An employee clocks out on Friday afternoon.
From the employee’s perspective, the workweek is finished. From the payroll processor’s perspective, the hours have only begun their journey.
The timecard must be approved. Employee records must match. Regular, overtime and paid-time-off hours must move into the correct payroll period. Exceptions must be reviewed before the payroll is calculated and approved.
Payroll Relief timekeeping workflows can include direct entry, client-supplied spreadsheets and integrations with time-and-attendance platforms such as SwipeClock. Payroll Relief’s official materials describe time imports as a way to streamline payroll processing and reduce manual-entry errors, while the payroll professional remains responsible for reviewing the imported data.
This guide follows employee hours from the original time system to the final pay statement.
Timekeeping and Payroll Are Separate Systems
A timekeeping system records when employees work.
Payroll Relief calculates compensation, taxes, deductions and net payments from the information entered or imported into payroll.
The systems may be connected, but they do not perform the same job.
Timekeeping can contain:
- Clock-in and clock-out activity
- Regular hours
- Overtime hours
- Paid leave
- Unpaid leave
- Department assignments
- Job or location details
- Manager approvals
- Timecard corrections
Payroll Relief can accept regular, overtime, PTO and other configured pay-type hours through its payroll-entry process. It then calculates the resulting earnings and payroll obligations.
A timecard marked Approved does not prove that the hours reached Payroll Relief.
An import marked Successful does not prove that every employee, pay type and rate was mapped correctly.
Payroll Relief Supports Several Data-Entry Paths
Not every client submits payroll the same way.
Payroll Relief supports workflows in which:
- The accounting firm enters hours
- The employer client enters hours directly
- A client completes a structured spreadsheet
- Time data is imported from SwipeClock
- Time data is imported from another supported system
- Exceptions are entered against default employee hours
The product’s streamlined-workflow materials describe direct client entry, Excel-template imports and time-and-attendance integrations with SwipeClock and Advantek. Payroll Relief can also use exception-based entry, where only values differing from an employee’s normal hours or amounts need to be entered.
The accounting firm should define one approved source for each client.
Mixing an import, spreadsheet and emailed corrections without a reconciliation process can create duplicates or omissions.
Default Hours Can Reduce Entry—And Hide Errors
Employee compensation setup can include default hours.
IRIS documentation explains that the default hours normally come from the employee’s selected pay schedule. They can be changed or removed when the employee works an irregular schedule and actual hours must be entered each payroll. Additional pay types can also contain default hours and rates.
Default hours are convenient for stable salaried or regularly scheduled employees.
They can create problems when:
- An employee took unpaid leave
- The employee terminated mid-period
- Hours changed temporarily
- A schedule was reduced
- The worker was already paid through another payroll
- Imported hours were added on top of defaults
- Overtime was entered without adjusting regular hours
Before calculation, determine whether imported or manually entered hours replace defaults or supplement them.
A payroll can calculate perfectly while paying an employee for hours that were never worked.
Setting Up SwipeClock Integration
Payroll Relief can integrate with an existing SwipeClock account.
Current IRIS instructions say the accounting firm must obtain an accountant-level API secret key from SwipeClock and enter the Accountant ID, Site ID and API key in Payroll Relief. Once configured, the Payroll Entry screen provides a SwipeClock button for importing employee hours.
The credentials must come from the correct level.
IRIS warns that using a client-level key instead of the accountant-level key can produce an Unauthorized message. The Site ID is also unavailable until the relevant client is selected in SwipeClock.
The setup should therefore confirm:
- Correct SwipeClock client
- Accountant ID
- Site ID
- Accountant-level API secret
- Payroll Relief employer
- Applicable payroll period
- Successful test import
Do not copy API credentials into ordinary email or a shared spreadsheet.
The Payroll Period Must Match the Time Period
An import can succeed technically while pulling hours for the wrong period.
Before selecting the SwipeClock import option, verify:
- Payroll period start
- Payroll period end
- Pay date
- Timecard approval status
- Correct employer
- Correct SwipeClock site
- Employees included
- Whether prior corrections are included
A biweekly payroll should not accidentally receive one week of hours.
Likewise, importing the same period twice can duplicate hours when the second import is not intended to replace the first.
Record the time period and import time as part of the payroll checklist.
Employee Matching Is a Critical Control
The timekeeping employee and Payroll Relief employee must correspond correctly.
A mismatch can result in:
- Hours not imported
- Hours assigned to the wrong worker
- Duplicate employee records
- Terminated employee included
- New hire excluded
- Contractor treated as employee
- Work performed under the wrong employer entity
After import, compare the employee count with the approved timecard population.
Pay special attention to:
- New hires
- Rehires
- Legal-name changes
- Employees with similar names
- Workers transferred between locations
- Employees using different IDs across systems
- Recently terminated workers
Do not create a second payroll record merely because an imported worker does not match immediately.
First determine whether an existing record uses another employee ID or name format.
Regular Hours and Overtime Must Be Mapped Correctly
Payroll Relief supports regular, overtime and other employer-defined pay types.
Its current pay-type guidance distinguishes standard overtime from overtime-premium and double-time-premium entries. For standard overtime, regular hours are entered in the regular-hours field and additional overtime hours in the overtime field. For premium methods, total hours—including the overtime hours—are entered as regular hours, with the overtime portion also identified separately for premium calculation.
That distinction can materially change pay.
Suppose an employee worked 45 hours.
Depending on the configured pay type, entering:
- 40 regular and 5 overtime
- 45 regular and 5 premium hours
may represent different calculation methods.
The payroll professional must follow the employer’s configured pay types and applicable rules rather than assuming every overtime column behaves identically.
Multiple Rates Can Affect Overtime
Employees may perform work at more than one hourly rate.
Payroll Relief’s June 2026 update added qualified-overtime handling for additional hourly pay types and uses a weighted-average hourly rate when calculating the associated overtime premium for employees with multiple rates. The update also added an Include in Qualified Overtime setting for applicable additional-hourly pay types.
That makes pay-type setup especially important.
Review:
- Which hourly pay types count toward the threshold
- Which hours were imported
- Rate attached to each pay type
- Weighted-average calculation
- Overtime premium
- Payroll frequency
- Employee Qualified OT report
Do not create a separate “extra work” pay type without deciding whether its hours should count in overtime calculations.
A pay type can produce correct straight-time wages while still being excluded from an overtime calculation unintentionally.
Payroll Relief Changes Require Current Review
Payroll Relief’s current release-notes index shows continuing updates during 2026, including qualified-overtime and qualified-tip setup changes. It also indicates that certain related setup tasks must be completed before August 30, 2026.
Payroll firms should not rely indefinitely on an old payroll-entry checklist.
Before processing payrolls affected by new reporting or calculation features:
- Read current release notes
- Review new pay-type settings
- Identify affected clients
- Test calculations
- Update internal procedures
- Document setup decisions
- Train payroll staff
A previously correct pay type may require an additional setting after a platform or regulatory update.
PTO Hours Need Their Own Review
Paid time off can arrive from the timekeeping system, the employer or an employee request.
Payroll Relief supports entry or import of PTO hours along with regular, overtime and other configured pay types.
Before payroll approval, verify:
- PTO request was approved
- Correct PTO type was used
- Hours belong to this pay period
- PTO was not also entered manually
- Employee has sufficient available balance, when tracked
- Unpaid leave was not entered as paid leave
- Holiday hours were not duplicated with regular hours
A timecard can show eight hours absent while payroll needs to distinguish whether those hours are vacation, sick leave, holiday or unpaid time.
The integration can transmit a code. The employer must define what that code means.
Exception-Based Entry Is Efficient for Stable Payrolls
Payroll Relief’s exception-based workflow allows normal recurring hours or amounts to remain in place while the user enters only deviations.
This works well when employees usually receive predictable payments.
Examples of exceptions include:
- Overtime
- Unpaid absence
- Bonus
- Commission
- Additional shift
- PTO
- Rate change
- Temporary department transfer
The risk is that a missing exception can leave the default untouched.
If a regular employee had an unpaid week but no one entered the exception, the ordinary hours may still be processed.
A good exception workflow requires a clear statement from the client that all changes have been submitted—not merely silence.
Spreadsheet Imports Need Controlled Headers
Clients without direct system access may submit payroll information using an Excel template that the accounting firm imports into Payroll Relief. The platform’s import permissions and specifications support employee and payroll data from external spreadsheet sources.
The spreadsheet should use the expected field names and pay-type codes.
For example, current import specifications describe overtime column headings using the configured overtime code followed by wording such as Hours or Hrs.
Before import:
- Use the approved template
- Preserve column names
- Confirm employee identifiers
- Validate pay-type codes
- Remove totals and comments from data rows
- Check date and number formatting
- Keep one version as the submitted source
- Do not import the same file twice
An attractive spreadsheet is not necessarily an import-ready spreadsheet.
Imported Data Must Be Reconciled
After import, compare the source totals with Payroll Relief.
At minimum, reconcile:
- Employee count
- Regular hours
- Overtime hours
- PTO hours
- Bonus amounts
- Department totals
- Location totals
- Gross-pay estimate
- Missing or rejected rows
The imported table should not be approved merely because no error message appeared.
Some errors are valid data from the software’s perspective.
For example:
- Eighty hours assigned to the wrong employee
- Overtime entered as regular time
- Hours assigned to the wrong department
- Duplicate bonus
- Terminated worker still active
The software cannot know the employer’s actual intent without a comparison.
Use the Payroll Entry Screen to Review Individuals
Payroll Relief’s Payroll Entry screen can handle one employee, multiple employees or an entire payroll. It also provides additional options for special situations such as third-party sick pay and fringe benefits.
When one employee’s hours look unusual, open the detailed row rather than changing the total blindly.
Review:
- Pay types
- Hours
- Rates
- Additional amounts
- Department or job
- Taxes and deductions
- Special payroll items
- Current-period notes
A worker with apparently excessive hours may have legitimate hours divided among several pay types.
Conversely, a reasonable total can conceal that all hours were assigned to the wrong category.
Special Payroll Situations Should Not Be Forced Into Regular Hours
Payroll Relief supports special situations including:
- Third-party sick pay
- Fringe benefits
- Bonus or commission payrolls
- Additional payrolls
- Contractor payrolls
- Prior payrolls
These items can be entered through the Payroll Entry workflow using the appropriate options and configured pay types.
Do not add a taxable fringe benefit as fake work hours merely to increase gross pay.
Do not record third-party sick pay as ordinary hourly wages when the applicable workflow requires different treatment.
Correct categorization affects:
- Earnings display
- Taxes
- Deductions
- Compliance forms
- W-2 reporting
- Payroll reports
Review Before Approval
After hours and amounts are entered, Payroll Relief provides a Review Payroll screen.
Current IRIS guidance recommends reviewing:
- Payroll summary
- Employer taxes
- Employee hours
- Gross pay
- Net pay
- Direct-deposit amounts
- Employee pay-stub preview
It also recommends running the Payroll Register and Payroll Comparison Report before approval.
The Payroll Comparison Report places the current and prior payroll side by side.
That makes it easier to identify:
- Large overtime increase
- Employee-count change
- Missing department
- Lower total hours
- Unexpected gross-pay jump
- New printed checks
- Direct-deposit difference
The report does not explain the variance. It tells the reviewer where to ask questions.
The Employee Hours Paid Report Supports Audit Review
Payroll Relief provides an Employee Hours Paid Report for selected date ranges.
IRIS describes it as useful for payroll audit records, documenting hours worked, analyzing overtime and allocating overhead costs according to employee hours.
The report can help answer:
- How many hours were paid?
- Which employees received overtime?
- Did overtime rise after a schedule change?
- How were hours allocated?
- Does payroll history agree with the time system?
- Which period contains the disputed shift?
Use payroll reports together with the original timekeeping record.
A payroll report shows paid hours. It does not necessarily show every clock punch, edit or manager approval that produced them.
The Employee Says Hours Are Missing
Begin with the pay period on the pay statement.
Then gather:
- Shift date
- Clock-in and clock-out times
- Timecard status
- Manager approval
- Payroll period
- Hours shown on pay stub
- Correct pay type
- Import batch or file used
A useful report to payroll is:
The August 14 statement covers July 27 through August 9. My approved SwipeClock card shows eight hours on August 4, but those hours do not appear in the Payroll Relief pay statement.
This is more actionable than:
My paycheck is wrong.
The investigation can then follow the chain:
- Was the shift on the timecard?
- Was it approved?
- Was the correct period imported?
- Did the employee match?
- Did the hours appear in Payroll Entry?
- Were they removed or changed during review?
- Was a correction processed later?
Duplicate Hours Need Source-Level Investigation
When hours appear twice, do not simply subtract a number until the cause is known.
Possible causes include:
- Time period imported twice
- Spreadsheet imported after SwipeClock
- Client manually entered hours already imported
- Default hours remained active
- Employee duplicated in source system
- Adjustment added without reversing original hours
- Prior correction included in current import
Identify which source should remain.
Then preserve:
- Original timecard
- Import record
- Manual-entry history
- Correction approval
- Final payroll result
A correction should leave enough documentation for another reviewer to understand why the hours changed.
Fixing Hours Before Payroll Approval
When the payroll has not been approved, authorized users can change employee hours or amounts on the Payroll Entry worksheet and recalculate the payroll.
After the change:
- Recalculate
- Recheck employee gross and net pay
- Rerun the comparison report
- Reconcile source hours
- Review taxes and deductions
- Confirm direct-deposit total
- Document the correction
Changing eight hours can affect more than gross wages.
It may also change:
- Overtime
- PTO balance
- Taxes
- Garnishment calculation
- Retirement contribution
- Employer payroll taxes
- Job costing
Do not review only the corrected earnings line.
Fixing Hours After Approval
Payroll Relief can allow an approved payroll to be recalculated or unapproved under certain conditions, but the available action depends on timing and whether related transactions have already been processed.
Before changing an approved payroll, determine:
- Has the pay date passed?
- Was direct deposit transmitted?
- Were checks printed?
- Were tax liabilities created or paid?
- Were child-support payments processed?
- Was the pay statement released?
- Does the correction require another payroll?
A missing shift discovered before ACH submission is a different operational problem from one discovered after the employee has already been paid.
Do not unapprove payroll casually. The correction method should preserve both accurate wages and an understandable audit trail.
Integration Errors Require the Right Support Detail
When SwipeClock import fails, report the technical context.
Include:
- Employer
- Payroll period
- SwipeClock Site ID
- Whether the correct client was selected
- Error message
- Time of attempt
- Whether the import previously worked
- Whether the accountant-level API key changed
An Unauthorized message can result from using the wrong level of API secret.
Do not send the actual API secret in a support email unless an approved secure support process explicitly requires it.
Timekeeping Permissions Should Be Limited
Payroll Relief includes permissions for payroll entry, employee setup, pay types and data imports.
These roles should be separated where practical.
A user who enters hours does not automatically need authority to:
- Change employee rates
- Create pay types
- Modify direct deposit
- Approve payroll
- Change tax setup
- Import employee master data
Likewise, a client manager responsible for one location should not necessarily see payroll for the entire company.
Limit access according to the actual task and review permissions when responsibilities change.
Common Payroll Relief Timekeeping Questions
Does Payroll Relief integrate with SwipeClock?
Yes. Payroll Relief can connect with an existing SwipeClock account and import employee hours from the Payroll Entry screen.
What information is needed for SwipeClock setup?
The integration requires the Accountant ID, Site ID and accountant-level API secret key from SwipeClock.
Why does SwipeClock show “Unauthorized”?
IRIS warns that copying a client-level key rather than the accountant-level key can produce an Unauthorized message.
Can Payroll Relief import overtime and PTO?
Yes. The payroll-entry process supports regular, overtime, PTO and other configured pay-type hours.
Can clients submit time through Excel?
Yes. Payroll Relief supports structured Excel-template workflows and external-data imports.
How should standard overtime be entered?
Current IRIS guidance says regular hours go in the regular-hours field and additional standard-overtime hours in the overtime field. Premium pay types can use a different entry method.
Does Payroll Relief handle multiple overtime rates?
Payroll Relief’s 2026 qualified-overtime update supports additional hourly pay types and weighted-average calculations for employees working at multiple rates.
Which report shows employee hours?
The Employee Hours Paid Report can show paid hours for a selected date range and support audit, overtime and cost-allocation analysis.
How are imported hours reviewed before approval?
Payroll Relief provides employee-level details, pay-stub previews, a Payroll Register and a Payroll Comparison Report.
Can hours be corrected after calculation?
Yes. Before approval, authorized users can edit hours or amounts in Payroll Entry and recalculate. Changes after approval depend on payroll status and related transactions.
Reconcile the Hours Before Trusting the Calculation
A Payroll Relief timekeeping integration can eliminate repetitive entry and make a payroll practice more efficient.
It cannot replace the review between source time and paid time.
Confirm the payroll period. Match employees. Reconcile totals. Review overtime and PTO. Investigate duplicate or missing hours. Compare the current payroll with the prior cycle before approval.
The correct sequence is:
Time recorded → time approved → time imported → payroll reviewed → payroll approved → employee paid.
When one link fails, follow the data backward rather than guessing from the final deposit.
Editorial Disclosure: This is an independent informational guide. It is not the Payroll Relief or SwipeClock application, is not affiliated with AccountantsWorld, IRIS or SwipeClock and cannot import timecards, calculate wages or correct payroll records.
