Which time and attendance reports matter, how often to run them, and how to stop building them by hand.
Building reports by hand means copying punches into a spreadsheet, adding them up and checking for gaps. Each step is a chance for error, and the work usually lands on someone who also has another job. Worse, manual reports tend to be produced at the end of the pay period, when it is too late to ask an employee what happened on a Tuesday two weeks ago.
To record clock-ins, breaks and overtime automatically, see EZTime time and attendance software.
| Report | What it shows | Who uses it | How often |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll hours | Regular, overtime and other paid hours per employee for the period | Payroll | Every pay period |
| Exceptions | Missed punches, late arrivals, missed breaks, unusual shifts | Managers | Weekly or daily |
| Overtime | Hours over your thresholds, by employee and location | Operations | Weekly |
| Absence | Time off taken, sick days and balances | HR | Monthly |
Fifteen minutes a week usually replaces hours of cleanup at the end of the month.
See our guide to time record retention requirements.
A retail chain with four stores used to email timesheet spreadsheets to the bookkeeper every other Friday. Corrections came back on Monday, and payroll often ran late. After switching to a shared exceptions report reviewed every Thursday by store managers, the bookkeeper received approved hours on Friday morning and stopped chasing stores for missing punches.
Answering these first means the automated report matches how you actually pay people, instead of producing numbers someone has to fix by hand.
| Question | Report | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|
| Who was late or missed a shift? | Lateness and absence report | Shift managers |
| Are we heading into overtime? | Hours to date vs. threshold | Operations or owner |
| Are timecards ready for payroll? | Unapproved or edited timecards | Payroll |
| Where are hours going? | Hours by location or job | Owner and finance |
| Who keeps forgetting to clock out? | Missed punches by employee | Managers |
If a report does not answer a question someone asks regularly, it can probably go.
EZTime turns punches into payroll-ready reports that you can export to PDF and Excel. Higher plans include access to all report types and advanced API access for connecting to payroll or ERP systems. Employees can sign their monthly attendance reports digitally, sent by SMS or email, and timecard corrections keep a full audit trail. See pricing for what each plan includes.
The numbers are fictional. A warehouse with 40 hourly employees reviews an hours-to-date report every Wednesday at noon. This week it shows six people already above 26 hours, on track for about 46 hours each by Saturday. The supervisor moves two of their Saturday shifts to part-time staff who are under 30 hours. Overtime falls from an expected 36 hours to 14.
| Item | Without review | With review |
|---|---|---|
| Projected overtime hours | 36 | 14 |
| Overtime premium at $10 an hour (half of a $20 rate) | $360 | $140 |
| Straight-time cost of moved hours | — | Paid to part-time staff |
A $220 premium saving in a single week is about $11,000 a year if the pattern repeats. Our overtime percentage calculator helps track the trend.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the U.S. Department of Labor requires employers to keep, for each non-exempt employee, the hours worked each workday and each workweek, total straight-time and overtime pay, and the dates of each pay period. Payroll records must be kept for three years and time cards for two. Some states, including California and New York, require additional details on wage statements, and many require longer retention. Make sure your reports can show the daily and weekly hours, not only period totals.
Three quick questions based on this page. Pick an answer to see if you got it.
For most small teams, the exceptions report. Fixing problems weekly makes every other report accurate.
Yes, where possible. Employees who check their own hours catch errors early.
Federal rules require payroll records for at least three years and time cards for two, and some states require longer. Check your state.
Many systems export files that payroll software can import. Check the formats your payroll provider accepts.
At least daily and weekly hours worked, overtime hours, absences and any edits with the reason. That covers the core federal record requirements.
Midweek is the most useful point. It leaves time to adjust the rest of the week’s schedule before overtime happens.
Try EZTime for 14 days, no credit card required.