A predefined timesheet is a template of standard times that apply to an employee or group of employees. By attaching a predefined timesheet template to an employee’s file, you have the facility of auto-paying them, which means you can pay a number of employees in seconds. Another benefit of using predefined timesheets is that planned leave can be picked up from the employees’ files automatically, substituting hours worked, reducing data entry required.
These are perfect for employees who work the same hours each pay and employees who work regular rosters.
Set up Predefined Timesheets
Go to Setup, Predefined Times.
2. Click Add.
3. Enter a meaningful Description, i.e., 38 Hours per week, and TAB (Use the TAB key and not ENTER).
Note: Instead of different days of the week, the Add Pre-defined Time Sheet screen will have numbered days – Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 etc. where Day 1 corresponds with the first day of your pay period depending on which day of the week is your Period End, i.e. if you Pay Period ends on a Friday, then Saturday will be your Day 1.
Saturday Day 1
Sunday Day 2
Monday Day 3
Tuesday Day 4
Wednesday Day 5
Thursday Day 6
Friday Day 7
If you have a weekly and fortnightly pay period, you may be able to use the same predefined for both cases by using the Options Tab effectively.
4. Your cursor will now be in the START column. Enter the start time, i.e., 08:00, and now use the ENTER key (NOT TAB). You are now in the Finish Column where you will enter the time the employee will go to lunch, i.e., 12:00, and ENTER. The norm is to ENTER past the Department column and ENTER again to get to the next line’s Start column. You will now enter the time the employee returns from lunch, i.e., 12:30, and ENTER, and enter the finish time, i.e,. 16:30 and ENTER. This is now Day 1 completed, and it will now be necessary to use the ENTER key multiple times (4) in order to leave a blank line. Important: Leave a blank line between days/after shift end.
5. Repeat step 4 for ALL SEVEN days.
Additional information regarding the use of the Department in the Pre-defined Time Sheet
You can alter the Departments if needed. Leaving the departments blank will mean the default department will be used for each employee linked (this is the most common). If you need hours costed to a department other than the
employee's default department, click once on the department line to highlight it, click again to expose a drop-down arrow, then drop the arrow down to choose the required department/s. You can choose as many departments as you need within a shift. Simply enter a new line of times and select the department. If you cost an employee across several departments on a percentage basis, we recommend dividing the day hours by the percentages required, entering the times and departments based on this breakdown on the first day, then copying this day for the entire period.
Once you have added in all the times and checked/changed the additional options on the Options tab (see more details re Options below), use the Close button to close out of the window, and your predefined timesheet will be saved.
Pre-defined Timesheet for Part-Time employees
If you would like to create a predefined timesheet for a part time employee, i.e. a 4 day a week employee; after creating the 7 days and saving the predefined timesheet, edit the timesheet, right click on the first line of the day they do not work and select Delete Line, repeat for the second line of that day. Now you will have a predefined timesheet with a ‘missing’ day, and this will ensure that the employee does not get the hours or wages for the day they do not work.
Options Tab
From the Options tab, select the various items as appropriate.
Show this set of standard hours on the timesheet right-click menu
By default, this box is ticked. This will give you the option of choosing this predefined timesheet from the wages screen.
Repeat times for all weeks that make up a pay period
This can be used if your pay period is longer than one week. For instance, if your pay period is fortnightly, you just need to add one week in the pre-defined timesheet, tick this box, and the other week will also appear on the timesheet to make up your entire pay period.
You will also need to nominate the Maximum hours in a pay period. For instance, if your standard time is 38 hours a week and your pay period is 2 weeks (fortnightly), the maximum hours in a pay period would be 76 hours.
Apply standard times to weekends
If your employees work Monday to Friday only, leave this box unticked and even though you have entered 7 days when you created the pre-defined time sheet, your employee will only receive 5 days’ hours and wages.
Apply standard times to public holidays
The same as with weekends, if the employee doesn’t usually work on public holidays, leave this unticked.
Attach the predefined timesheet to the Employee Details, Payment Options.
Predefined timesheets are perfect for employees who work the same hours each pay and employees who work regular rosters.
Example: Steve Abbott is on a salary and he is paid for 38 hours a week. His hours are 8am – 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
To have the predefined timesheet appear automatically each week, it needs to be attached to the Employee Details, Payment Options. Once a predefined timesheet has been created in the Setup menu, please go into the Employee Details, Employment, and Payment Options. At the bottom of the screen, select a predefine timesheet from the drop-down list.
If you would like to apply a predefined timesheet to an employee for one pay period only, this can be done through the Wages. Wages, Timesheet, and select the employee. Right-click on the Time Sheet screen, select Insert Pre-Define Time Sheet, and then select the Time Sheet you want to use for this pay period.