How do I import employee hours from a 3rd party timekeeping system? We use ZipClock to gather the employee hours, and that data is available to export in Altametrics.

Utilize the importer tool

https://transactionpro.grsm.io/qbo

https://partners.saasant.com/affiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=5051_2

The template to be imported should be like this

Hello, tom1.

Thanks for reaching out here in the Community. I'd be glad to help point you in the right direction so you're able to import your employee hours.

Fiat Lux - ASIA provided a great option to consider for importing data. If you'd like to explore additional resources to help get this job done, I recommend checking the available third-party apps. These apps integrate directly with your QuickBooks Online account to make your work easier. You can find apps here: https://apps.intuit.com/app/apps/home

Feel free to reach back out here if you have any other questions or concerns.

Must I purchase a 3rd party tool to execute the import?  I can manipulate an Excel/CSV file to get it into the proper format, if I knew what the format should be.  Does QB Online have an import process that a user can access and execute for timekeeping data?  We are committed by our franchisor to using ZipClock so I cannot consider switching to one of the other 3rd party timekeeping apps listed in the link.  

Thanks!

Thanks for that additional info, tom1.

The groups that can be imported into QuickBooks Online via Excel or CSV are bank data, customers, vendors, Chart of Accounts, products and services, and invoices.

I can see how having the ability to import employee hours would be useful. I'll do my part and pass your feedback along to the Product Development Team. Many software updates come directly from great user suggestions like yours. You can find out more about these types of updates by viewing our blog.

I'll be here if you need assistance with anything else.

Thanks for your help Morgan.  It would appear from your list that timekeeping data is not one of the data types that can be imported into QBO PR directly by a user of QBO.  But there are 3rd party tools, available at an additional cost of course, that can import timekeeping data?  Both Saasant and Transaction Pro reference "time activities" as something they can import.  Is that the same as timekeeping data?  I suppose it could refer to billing time (IE. a lawyers office) so I want to make sure payroll data can be imported and used for our payroll runs, as opposed to manually keying in hours.  Thanks again for your continued assistance!

 Hi there, @tom1.

You can check our App Center and find an app that lets your employees do timestamp and timesheet.

The App Center has all kinds of third-party applications to choose from. Get a better comparison of these apps and see if one of them meets your needs.

Also, there’s available login in QuickBooks Online where employees can timestamp instead of them manually creating the timesheet.

To view the applications, go to the Apps menu at the left panel of your QuickBooks Online or go to https://appcenter.intuit.com/.

Please leave a comment below if there’s anything else I could help. Have a good day.

Hi MaryAnn,

Our timekeeping solution is already chosen by our franchisor, so we need to continue using ZipClock.  Now I just need to get the hours from ZipClock, by pay period, into QBO PR so I don't have to re-key them every time I want to run a payroll.  

@tom1 

Unfortunately ZipClock does not support QB yet. Should you need to import the data in bulk to your QBO, you don't have any other option but using an importer tool as I have mentioned earlier.

Hope it helps.

Morgan,

I want to reinforce how important it is that QB Online add this functionality. We shouldn't need a 3rd party app to import hours data. Please ask development teams to make this a priority. I'm running Harvest and need an easier way to import the data. 

thanks!

@mission-minded-Zach 

Company has their own feature to automate the time tracking (i.e TSheets). The 3rd party importer tool is the only solution for now.

This makes me so mad that I'm looking at other options than Quickbooks. TSheets is a terrible product with a lousy UI. Intuit's attempts to force users to only be able to use their proprietary tools is wrong. This is a product decision that should be reconsidered immediately. 

@mission-minded-Zach 

There are a few time tracking apps in the market supporting QBO. You don't need other 3rd party importer tool. Explore one of them:

https://buddypunch.grsm.io/quickbooks

I am using the trial version of Transaction Pro and it appears that there is no way to import timekeeping data.  Both TP and Saasant can import "Time Activites" but these appear to require a customer code which is not applicable to basic employee punch in/out activities.  So it would appear that while I have been able to use Zip Clock to move off of paper timecards (again, I have no option to use another timekeeping application) I cannot move that data electronically into QBO payroll.  Can you please confirm that there is no import method for this type of data?  And if so, can you please stress to the development team on how this type of data would be key to improving the functionality of QBO.  When I did my research of the various payroll platforms, I was told there was a method to import timekeeping data.  But it appears I was misled.  Thanks for any clarity and priority you can provide!

I have to agree with Mission-minded Zach!  There should be a method to import basic timekeeping data.  The 3rd party tools Transaction Pro and Saasant do not have a template for this type of data.  What kind of payroll system has no way to import hours for the next payroll?  I know there are some apps that do integrate with QBO, but I cannot change my app as that is required and provided by the franchisor.  I suppose I could change my payroll processing system to one that allows a basic import of hours worked by an employee.

So a year has passed.  QuickBooks, has any progress been made on the ability to import timekeeping data (punch in/out activity by employee) into QBO payroll, from a 3rd party timekeeping system such as Zip Clock?

Thanks for following this thread, tom1.

I know how important for your business to be able to import the Zip Clock data into QBO. As mentioned by my colleagues, use a third-party application to move your employees’ time to the online program.

I'm unable to provide a defined time frame if when this feature is available. I suggest sending feedback on this functionality for our engineers to look into. We're always updating QuickBooks and love to incorporate our customers’ ideas.

Here’s how:

1. Tap the Gear icon in the upper left and choose Feedback under Profile.
2. Share your thoughts in the Feedback window.
3. Click Next to submit.

I also recommend visiting the QuickBooks Blog to learn what new updates are being rolled out. From there, you’ll see topics to help your business grow.

Keep me posted if you have other concerns or questions. I’ll be around to answer them for you. Have a good one.

kinda furious. i just upgraded to qb pro services desktop a couple months ago. my new book keeper is not making change to online. so first of all i got pretty much no credit for the money i just spent on pro. SECOND....the import of csv or timer activities was an integral part of desktop pro services...NOW I FIND OUT I CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT PAYING ANOTHER SERVICE?????????

I wish i could leave QB, but you guys have us by the you know what. 

@tom1, if you don't mind me asking, what franchise are you working with? I'm just curious because I'm working with a franchisee that, as part of the reporting services we already provide to them, has asked us to build an integration between QB and their timekeeping software. Like you, they are stuck with the timekeeping service forced on them by the franchisor. Mostly just curious. I stumbled across this thread while gathering information about the requirements for this project.

Hi Jeff, I was just perusing for a timekeeping import update and came across my old thread, and saw your question.  We are a Little Caesars franchisee.  

I am in the same boat.  I have Icon time with total pass 600 biometric timeclock and have been manually inputting employee hours since Timeclock Plus left us to go on-line and we didn't want to.  It's been about a year now. Everyone I've tried says they can but when  it comes down to it, it won't work.  I've tried all the extensions they've told you about and none work.  It seems crazy that a big company like QuickBooks can't or won't come up with a simple program to import employee hours into payroll.  I love QB except this little problem has been considerably huge in my book.

Jeff, I need a program also to import employee hours from our Total Pass600 Biometric timeclock with Icon time to QB Enterprise 2023 desktop edition, I've been looking for over a year since Time Clock Plus went on-line and we don't want to go on-line. Can you help me?

We want you to come across a different experience than this, deamrodm.

As of now, the option to import time from TotalPass B600 is unavailable in QuickBooks Online. That said, you may send this feature idea to our developers. Here's how:

1. From the Gear icon, select Feedback.
2. Enter a brief description of your suggestion.
3. Click Next.

As a workaround, you may look for an application that can help import the data into your QuickBooks Online account. To do so, click the Apps tab. Then, select Browse categories.

Your valuable feedback goes to our Product Development team to help improve your experience in QBO. You can track feature requests through our QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

I'll also add this article as your guide in paying employees: Create and run your payroll.

Don't hesitate to get back to this thread whenever you have concerns in keeping track of your employee's time.

@deamrodm 

You can prepare your Time Tracking data with the following template

then use an importer tool (one time license) to proceed

https://get.transactionpro.com/qbd

Just so you are aware, I had to switch payroll processing companies due to the inability of QBO Payroll to import time entries from a 3rd party timekeeping system.  The effeciency of such an import is saving me 2 hours per payroll.  Your development team need to understand that this lack of import functionality is costly QBO customers.  3 years and counting since this thread started and the request got into them.  Clearly this is not a priority for the dev team, and given the amount of time lapsed, will likely not get done in the next 3 years either.