Clocking and Time-Attendance Integration
Import employee hours from biometric clocks, timesheet apps and farm/packhouse clocking systems.
Supported import method
Payroll Africa integrates with clocking and time-and-attendance systems through a CSV import. Most biometric terminals, farm kiosks, packline clocking apps and timesheet software can export the fields Payroll Africa needs.
Required CSV columns
| Column | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Employee number | EMP001 | Must match the employee number in Payroll Africa |
| Date | 2026-08-05 | ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD) or your locale's short date |
| Normal hours | 8.00 | Ordinary hours worked that day |
| Overtime 1.5x | 2.00 | Weekday overtime at 1.5x |
| Overtime 2.0x | 3.00 | Sunday / public holiday overtime at 2x |
| Shift code | NIGHT | Optional — used to apply shift premiums |
Additional columns such as department, cost centre or job code can be included and mapped during import.
How the import works
- Export the period's clocking data from your time-and-attendance system.
- In Payroll Africa open Payroll → New run (or an existing draft run).
- Choose Import hours from clocking CSV and upload the file.
- Map any unmatched columns and confirm the employee matches.
- Payroll Africa calculates ordinary pay, overtime, Sunday/public-holiday premiums and any shift allowances using the employee's stored rate.
Direct API connectors
If your clocking vendor provides an API, Payroll Africa can build a direct connector that pulls hours automatically before each payroll run. Typical scoping takes 1–2 weeks. Contact the support team with the vendor name and sample export.
Common clocking systems
The CSV method has been used successfully with biometric devices, farm and packhouse time clocks, mobile timesheet apps, access-control systems and manual Excel timesheets. As long as the export contains employee identifier, date and hours, it will import.
Farm Costing Solutions (FCS)
Farm Costing Solutions is fully supported through its period export. Payroll Africa auto-recognises the FCS column names — worker or clock number, work date, normal time, overtime, Sunday and public holiday hours, and the task, block or activity code. Export the pay period from FCS as CSV and upload it under Timesheets → Import clocking file; the block or task code is carried through as the timesheet reference so packhouse hours can be reported separately from orchard or land hours.
Fixing mismatches
Before finalising the run, Payroll Africa lists unmatched employee numbers, missing dates and negative hours so they can be corrected before payslips are generated.