous period, allowing adjustments before saving. Availability is contingent upon timesheets being populated in the preceding week.
- Clear Timesheets: Use this to reset all timesheets. Note that approved, processed, or rejected timesheets are non-editable and can't be cleared.
- Revert Changes: This action reloads timesheets for the current period, discarding unsaved changes.
- Enter Hours Instead of Start/Stop Times: While timesheets often require specific start and stop times, some instances might necessitate recording only the total hours worked. This option, available if enabled in Business Settings, lets you input hours directly.
Keyboard shortcuts
The following keyboard shortcuts may be used in the timesheet grid.
Navigation
- Arrow Up ↑ – move to the cell above current active cell (if exists)
- Arrow Down ↓ – move to cell underneath current active cell (if exists)
- Arrow Right → – move to the cell on the right side of the current active cell (if exists)
- Arrow Left ← – move to the cell on the left side of current active cell (if exists)
- Tab – move to the cell on the right side of the current active cell (if exists)
- Tab + Shift – move to the cell on the left side of current active cell (if exists)
- Home – move to the first cell in a row
- End – move to the last cell in a row
- Ctrl + Home – move to the first cell in a column
- Ctrl + End – move to the last cell in a column
Selection
- Ctrl + A – select all
- Shift + Arrow Up ↑ – extend selection of the cell above
- Shift + Arrow Down ↓ – extend selection of the cell underneath
- Shift + Arrow Right → – extend selection of the cell on the right
- Shift + Arrow Left ← – extend selection of the cell on the left
- Shift + Home – select all cells in the row to the right including the current cell
- Shift + End – select all cells in the row to the left including the current cell
- Ctrl + Shift + Home – select all cells in the column to the top including the current cell
- Ctrl + Shift + End – select all cells in the column to the bottom including the current cell
Editor
- Enter – open/close cell editor
- F2 – open cell editor
- Esc – cancel editing and close cell editor
- Backspace – empty cell
- Delete – empty cell
- Ctrl + C – copy cell's content
- Ctrl + X – cut cell's content
- Ctrl + V – paste cell's content
- Ctrl + Arrow Down ↓ – create another timesheet for the same date as the current line
- Ctrl + Enter - fill all selected cells with edited cell's value
- Ctrl + Z – undo
- Ctrl + Y – redo
Timesheet Import
Here's a step-by-step guide to using the "Custom File Upload" feature for importing timesheets from CSV files:
- Log into your Employment Hero Payroll platform.
- Navigate to Business > Timesheets > Import Timesheets.
- Select Custom file upload from the dropdown menu.
- Click on Select file.
- Upload the File: Begin by selecting the file you wish to upload for timesheet import. Click the button to browse your computer and locate the file to upload.
- Set Date Format: After uploading the file, you have the option to set the date format of the file. Both US and Australian date formats are supported, ensuring compatibility with your data.
- Configure Column Data: Proceed to configure the type of data for each column in the file. A preview of the initial few lines of each column is provided to aid you in matching the data correctly. You'll find a description of all available column types to assist in the column matching process.
- Map Columns: Once you've gained an understanding of the available column types, map each column to its respective data type. This mapping ensures accurate interpretation of the data during import.
- Initiate Import: With columns mapped, you're ready to commence the import process. Notably, you can replace timesheets from a previous import if needed, offering flexibility in case of any past errors. However, timesheets included in a pay run cannot be replaced.
- Select Approval Workflow: You can now decide whether the imported timesheets should be automatically approved or undergo the standard timesheet approval process. Make your selection and then click the "Import" button to initiate the import process.
- Review and Rectify Errors: After the import process completes, any errors that occurred will be displayed. If errors arise, you have the option to re-upload the file or reconfigure the column settings before retrying the import.
- Save Format for Future Use: In case of a successful import, you can save the format of the file for future use. This eliminates the need to map column types each time. Simply click the "save the file format" link, provide a name for the format, and click "Save timesheet format."
Roster Import
- Log into your Employment Hero Payroll platform.
- Navigate to Business > Timesheets > Import Timesheets.
- Select Roster from the dropdown menu.
- Update the below fields where required:
- Date range - Set the timeframe for the timesheets you want to create
- Location - Filter based on the location of the roster record
- Pay Schedule - Filter employees with matching default pay schedules
- Approve timesheets - Decide whether the timesheets should be automatically approved or require the standard timesheet approval process.
- Once decided, click the 'Import' button to initiate the process.
Important
- For employees paid on an hourly basis or based on timesheets, it's crucial to apply any leave requests directly to their timesheets, it's crucial to apply any leave requests directly to their timesheets before importing them into a pay run. This ensures that accurate leave deductions are reflected in their payroll calculations.
- All testing data will need to be removed from the platform prior to going live including timesheets.