Exporting Overview

Although the process of creating an export template and exporting your hours and earnings totals to a payroll software vary depending on the program being used, as a general rule the same basic procedures are performed for all TimeForce exports.

Export Templates

An export template contains information that is specific to your payroll management software. TimeForce uses this information to format the exported data in such a way that the payroll software will be able to “read” the data when imported.

Each payroll program uses unique settings to calculate pay data. For example, Peachtree uses an “Activity ID” and “Ticket Number,” while ADP uses a “Batch ID” and “Company Number.” However, all payroll programs use Pay Codes.

Pay Codes

Note: The following pay codes are used only as an example, and should not be used when creating an export template.

An employee’s time card will typically include at least a couple of different “hours types.” An hours type is a type of pay such as “Regular Hours,” “Overtime Level 1” or “Vacation Time.” Each of these hours types is assigned a pay code within the TimeForce software. For example, the pay code for regular hours worked may be “REG,” while the code for overtime 1 is “OT1.” The pay code for vacation hours may be “VAC,” while the code for sick leave is “SIC,” etc.

Each payroll management software has a unique set of pay codes. For example, the pay code for regular hours in your payroll software may be “001,” overtime 1 may be “002,” etc.

You must supply the TimeForce export template with the pay codes used by your payroll software before hours and earnings totals can be exported.

Consult the documentation on your payroll software for instructions on obtaining your pay codes.

Exporting from TimeForce

Once a template has been created for the payroll software that you are using, the next step in the exporting process is to export your time and attendance data from TimeForce to an export file.

This procedure is accomplished from the Pay Processing section of TimeForce, and is included as a part of the final processing of your hours and earnings totals for each pay period.

TimeForce allows you to create an export file in any directory. However, some payroll programs require that the file be saved to a specific import directory. Consult the documentation on your payroll software for instructions on where to save the export file.

Importing into your Payroll Software

The final step to the exporting process is to import the TimeForce export file into your payroll management software. The instructions on accomplishing this vary greatly depending on the payroll software that you are using. Consult the documentation on your payroll software for instructions on importing hours and earnings totals.