Virtual TimeClock Knowledge Base


Payroll Approval Process – Basic Edition

This article will help you understand how the payroll approval process works in Virtual TimeClock Basic Edition. Approving hours for payroll follows 3 simple steps: review employee hours at the end of the period, print timecards, and close the payroll period. This article will walk you through each of these steps with detailed information.

Note: If you are using the Pro or Network editions of Virtual TimeClock, review the Pro & Network Payroll Approval Process article.

1. Review Timecards
At the end of the payroll period, it's important to review employee timecards for accuracy and make any needed adjustments.

Note: You may also want to have employees approve their hours by printing and signing their timecard. See the Viewing Timecards article for more information on viewing and printing timecards.

To review employee timecards, follow these steps:

  1. Select Turn Administration On from the File menu.
  2. Choose Timecard from the administrator toolbar.
Selecting all employee timecards for review
  1. Review the hours on each timecard for accuracy.

Note: To edit an entry from a timecard report, choose Entry Editor from the toolbar and select the entry to edit.

2. Print Timecards
Once timecard hours have been approved, you can save a copy of employee timecards for payroll by choosing Save or Print from the toolbar at the top of the timecard report.

Save or print employee timecards

3. Closing the Payroll Period
The final step in the payroll approval process is closing the period. Closing the payroll period means that the hours and pay data for the current period are written to the database as a permanent record. To close the period after employee hours have been reviewed, follow these simple steps:

  1. Select Turn Administration On from the File menu.
  2. Click the Close Period button in the administrative toolbar.
  3. Click Continue to close the period.
Virtual TimeClock Basic Close Period

Note: Once a payroll period is closed, the hours in that period cannot be edited without Reopening the Payroll Period.

After you close the payroll period, Virtual TimeClock will automatically advance the reporting dates to your next pay cycle.

If you’ve neglected closing periods, it’s easy to close multiple periods all at once. Simply correct your current payroll period and Virtual TimeClock will automatically total and close every period up to the new period start date. Follow the steps in our Configuring Payroll Settings article.