Overview
Timesheets record employee hours in Dirt Face. The same time card serves several purposes, and you can use only the ones you need:
| Use it for | How it works |
|---|---|
| Daily attendance | Give employees one place to clock in and out each day. Clock against a job or an overhead activity (Office/admin, General overhead, etc.). |
| Job costing | Hours clocked to a job post as actual labor cost after approval, so you can compare estimated vs actual on the job. |
| Payroll prep | Approve the week, split overtime, add PTO, and export a payroll-ready CSV (Gusto, ADP, Paychex, or generic) or push time to QuickBooks. |
Time is captured by person, job or activity, and operations area (field, shop, yard, office). Workers submit a week for manager approval; approved hours flow to whichever outputs you use.
| View | Where |
|---|---|
| Worker | Operations Portal → Time card or avatar → My time (office) |
| Manager | Manage → Approve timesheets (/timesheets) — see manager guide |
Crew plan or higher plan required for timesheets. Enable time tracking per employee in Manage Team, and configure pay periods under Timesheets settings.
Job hours vs overhead hours
Every entry is clocked or logged against one of two targets:
| Target | Examples | Posts to job costing? | On payroll export? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job | An active job the person worked | Yes (after approval) | Yes |
| Activity (overhead) | Office/admin, shop prep, travel, training, meetings, general overhead | No | Yes |
Use activities for time that is not tied to a specific job — this is how salaried and office staff, or anyone just punching in for the day, track attendance without affecting job costs. Only job hours post to job costing.
Worker workflow
Clock or log time → Draft entries → Submit week → Manager approves → Attendance / job costing / payroll
- Clock in/out or Log hours during the week (clock-in guide)
- Fix mistakes while entries are draft (corrections)
- Review the week total and tap Submit week
- Wait for manager approval — status changes to submitted, then approved or back to draft if rejected
Manager approval
Managers use Approve timesheets (not the ops time card pending tab for the full workflow):
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Approve | Locks entry; posts labor to job costing; triggers QBO sync if enabled |
| Approve all | Bulk-approve the filtered week |
| Reject | Returns entry to draft with an optional reason |
| Add time | Manager-added correction |
| Time export | Download CSV/PDF for payroll |
| Close pay period | Lock historical entries from edits |
Entry statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| draft | Worker or manager can edit; not yet submitted |
| submitted | Awaiting manager approval |
| approved | Locked; posted to job costing when job-linked; ready for export |
| synced | Pushed to QuickBooks (when integration enabled) |
Labor rates
Labor rates apply to job hours for job costing. Approved job hours × burdened labor rate = estimated labor cost on the job. Overhead activity hours are not costed to a job. Rate resolution order:
- Employee + function override (if set in Manage Team)
- Per-function default from Timesheets settings (field / shop / yard / office)
- Organization average hourly cost from Default Settings
Burdened rates are for estimating and job costing — not payroll wages.
Time export
Managers download hours manually from Approve timesheets → Time export:
- Summary, detail, daily, exceptions, and QBO sync status reports
- CSV for all types; PDF for summary and daily
- Overtime split per Timesheets settings
- Provider CSV templates (Gusto, ADP, Paychex)
See Approve timesheets & time export for the full manager checklist.
QuickBooks TimeActivity
When QuickBooks job costing sync is enabled, approved entries create or update TimeActivity with:
- Mapped Employee
- Optional Customer (job mapping) for billable field time
- BillableStatus from the entry or activity
- Optional Item from manager activity catalog
Configure mappings under Business Settings → Integrations → QuickBooks.