Exports are a necessary part of your payroll process. They are used to gain information about who worked, when, how long, and where. While all of Connecteam's Timesheets Exports options are amazing, especially the Auto reports, you may want your export to contain only certain information or for that information to be ordered in a certain way. Our Custom Exports capability allows you to do just that.
This article will go over:
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Where to Find the Custom Export Capability
Like all the export capabilities, Custom Exports is located in the Time Clock feature.
Access the relevant Time Clock and enter the Timesheets tab
Click on Exports, and select the option create a new template.
Choose the type of report you would like to create: Payroll Totals, Timesheet or Shift Reports.
If you select the Payroll Totals option, you will be prompted to select your preferred structure: columns or rows.
Types of Custom Exports
As mentioned above, when building your custom report, you can create three types of reports: Payroll Totals, Timesheets or Shift Reports. Below, we will go over all of these options and when to use which one.
Payroll Totals: This is the most summarized payroll report available. It provides a single row per employee, consolidating all their payroll-related data into one easy-to-read format. This export is designed to give a quick yet comprehensive overview of each employee’s payroll details without breaking down individual shifts or time entries.
Timesheets: The timesheet report breaks down your employees' hours on a day-to-day basis. In other words, on any given day you can see their hours worked. This export is great for companies that want an overview of what is going on for each workday.
Shift Report: The shift report resembles our timesheets, but the main difference is that it breaks up the hours per shift, and each shift will have its own row. This export is more suitable for companies with employees who work overnight shifts and do not want the hours split across two rows.
Customizing Your Export
In the custom export, you can build your payroll totals, timesheet or shift report to include all the information you want. This is done by setting all your Report Columns and Settings. Let's take a look at how to do this below!
Report Columns
These contain all the information that will be in your custom report. Whether it is the standard information that comes in most timesheet reports such as Name, Job, Total Shift hours, Total paid hours, or extra information such Geolocation stamps, Shift attachments, overtime, Custom Field from the user profile, or data layers from the schedule, it calls all be added to the custom report.
To activate information in your custom report, ensure it is toggled on in the report column section. Only these report columns will appear in the custom report.
In the example below you can see that I have toggled on the columns such as first name, last name, regular hours, and job. In order to delete irrelevant fields, simply click on the trash icon next to the toggle.
In order to add additional fields, click on Add at the top.
For columns that have multiple sub-options, such as pay types or specific jobs, you will be able to add specific options by hovering over the field and checking the relevant types.
If you select the Payroll Totals option, you will be able to decide whether you would like for the information to be presented in columns or rows, as well as customizing the titles of the rows or columns. This provides flexibility and allows you to select the structure or phrasing that aligns with your payroll software.
Renaming and Customizing the Report Columns
Now that you toggled on the Report Column you wanted, let's talk about some more exciting customization capabilities the custom report has. Did you know that you can rename the report columns and change the format they are displayed in or reorder them to be in any order you would like? This takes report customization to the next level!
To rename a column, hover over it, click the settings icon, rename the category, and select the desired format.
For columns containing non-numerical data such as first name, last name, job, etc., the format can be set to none, uppercase, lowercase, or no space.
For columns with numerical data such as work hours, total paid hours, total paid absence hours, etc., the format can be set according to your time clock settings or to a time or decimal format.
For the Pay Type field, all pay types will be selected by default, however you will be able to select which pay types and time off policies should be included in this column.
To reorder the report columns, simply drag and drop the column in the order you want it to appear.
Report Settings
The report settings allow you to select various criteria before exporting your Custom Report. To access the custom report settings, click on the settings tab at the bottom right corner of the custom report.
Now, let's go over all the options you'll find:
File format: You can set the file to either a CSV or an Excel file
Sort users by: You can sort users by first name, last name, title or employment start date. You can also sort these fields alphabetically.
Sort Dates From: you can sort the dates that appear from newest to oldest and vice versa.
Sort Rates By: You can sort pay rates by lowest to highest and vice versa.
You also have the option to exclude users with no entries, meaning they will not be included in the Custom Report, or to include the user's name on every row, to include pay rule conditions breakdown or to include job codes.
Saving Your Custom Report as a Template
Did you create the perfect Custom Report? That's great! Now, rather than creating it each time, simply save it as a template. This will save you tons of time.
To save a Custom Report as a Template, simply select save as a template after creating your desired layout.
Now, automate the process by easily accessing your Custom Report Template whenever needed. To access a Custom Report template, simply enter the time clock and timesheets, click on exports, and your previously created Custom Report Templates will be listed there. Simply click on it, and voila! You have exported your custom report.
How will my Report Look When Exported?
Every change you make while customizing your report will always appear in the export preview directly to the right of your report columns, meaning there are no surprises! You can see the exact format of custom reports before exporting them.
Once exported, your report can be opened in Excel or imported to your company's desired Payroll Software. Take a look at the finished Custom Report below.
Payroll Totals Export
Columns Format
Rows Columns
Timesheets Custom Report
Shift Report Custom Report
*The ability to export a custom report is available from the Advanced Operations plan & the ability to save custom report templates is available from the Expert Operations plan*
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