The three ways hours move from a time clock into payroll, how to choose between them, and a checklist that prevents the most common errors.
Payroll is only as accurate as the hours that go into it. When hours are retyped from timecards, a single transposed number can underpay an employee or trigger a correction run. Connecting time tracking to payroll removes the retyping step and shortens the time between the end of the pay period and pay day.
To total hours with breaks and overtime, use our time card calculator.
| Method | How it works | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual entry | Someone types totals from timesheets into payroll | Very small teams | Typing errors, time spent |
| File import | Time system exports a CSV or Excel file that payroll imports | Most small and mid-sized teams | Column and pay code mapping |
| API connection | Systems exchange data automatically | Larger or multi-site teams | Setup, sync errors, who owns fixes |
Every kind of paid time in your time system needs a matching earnings code in payroll. Typical ones are regular hours, overtime, double time, paid time off, sick leave, holiday pay and shift differentials. A missing or wrong mapping is the most common cause of errors, for example PTO hours arriving as regular hours.
Our guide to calculating payroll hours covers the review in more detail.
A retail business with 35 employees retyped hours into its payroll system every two weeks, which took most of a morning. After switching to a file export with mapped pay codes, the bookkeeper ran one parallel period, found that holiday hours were landing as regular time, fixed the mapping and has since imported hours in minutes. The first parallel run caught the only error before it reached anyone’s paycheck.
EZTime produces payroll-ready reports that export to PDF and Excel, and higher plans include advanced API access. The company states that it integrates with leading payroll and ERP systems; ask the team which systems are supported for your setup before you rely on a specific connection. For organizations with 100+ employees, the enterprise team can build custom API integrations.
Before export, managers approve hours and fix missed punches through timecard corrections, and employees can sign their attendance reports digitally.
However careful the cut-off, some corrections arrive late: a supervisor finds a missed clock-out on Tuesday, or an employee points out a shift that was cut short by mistake. The fix belongs in the next payroll as a dated adjustment, never as a silent edit to a period that has already been paid.
| Step | Example |
|---|---|
| Record the change in the time system | Missed punch request approved on Tuesday: +2.5 hours on last Friday |
| Check whether overtime is affected | Last week was 39 hours, so 1.5 of the 2.5 hours are overtime |
| Pay it in the next run as an adjustment | 1 regular hour and 1.5 overtime hours, labelled with the original date |
| Check your state’s deadline | Some states set short deadlines for paying wages owed after an error |
EZTime keeps corrections in an audit trail, with the missed punch request, the approval and who made it, so the adjustment can be traced back to the original day.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must keep accurate records of hours worked each day and each workweek for non-exempt employees, along with pay data. The U.S. Department of Labor requires payroll records to be kept for at least three years and the time cards and schedules behind them for at least two years. Syncing hours does not move that responsibility to the payroll provider. Keep the approved time records, the edits and the payroll totals so they can be matched for any period. EZTime keeps data history for up to seven years and exports reports to PDF and Excel.
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Not always. File imports are simple and transparent, and many teams prefer them. APIs save more time at scale but need someone to watch for sync errors.
Pick one. Calculating overtime in both systems can double count or conflict.
At least once per pay period after approval. Some teams sync more often to see labor costs during the period.
Correct the time record with a reason, then process an adjustment in the next run or off-cycle, following your state’s final pay and timing rules.
It is better not to. Edits made only in payroll leave the time records and the paycheck out of step, and the audit trail is lost. Correct the hours at the source and let the change flow through.
Under the FLSA, at least two years for time cards and three years for payroll records. Many states require longer.
Try EZTime for 14 days, no credit card required. For a team of 15, EZTime starts at about $30 a month ($2 per employee).