Connect the Stack: Time Clocking and Labor Reports
With your first schedule published, two things need to happen before your first payroll: your team needs to be clocking in accurately (on your POS, or with 7punches), and that data needs a path into your payroll system. This article covers both.
After completing this article, time punches will be flowing into 7shifts and your labor data will be ready to export or sync to your payroll provider.
Where you are: Phase 3 - Running Your Business
- Connect the Stack: Time Clocking and Labor Reports (you are here!)
- Run Your Operation: Labor Reports, Log Book, and Task Lists
Things to know
- Time clocking and payroll are independent. Complete them in whatever order fits your pay period and operational timeline.
- If you configured Time Clocking while waiting for a pending POS integration, your setup may already be complete. Use the section below to confirm punch data is clean before your first payroll export.
- Payroll exports in 7shifts are provider-specific. While the steps below are common to most providers, always refer to your provider's setup instructions for exact steps.
- Only approved punches appear in payroll reports. Before running payroll, review and approve all punches for the pay period to ensure your hours and wages are complete and accurate.
Set up Time Clocking
Time Clocking is the administrative hub in 7shifts where Admins and Managers review, edit, and approve recorded hours. Your team clocks in through 7punches or directly through your POS if it supports labor sync. Both sources feed into the same Time Clocking hub.
- In the left navigation bar, go to Time Clocking.
- Click Get started with Time Clocking to begin the activation and configuration process.
- Follow the modal to configure your pay schedule and Time Clocking settings. For full setup details including geofencing, buddy punch prevention, break tracking, and auto punch-out, see 7shifts 101: How to set up and use 7punches for Time Clocking.
7punches is 7shifts' dedicated time clocking app. It runs on any iOS or Android tablet or mobile device, requires no POS hardware, and is included on all paid 7shifts plans.
- In the left navigation bar, go to Settings > Add-ons > 7punches.
- Click Enable 7punches > Go to 7punches > Get Started with Time Clocking.
- Enter the first day of your first pay period and your payroll frequency, then click Create pay schedule.
- Inside the current pay period, click Use 7punches to set it as the time clocking source.
- Download the 7punches app on the tablet or device that'll serve as your staff clock-in station. It's available on the App Store, Google Play, and the Amazon App Store.
- Log in with your 7shifts admin email and password. Punch IDs will be auto-assigned to all users once enabled.
Note: Not all POS integrations support labor sync. If your POS is sales-only, use 7punches for time clocking. Check your POS integration settings or the POS Integration Partners article to confirm what your system supports.
Connect a payroll integration
If you use a supported payroll provider, you can connect it directly to 7shifts to skip the manual export step. Once connected, your approved labor data flows straight into your payroll system at the end of each pay period.
- In the left navigation bar, go to Apps & Integrations.
- Search for your payroll provider, select it, and follow the setup steps. For a full list of supported providers and setup guides, see Payroll Partners.
Tip: Process payroll directly in 7shifts! 7shifts Payroll handles everything from time clocking through to paystubs in one place.
Review your labor data and prepare for payroll
Before running any payroll report, every punch for the pay period needs to be reviewed and approved. Unapproved punches don't appear in the Worked Hours & Wages report and won't be included in your payroll totals.
Important: Closing a pay period with unapproved punches will cause those hours to be excluded from your payroll report. Review and approve all punches before closing each period.
Step 1: Resolve integration warnings
Reviewing and approving punches before closing a pay period is the single most important habit to build in Phase 3.
If you use a POS integration for time clocking, check the Warnings tab before running your report. This tab surfaces issues that can create gaps in your payroll data if left unresolved.
- In the left navigation bar, go to Time Clocking and select your open pay period.
- Review each punch. Edit any incorrect clock-in or clock-out times by clicking the punch directly.
- Click Approve on each reviewed punch, or use Approve All to approve the full pay period at once.
- Click the Warnings tab and review the following:
- Unmapped employees with punches: An employee clocked in on your POS but isn't linked to a 7shifts profile. Map them to an existing profile, create a new one, or ignore them if they shouldn't appear in 7shifts.
- Unmatched roles with punches: An employee clocked in under a POS role that isn't mapped in 7shifts. Map it to an existing 7shifts role or create a new one.
- Punches with missing or unassigned roles: A punch is missing a role entirely. Select the correct role from the employee's assigned roles. If the correct role doesn't appear, add it to the employee's profile first, then return to the Warnings tab to assign it.
- Resolve as many warnings as possible before continuing. You can still close the pay period with warnings remaining, but unresolved issues may cause gaps in your payroll data.
For a full overview of warning types and how to resolve them, see Understanding Integration Warnings in Time Clocking.
Step 2: Run the Worked Hours & Wages report
The Worked Hours & Wages report is your starting point for every payroll run. It pulls together all approved punches, hours worked, wages, and tip data for a date range you define.
- In the left navigation bar, go to Reports > Worked Hours & Wages.
- Set your Date Range to cover the pay period you want to review.
- Apply any additional filters such as Location, Department, or Role to refine your results.
- Check Include Tips if you want to display employee tip information from 7punches, a POS integration, or Tip Pooling.
- Click Get Report to generate the data. You can view it in your browser or download it as an Excel or CSV file.
Note: Time clocking data must sync into 7shifts through 7punches or a POS integration with Actual Labor enabled to appear in this report. For a full breakdown of report contents and why totals may differ from other areas of 7shifts, see Worked Hours & Wages Report.
For a full list of available reports, see the Reports Overview.
What's next
Time clocking is running, and payroll is connected. Your operation is running on 7shifts!
Your next step is to run your operation with additional tools: labor reports, Log Book, and Task Lists. The next article introduces the management tools that give you visibility and control over your labor spend and daily operations.