Here are best practices to implement BEFORE and during Payroll Export Day:

 

  • First, each property manager should visit Labor > Performance > Department Tab and ensure any shifts that appear with a blue dot (MANUAL) are accurate. (An error usually means manual timesheet entries by managers are errored - i.e. entering someone’s shift 7am – 3am instead of 7am – 3pm).

 

  • Next, visit Labor > Performance > Employee Tab and ensure any shifts that appear with a red dot (NO SHOW) are legitimate and the person did not actually work. If they worked, add their missing shift by clicking on their timecard from this page instead of leaving and going to Timesheets.

 

  • Then, visit Labor > Performance > Employee Tab and ensure any shifts that appear with an orange dot (Auto Punch Out = APO) are updated to the actual time the employee left and a reason is entered why they clocked in, but failed to clock out. You do not need to leave this page to navigate to Timesheets as you can drill down into the employees’ timecards in Performance to update shifts.

 

  • Navigate to Accounting > Daily Activity Entry and ensure that ALL days within the pay period you’re preparing to export are complete.

 

  • Navigate to Labor > Housekeeping and ensure ALL Housekeeping Approvals have been completed or else the Room Attendants’ (MPCR = Minutes Per Cleaned Room will be inaccurate for labor reporting). This is a task that should be completed daily by an Executive Housekeeper, or GM, for FOM. Not completing this before exporting payroll will not prevent you from successfully updating; however, labor reports for MPCR will be inaccurate.

 

  • Navigate to Labor > Payroll and closely review each employee’s timecard to ensure no one appears to be missing hours (or no one is completely missing). If they are, go to Timesheets to add their missing hours. Be sure that ALL new employees have completed Administration > Users profiles including the Labor/Payroll tabs. NOTE: If any salaried employee who appears with a NEW HIRE/TERMINATED badge that should be paid in this pay cycle: 1.) check the box next to their name, 2.) click on their timecard and 3.) enter the number of HOURS they must be paid for this pay period. (i.e. maybe they started/termed in week 2 of the pay period and should only be paid 40 hours instead of 80 hours.)

 

  • (If applicable) Navigate to Labor > Payroll and click on each timecard that requires additional pay such as bonuses, differential pay, allowances… etc.

 

  • (If applicable) Navigate to Labor > Payroll and click on each TIPPED employee’s timecard to ensure their “Paycheck Tips” have been entered for each day of the pay period you’re preparing to export. Cash tip (declared tips) entry is optional. 

 

  • (if applicable) Navigate to Labor > Timesheets to ensure there are no Disputed Timecards – if so, resolve. Also, make sure no one who worked within the pay period is absent from this page. There are ONLY two ways to get an employee’s name onto the Timesheets page: 1.) They’ve clocked in at least one time within the pay period OR 2.) A manager adds them here by clicking “Add Entry” or “Add Time Off”. Note: Solely adding someone to the schedule does not populate a timecard for them on the Timesheets page.

 

  • Navigate to Labor > Overview and ensure all alerts are cleared for this pay period… Overtime at Risk, SmileiD, Time Off Requests, Housekeeping Approvals and MOST IMPORTANTLY – DAILY GM APPROVAL.

 

  • FINALLY, navigate to Labor Payroll > Export Payroll which is just a click of a button!


 

PRO TIPS: 

 

  • HOURS are entered in Labor > Timesheets while DOLLARS are entered in Labor > Payroll (except for salaried NEW HIRE/TERMINATED employees when hours are entered on the Payroll page).

 

  • If there’s a salaried employee who was cut/terminated, does not have accrued PTO, and you’d like to deduct hours from their check, navigate to Labor > Timesheets > Add Time Off > Type: UTO = unpaid Time Off. This will deduct hours from their salaried amount as saved within their user profile.

 

  • Payroll Export Day should be a breeze if you’ve been keeping Labor Management updated throughout the pay period.

 

  • If you approve all days > Export Payroll > then Mark as Unexported because you found an error without emailing your assigned corporate payroll person… The updated changes will NOT be present on employees’ paychecks.

 

  • Request that employees approve their timecards to ensure no hours are missing. Navigate to Labor > Reports > Reports Gallery > Punch History > Timecard Approval, Detail by Hotel (Click Add to add this report to your Labor Report Gallery) – Generate the report which will reflect all employees’ worked hours for the selected pay period. There’s a place for the employee and manager to sign/date. Each employee appears on a separate page upon exportation.

 

  • If you have questions, reach out to chat support or email support@inn-flow.com and start your subject line with your E/HID. Please do not wait until payroll processing day to reach out for help or your chat/ticket may be delayed due to high volume or a 24 hour turnaround.

 

  • The more payroll batches you export, the more efficient you will become in this process!


  • Inn-Flow Payroll Subscribers: Your Payroll Manager is your best resource on payroll processing days – so if there are urgent changes to Payroll, please reach out to them, but keep in mind that they are processing for MULTIPLE clients and not only your entity, so email is the best option. Remember, add your E/HID in the subject line as they receive many emails each day. If your questions are related to Labor (before the export) and not specifically to Payroll, reach out to chat support or email support@inn-flow.com and start your subject with “URGENT”. Please do not wait until payroll processing day to reach out for help or your chat/ticket may be delayed due to high volume.