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Employee Time Clock and Payroll Accounting

Learn how to track employee hours using Bravo’s built-in time clock and streamline payroll accounting with timecard reports and configuration options.

The Employee Time Clock and Payroll Accounting Add-On tracks and manages the following:

  • Hours worked
  • Commission earned
  • Paid time off (Sick days, holidays, vacation)

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Employee Configuration

First, check each employee to configure their security privileges and determine the level of access they will have with the Time Clock. Under System Configuration, expand the tree on the left to the Employees level at each store, then check each employee’s Security tab. Including basic access to the Time Clock, there are four security bits:

  • Time Clock – Permits basic access to clock in and clock out. If set to "Not Allowed", employee will not have the option to clock in or out.
  • Override Time Entry – Ability to enter an earlier time than the current time when clocking in and out. If set to "Manager Approval", override will need to be approved by another user.
  • Transaction without clock in – Ability to process a transaction without needing to clock in. If set to "Manager Approval", permission to process the transaction will need to be approved by another user.
  • Edit Entries – Allows editing and deletion of existing records and addition of new records. You will not see this option in the Time Clock module if this is set to "Not Allowed".

In addition to security bits, each employee may also be assigned a Payroll Type, which can be set on the employee’s Information tab. Payroll Type options are:

  • Manager
  • Assistant Manager
  • Manager Trainee
  • Associate, Temporary
  • Other
  • Salary
  • Hourly

 

 

Using the Time Clock

 

To clock in or out, select Time Clock from the Bravo lock screen or from the upper-right corner any other screen in Bravo. You can also click on the analog clock in the upper corner of the screen.

 

The Time Clock – Clock In/Out dialog will appear. If you have opened the Time Clock from the Bravo lock screen, the selected user’s Alias will be used in the dialog, but you will have the option of changing it if it is not yours. Simply highlight and change the alias to your own. When clocking in/out from the Bravo lock screen, you must also enter your password to confirm that you are the one clocking in or out.

If you opened the Time Clock while signed in to a Bravo user session, it will assume the signed-in user is clocking in or out, and you will not have the option of changing users. You will also not be prompted for a password, since your password would have had to be entered already in order to log in.

The In/Out field will be automatically filled in by referencing the last time you used the time clock. If your last entry clocked you out, you will be assumed to be clocking in for your next entry. Likewise, you will be assumed to be clocking out if your last entry clocked you in. A Confirmation field also requires you to verify that you are making the same entry that the system thinks you should be making. If there is a discrepancy, you will be notified and asked if you want to continue making the entry that the system thinks you should make.

If something is wrong, and you should be clocking in even though Bravo determines you should be clocking out, you will need to review your time clock entries and potentially ask a manager to correct the records. For more information on this process, see the section below about Editing Time Clock Entries .

When you make a Time Clock entry, the current local date and time will be filled in automatically. If you attempt to change the date or time, a manager approval will be required to save the entry.

In addition to manually initiating a Clock In/Clock Out, you will be prompted to clock in/out in the following scenarios:

  • When you are clocked out, but wish to perform a transaction.
  • When you are clocked out, but begin opening a till.
  • When you are clocked in and close your till.

You must have security permission to complete a transaction without clocking in. Otherwise, a manager will have to approve the exception so you can continue with the transaction.

Editing Time Clock Entries

To edit time clock entries, you must first have the Edit Entries security bit enabled for your employee profile. If you have this enabled, you can open the Time Clock – Clock In/Out dialog after signing in to your Bravo session and then select Edit Entries in the bottom corner to begin reviewing entries.

Clicking here will open the Edit Time Clock Entries dialog. Enter the alias of the employee whose entries you would like to review/edit, then change the Start Date if necessary. You can also review all employees at once by selecting the All Employees button. The search will return up to three months of entries from the Start Date forward.

To edit an entry, simply select a field from the grid and change it. You can also manually add new entries with the green “+” or completely delete entries with the red “X”.

Here are your options for editing the fields:

Type

  • The Type column represents the Clock Type, which helps you keep track of how the record will be used during payroll accounting. The Clock Type options are:  
    • Regular
    • Overtime
    • Sick
    • Vacation
    • Holiday
    • Commission
    • Bonus 

 

  • Each entry Type can be used for a combination of hours and commission/bonuses.

In Date/In Time

  • The In Date/In Time must be after or equal to the Out Date/Out Time of the last entry with a time stamp.

Out Date/Out Time

  • The Out Date/Out Time must be after or equal to the In Date/In Time in the same entry.

Hours

  • Hours are automatically calculated using the difference between the In Date/In Time and the Out Date/Out Time. If you edit the Hours field, the system will change the Out Date/Out Time to be the In Date/In Time plus the number of hours entered. Keep in mind that Hours are expressed as a decimal, so entries like 0.5 hours will be equivalent to thirty minutes.

Comm/Bonus

  • This field is used to specify a dollar amount for commission and bonuses, to be tracked separately from the number of hours worked, but still potentially tracked under the same Clock Type.

Store

  • For multi-store companies, you may select the Store to which the employee’s entry belongs.

Employee Time Clock Report

The Employee Time Clock Report is used for payroll accounting, and allows you to see all hours worked and commission/bonus earned by employees over a range of dates. To access the report, go to the Reports section of Bravo and select Employee Time Clock under Closing Reports. Configuration options for the report will allow you to specify a range of dates, select a store (or all stores), select an employee (or all employees), split the report into separate pages for each employee (when including detail), and include detail for each record that contributes to the employees’ totals. 

Keep in mind that the date fields in the configuration dialog refer to the Clock In time. If a record has different Clock In and Clock Out dates, that record only will show up on the report if you include the Clock In date. Also, records will be included with Clock Out dates that are later than your configured range of dates if those records have Clock In times within the range of dates.

How to read the Employee Time Clock report

When you run the report in summary view (no detail), employee(s) will have one summary line for each applicable Clock Type. Employee(s) may also have multiple lines for the same Clock Type, but at a different Store. As noted in the legend at the bottom of the report, Clock Types are:

  • R - Regular
  • O - Overtime
  • S - Sick
  • V - Vacation
  • H - Holiday
  • C - Commission
  • B - Bonus

The report will show subtotals in each summary line for Commission/Bonuses and Total Hours over the specified range of dates. A “Missing Time Clock(s)” indicator will be displayed under a summary line when a Time Clock record associated with that summary is open (the user has not yet clocked out). These incomplete records will not be included in the Total Hours sum. Summary lines will also show the employee’s Payroll Type. As noted in the legend, Payroll Types are:

  • M - Manager
  • A – Assistant Manager
  • T – Manager Trainee
  • C - Associate
  • E - Temporary
  • O - Other
  • S – Salary
  • H - Hourly

Many sections of the report are left blank unless you configure the report to Include Detail. Doing this will display all Time Clock records for the employee(s) for the specified range of dates. Clock Codes for each In/Out record help identify how the record was made. To further elaborate on the legend, Time Clock Codes are determined as follows:

  • A – Automatic – Entries created when the system prompts the employee to clock in/out, such as when an employee opens or closes a till.
  • C – Correcting – Entries that are either created or modified from within the Edit Time Clock Entries dialog.
  • M – Manual – Regular entries, created via the Time Clock – Clock In/Out dialog without an exception.
  • O – Override – Entries created via the Time Clock – Clock In/Out dialog, but with overridden date/time when clocking in.

Total Hours is calculated by finding the difference between the Recorded In and Out dates/times. Keep this in mind to help you understand the difference between Recorded and Actual date/time for each Clock Code. For example:

  • If a record has a Correcting clock code and both the Recorded and Actual fields are populated, the Recorded date/time is the adjusted time entered on the Edit Time Clock Entries dialog and the Actual date/time is what the employee punched in with.
  • If a record has a Correcting clock code and only the Recorded field is populated, then that entry was created directly from the Edit Time Clock Entries dialog.
  • Automatic and Manual records should always show the same Recorded and Actual date/time, because no changes were made to the entry.
  • For Override records, the Recorded time is the time entered by the employee when the entry was overridden and the Actual time is the actual time of day that the employee created the time clock entry.

Total Hours will show ***** if there is no Clock Out entry for the record. The Subtotal of the Total Hours will not include this record, because it is incomplete. Again, the report will indicate “Missing Time Clock(s)” to let you know that the sum is not complete.