My Timesheet and Flexibank Balance don't match. Why?

Note: Can't find this in your Cloud? This article contains features available with the Plus Plan of TimeMoto Cloud. If you want to get the most out of your TimeMoto account, make sure to upgrade your plan to your needs!

The timesheet's primary purpose is to record and document employees' clocking actions and their worked time, including breaks and sometimes absences. But what if the numbers in the timesheet don't reflect what you expected?

In this article, we discuss settings that can impact your timesheet's [Balance] column, how it affects the [Accumulated Flexibank] column, and show you examples that might even apply to you.

Here are the main points in short (follow the link for examples and more details):

• Timesheet Balance: The timesheet's [Balance] generally shows the difference between the duration the employee has worked and the amount of time the employee was supposed to work. With this in mind, multiple values directly influence the timesheet balance.
• Timesheet Balance & Flexibank: With the simplified overtime, the timesheet balance directly affects the Flexibank value. Keep in mind that some other settings may change this behaviour.
  • Manual Adjustments: The manager can change the Flexibank balance manually through the employee card. In this case, the current flexibank balance might deviate from the timesheet balance.
  • Pay Templates: As soon as a pay template is assigned to the employee's card, the balance will no longer transfer to the employee's Flexibank account. The manager would first want to process overtime via the pay reports instead.

Timesheet Balance

The timesheet's [Balance] column shows the difference between the duration the employee has worked and the amount of time the employee was supposed to work. In addition, any paid absence is also considered in this equation:

[Balance] = [Worked Hours] +  [Absence]* - [Scheduled Shift]

*Note: Only paid absences count towards the timesheet balance! This is why the value you see in the timesheet might deviate from the number considered for the equation.

Let's take a look at the numbers in detail.

Worked Hours

Worked hours impact the balance positively. They are the most common way the employee will compensate for the total time they are expected to work. 

Tip: Is there something wrong with your worked hours? This article will help you further by showing you potential reasons and some examples:

My Worked Hours don't match my clocked times. Why?

Absence

Paid absences impact the balance positively. Unpaid absences don't impact the balance at all. This is why the value you see in the timesheet might deviate from the number considered for the equation.

Tip: Is there something wrong with your Absence hours? This article will help you further by showing you potential reasons and some examples:

My Absence hours don't match. Why?

What is considered a paid absence?

If your scheduled absences use absence types with the settlement [Paid Absence] or [Deducted from Holiday Balance], they are considered paid absences. All absence types with the settlement [Unpaid Absence] won't be considered paid absences.

Tip: Find out more about Absence Types, their different Absence Settlements, and how to implement them in your system in this article:

Breaks and Absences

Scheduled Shift 

This column consists of all scheduled time defined by all Schedules & Activities assigned via the Employee Card or Calendar for the selected period per day. The scheduled shift duration impacts the balance negatively. The more that is scheduled, the more the employee has to work to make up for it.

Tip: Find out more about Schedules and Activities, how to set them up and how to assign them to an employee in these articles:

• Activities
• The Schedules Page

Example:

An employee works under a schedule assigned through their calendar with a shift duration of 8 hours (= Scheduled Shift). On this particular day, the employee clocked their work from 08:00 - 12:00, amounting to 04:00 hours (= Worked Hours). The employee felt ill during their lunch break and decided to go home, so the manager scheduled a 4-hour paid absence for the rest of the day (= Absence).

Let's do the math! With all facts in mind, we should come to the following balance:

After checking the timesheet, we can confirm that this is the case:

Timesheet Balance & Flexibank

With the simplified overtime, the timesheet balance directly affects the Flexibank value. This means that every time the balance is negative or positive, this value is carried over to the Flexibank balance.

In most cases, the timesheet's total Balance of the current period and the Accumulated Flexibank (only visible in the timesheet's overview mode) of that same period should be, therefore, equal. Except when they are not. If that happens, keep in mind that there are some other settings that may change this behaviour.

Manual Adjustments

Every manager can change the Flexibank balance of their employees manually through the employee card. This change is always retraceable on the employees' Flexibank Balance History, but not on the timesheet itself! For this reason, the timesheet's total balance and the Accumulated Flexibank can be different.

Tip: Find out more about the employee card, how to navigate through it, and how you can make adjustments to its settings in this article:

The Employee Card

Example:

After the employee has worked for an entire month, their timesheet's total balance amounts to (+) 02:30 hours of extra time. Looking at their Accumulated Flexibank, this shows (+) 04:00 hours for the same period. A difference of 1:30 hours!

After the employee asked their manager, they checked the employee's Flexibank Balance History (in their Employee Card). There they found out that HR had added 1:30 hours to their flexibank. This was because the employee had previous undocumented overtime from before they used TimeMoto Cloud to record the employee's worked hours.

Pay Templates

As soon as a pay template is assigned to the employee's card, the timesheet's balance will no longer automatically transfer to the employee's Flexibank account. Instead, the manager can decide whether extra time will be reimbursed as paid overtime, added to the flexibank as compensatory time off (also: time off in lieu), or ignored.

Tip: Find out more about advanced overtime management, how to set it up, and how to process your employee's overtime in the pay reports in this article:

Overtime Management in TimeMoto Cloud

Example:

Another employee has a timesheet total balance of (+) 05:35 hours. Checking the timesheet overview, the employee sees that their Accumulated Flexibank shows no hours at all.

Upon further investigation, their manager could confirm that the employee has an assigned pay template. This means unless the manager is processing their overtime and allocates these hours correctly, there will be no accumulated hours added to this period's Flexibank.

Any questions?
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