IN BRIEF
This article explains how administrators and authorized staff members can lock time clock entries for a specific pay period and export those entries for use in external payroll systems. Locking a pay period prevents additional edits, ensures data accuracy, and enables payroll exports in several supported formats.
Overview
The Time Clock feature allows administrators and payroll-authorized staff to review employee shift details, lock pay periods, and export payroll data. Locking a pay period finalizes all included time entries and groups them under a single pay period name for reference. Exported data can then be imported into compatible third-party payroll management systems, including Generic CSV exports, ADP, QuickBooks Online, and Express Payroll.
Certain permissions are required before a staff member can access the pay period workflow or export time entries. These include:
- Full access to the Time Clock page.
- At least view permission for the Time Clock task to see time entry activity.
- Full permission for the Time Clock Export task to export documents.
Accessing the Feature
- From the main navigation menu, go to Time Clock.
- Select Pay Periods from the left-hand menu.
- Choose the calendar year, then the specific period you want to review or manage.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Selecting a Pay Period
Navigate to the Time Clock page and click on Pay Periods on the left-hand side.
Here you will find a list of pay periods on the left side of the page, sorted by calendar year.
PRO TIP! Periods which have already been locked for export will be shown below the Current Period. Adding new time entries for staff members for dates in a past pay period that is already locked will simply add that time entry to the “current period” section so that the hours can be included in the next pay period export.
Reviewing Shift Details
After selecting the current period, the information about the records within that pay period will be displayed to the right. These details include the employee photo (if uploaded) and name, the roles the employee clocked in as during the pay period, as well as the number of regular hours, their estimated overtime hours and total hours.
To make it easier to find information for a specific staff member, there is a staff search option where you can type in the staff member’s name.
To review more detailed information about employee shifts during this time period, click the down arrow next to an employee’s entry. This will list the full details of all time entries for that employee during the selected pay period - such as date, day of week, location, in time, out time, role, etc.
This information will maintain any color coding for edits that is seen from the Employees section. Clicking the lightning bolt icon next to the entry will allow edits up until the point that an entry is included in a locked pay period.
Locking Pay Periods
To lock down a new pay period before export, click on Current Period in the pay periods list. This area will include all employee time entries that have not been previously locked within a pay period.
Selecting Time Entries to Lock Down
To choose which data to lock down for a new pay period, edit the Time Entries Thru date selector to the last day you would like to include in the pay period. This will find all entries through midnight of the date selected.
PRO TIP! If the thru date used is the current day and one or more employees are still clocked in, you will be alerted that "You cannot lock an incomplete shift" and the lock action will not work.
There is also an optional Location filter available for multi-location accounts. This allows the business the option to lock and export all locations at once or each location individually.
From the list of time entries selecting the box next to the Employee column will include all staff member time entries in the list. If needed, individual staff members can be selected or deselected to provide payroll staff with as much control as possible over what is being included in the pay period.
Steps for Locking
Once a pay period has been locked, it cannot be “unlocked” so staff members will need to be very careful when selecting filters.
After double checking what has been selected, click on the Lock Pay Period button to prevent any new entries or edits for that time period. This will open a window where you will need to confirm the action. In this window, you can also Name the pay period that is being created. By default, iClassPro will simply name it with a date range of the earliest time entry being included to the thru date used for the export.
To complete the action, click Yes to confirm. This will remove the entries from the current period and file them under the new pay period name under the Pay Periods list to the left.
Exporting Pay Periods
To export a pay period, it has to be locked down using the steps above. Once locked, click on the name of the Pay Period to select it from the list.
Then, to the right in the pay period details select the employees from the list that you would like to be included in the export.
At the top of the screen, click the Export button. This will open a window where you can choose how you would like to export the information:
- Generic (CSV) - by pay period
- Generic (CSV) - by date
- ADP - file specifically designed to map to ADP Payroll System imports.
- QuickBooks Online - file specifically designed to map to Intuit Quickbooks Payroll Systems.
- Express Payroll - file specifially designed to map to Express Payroll Systems.
Upon logging into the Office Portal, the system will prompt users with appropriate permissions to lock pay periods if it detects that the date range of unlocked time clock entries exceeds 60 days. To stop this message from appearing, staff will need to lock any entries older than 60 days, even if they do not choose to export these entries after they have been locked.
Troubleshooting & FAQs
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Why can I not lock the pay period?
- Check whether any employees are still clocked in for the selected Time Entries Thru date. The System displays “You cannot lock an incomplete shift” if open shifts exist.
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Why am I being prompted to lock time clock entries when I log in?
- The System prompts users with appropriate permissions when more than 60 days of time clock entries remain unlocked. To dismiss the notification, lock entries older than 60 days. Exporting them is optional.
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Can I unlock a pay period after locking it?
- No. Locked pay periods cannot be unlocked. Review entries carefully before locking.
Related Articles
- What Staff Permissions are Needed to Use the Time Clock?
- How Do I Configure Time Clock Settings for Staff Members?
- How Do I Use Time Clock with QuickBooks Payroll Services?
- How Do I Use Time Clock with ADP Payroll Services?
- How Do I Use Time Clock With Express Payroll Services?
- How Do I Use Time Clock with Generic Export Files?