Export timesheets to payroll

Approved timesheets, exported in a file any payroll system can take.

To export timesheets to payroll, approve the week, then download the approved hours as a file your payroll system can import. ZeroBadge exports CSV and Excel for importing and PDF for the record, with each worker's regular and overtime hours for the pay period and the hours split by jobsite. Map the columns once in your payroll system's import, and every period after that imports the same way.

If your payroll provider is connected, approved hours are sent automatically instead (payroll integration). The files are for every other system, and for anyone who wants the week in a spreadsheet.

Get started See the column layout

CSV, Excel and PDF
Weekly, biweekly, semimonthly or monthly
Only approved hours are exported

ZeroBadgeTimesheetsWeek of Oct 5

Weekly timesheets

Mon Oct 5 – Fri Oct 9

Built automatically

Workers

Shifts

120

Recorded

1,045.2 h

To review

Riverside Medical Pavilion375.0 h1 to review
Harbor Yard Distribution Center300.8 h1 to review
Northgate Tower328.9 h1 to review

Three formats

CSV and Excel are for importing. PDF is for the record.

All three hold the same approved hours. Pick by what happens to the file next.

CSV
Plain text, one row per worker, that almost any payroll or accounting system can import. The format to set up once and reuse every period.
Excel
A summary sheet with a row per worker and a sheet of individual shifts. Use it to check the week, add a column your import needs, or hand it to an outside accountant.
PDF
The weekly timesheet report per worker. Not for importing: it is the version you file, print or give an auditor, and it is kept as an unchangeable version.
What every file starts with
The first line is a short note on how the hours were recorded, above the column headers. Tell your import to skip one line before the header row.

Column layout

What each column holds, and why the import needs it.

Payroll imports match on an ID and read hours by type. These are the columns that matter for that.

What each column holds, and why the import needs it.
Column	What it holds	Why payroll needs it
Employee	The worker's name as assigned to their badge.	For the person checking the file. Most imports don't match on names.
Employee ID	The ID from your payroll system, mapped to each worker at setup.	The matching key. A worker with no ID mapped is the most common reason an import row fails.
Pay period	Start and end dates of the period the hours belong to.	Puts the hours in the right pay run.
Regular hours	Approved hours under your daily and weekly overtime thresholds.	Paid at the base rate in payroll.
Overtime hours	Approved hours over those thresholds, counted per workweek.	Paid at the overtime rate in payroll.
Jobsite split	Hours by jobsite, shop or supplier location, and each shift with its date, jobsite, start, end and hours.	For job costing or job codes, if your payroll tracks labor by job.
Days worked and missing clock-outs	A count of days with hours, and any shifts that ended without a clock-out before approval.	A quick check that nothing open slipped into the export.

Employee
What it holds
The worker's name as assigned to their badge.
Why payroll needs it
For the person checking the file. Most imports don't match on names.
Employee ID
What it holds
The ID from your payroll system, mapped to each worker at setup.
Why payroll needs it
The matching key. A worker with no ID mapped is the most common reason an import row fails.
Pay period
What it holds
Start and end dates of the period the hours belong to.
Why payroll needs it
Puts the hours in the right pay run.
Regular hours
What it holds
Approved hours under your daily and weekly overtime thresholds.
Why payroll needs it
Paid at the base rate in payroll.
Overtime hours
What it holds
Approved hours over those thresholds, counted per workweek.
Why payroll needs it
Paid at the overtime rate in payroll.
Jobsite split
What it holds
Hours by jobsite, shop or supplier location, and each shift with its date, jobsite, start, end and hours.
Why payroll needs it
For job costing or job codes, if your payroll tracks labor by job.
Days worked and missing clock-outs
What it holds
A count of days with hours, and any shifts that ended without a clock-out before approval.
Why payroll needs it
A quick check that nothing open slipped into the export.

Wage rates, taxes and deductions are not in the file. They stay in your payroll system. ZeroBadge does not deduct an unpaid meal break automatically, so apply your break policy in review or in payroll.

Pay periods

Four pay period options. Overtime is still counted one workweek at a time.

Four pay period options. Overtime is still counted one workweek at a time.
Pay period	How it is cut	How overtime is counted
Weekly	Seven days ending on the weekday you choose. Timesheets run Saturday to Friday by default.	One workweek per period.
Every two weeks	Fourteen days ending on the same weekday, on a fixed two-week cycle.	Split into its two workweeks first. A 32-hour week and a 48-hour week give 8 overtime hours, not an average of 40.
Twice a month	The 1st to the 15th, then the rest of the month. The split day can be changed.	By workweek, including workweeks that cross into the next period.
Monthly	The calendar month.	By workweek inside the month.

Weekly
How it is cut
Seven days ending on the weekday you choose. Timesheets run Saturday to Friday by default.
How overtime is counted
One workweek per period.
Every two weeks
How it is cut
Fourteen days ending on the same weekday, on a fixed two-week cycle.
How overtime is counted
Split into its two workweeks first. A 32-hour week and a 48-hour week give 8 overtime hours, not an average of 40.
Twice a month
How it is cut
The 1st to the 15th, then the rest of the month. The split day can be changed.
How overtime is counted
By workweek, including workweeks that cross into the next period.
Monthly
How it is cut
The calendar month.
How overtime is counted
By workweek inside the month.

Federal overtime takes each workweek on its own and does not allow averaging hours across two or more weeks (29 CFR 778.104). See [overtime tracking](/solutions/overtime-tracking).

The import routine

Set the import up once. After that it is an export and an upload.

01
Map IDs and jobs
Match each worker to their payroll employee ID and each jobsite to the job or cost code your payroll uses.
One time
02
Build the import template
In your payroll system's import screen, point each field at a column: employee ID, regular hours, overtime hours. Save it.
One time
03
Approve the period
Clear the exceptions list and approve. Only approved hours are exported.
Every period
04
Export and import
Download the CSV or Excel file and run the saved import. Check the import's totals against the weekly PDF.
Every period

Three offices

Three ways a contractor's office uses the export.

Three ways a contractor's office uses the export.
The office	What they export	What happens next
Monday, 8:00 AM. An office manager at an electrical contractor approves 22 workers' week.	One CSV of approved regular and overtime hours by employee ID.	The saved payroll import takes it at 8:40. She checks two totals against the PDFs and closes the week before 9:30.
The 1st of the month. An outside accountant does job costing for a plumbing contractor.	The Excel file for the month, with the shifts sheet showing jobsite, start and end for every shift.	Hours by job go into the job cost report. Nobody re-types a timecard.
Tuesday, after payroll ran. A foreman reports that a journeyman's Thursday was short by 1.5 hours.	A correction with the reason, a new version of that week's PDF, and a fresh export of the week.	Payroll pays the 1.5 hours as an adjustment. The earlier PDF version is kept beside the new one.

Monday, 8:00 AM. An office manager at an electrical contractor approves 22 workers' week.
What they export
One CSV of approved regular and overtime hours by employee ID.
What happens next
The saved payroll import takes it at 8:40. She checks two totals against the PDFs and closes the week before 9:30.
The 1st of the month. An outside accountant does job costing for a plumbing contractor.
What they export
The Excel file for the month, with the shifts sheet showing jobsite, start and end for every shift.
What happens next
Hours by job go into the job cost report. Nobody re-types a timecard.
Tuesday, after payroll ran. A foreman reports that a journeyman's Thursday was short by 1.5 hours.
What they export
A correction with the reason, a new version of that week's PDF, and a fresh export of the week.
What happens next
Payroll pays the 1.5 hours as an adjustment. The earlier PDF version is kept beside the new one.

How hours reach payroll

File export, automatic integration and re-keying, compared.

Ways to get a week of field hours into payroll
Compare	ZeroBadge file exportCSV or Excel import	ZeroBadge integrationSent automatically	Spreadsheet by handBuilt in the office	Paper re-keyedTyped into payroll
Who touches the numbers	Someone runs the import	Nobody after approval	Whoever builds the sheet	Whoever types each line
Works with	Any system with a file import	A connected payroll provider	Anything, by hand	Anything, by hand
Regular and overtime split	Already split	Already split	By formula	By whoever adds it up
Hours by jobsite	In the file	Sent with the hours	If the field wrote job codes	If the field wrote job codes
Setup	One import template	Connect once in Settings	Every week	None, and every week by hand

Compare File export with

Ways to get a week of field hours into payroll: File export compared with Spreadsheet
File export	Spreadsheet
Who touches the numbers
Someone runs the import	Whoever builds the sheet
Works with
Any system with a file import	Anything, by hand
Regular and overtime split
Already split	By formula
Hours by jobsite
In the file	If the field wrote job codes
Setup
One import template	Every week

The tradeoff

The integration removes the upload step, so it is the lighter routine when your payroll provider is connected. A file export still needs a person to run the import each period. It works with any system that accepts a file, and gives you a copy of exactly what went to payroll.

ZeroBadge AI

Ask ZeroBadge AI before you export

Check the file before it leaves. ZeroBadge AI answers questions about what the export will contain, from your approved timesheets, with every total linked to its records. It is read-only, so it cannot export or edit anything itself.

You ask
Is anything blocking this week's export?
Yes. Two timesheets have an open exception and one is waiting on approval. Only approved hours export, so those three stay out of the file until they are cleared.
You ask
What is the total in the export file?
1,274.5 approved hours for 37 workers: 1,102.5 regular and 172 overtime.
You ask
Which workers worked on more than one jobsite this period?
19 of 37. The export carries hours by worker, day and jobsite, so each split is in the file. The largest was 26 hours at Elm Street and 14 at Harbor Road.

Answers come only from your company's own records. Every number links to the records behind it. Read-only; admins control access.

How ZeroBadge AI works

Questions

Questions about exporting timesheets to payroll.

What file formats can timesheets be exported in?

CSV and Excel for importing into payroll or accounting software, and PDF for the weekly timesheet report you file or print.

Can unapproved hours be exported to payroll?

The payroll export carries approved hours. A week still in progress can be viewed, but it reaches payroll only after a manager approves it. See timesheet approval.

Why did some rows fail to import?

Usually a worker with no payroll employee ID mapped, or an import that reads the note line at the top of the file as the header. Map the ID in ZeroBadge and set the import to skip one line.

Can the export use our job or cost codes?

Yes. Map each jobsite to the job or cost code your payroll uses at setup, and the jobsite split in the file carries it.

Should we use the export or the automatic integration?

If your payroll provider is connected, the integration sends approved hours with no upload. Use the files for any other system, for an outside accountant, or to keep a copy of what went to payroll. Many offices use both.

Keep exploring

Next: the integration, approval and overtime.

Last updated October 29, 2026

Sources

1.29 CFR 778.104, Each workweek stands alone · Electronic Code of Federal Regulations

Get started

See your pay period come out as an import-ready file.

We'll walk through your pay period, the column mapping for your payroll system and a full export of an approved week.

Get started Payroll integration

What we will walk through

01Employee IDs and job codes mapped once
02CSV, Excel and PDF from the same approved week
03Corrections after payroll and how they re-export