Scheduling Software Payroll-Readiness Scorecard

The Assessment

For each question, pick the answer that best describes your organization today and note its points. Add up your points as you go. Your total maps to a result band below.

1. 1

   How does your platform capture clock-in and clock-out punches for shift workers?

   Diagnoses the identity verification strength of the time-capture method, which determines buddy-punching risk and record reliability.

   • Paper timesheets or supervisor-entered hours after the shift ends0 pts
   • Shared PIN or badge-based clock on a single device with no photo or location verification1 pt
   • Individual mobile or web punch with GPS or geofence verification2 pts
   • Biometric, facial recognition or multi-factor punch tied to a verified identity at an authorized location3 pts
2. 2

   When an employee misses a punch (forgets to clock in or out), how is the gap handled?

   Diagnoses whether missing-punch exceptions are caught before payroll or discovered after paychecks go out.

   • Nobody notices until the employee reports a short paycheck or a manager spots it during payroll review0 pts
   • A manager manually reviews timesheets at the end of the pay period and fills in gaps from memory or estimates1 pt
   • The platform flags missing punches on a daily exception report, but a manager must manually correct each one2 pts
   • The platform flags missing punches in real time, notifies the employee and manager, and routes corrections through an approval workflow before payroll closes3 pts
3. 3

   How does your platform apply time-rounding rules to punches?

   Diagnoses whether rounding is compliant, configurable and auditable, or informal and untracked.

   • No rounding rules are applied; raw punch times go straight to timesheets and managers round manually if needed0 pts
   • The platform applies a single global rounding rule, but we are not sure it matches FLSA guidelines or our company policy1 pt
   • The platform applies a configurable rounding rule that we set up to match our policy, but rounding adjustments are not logged for audit2 pts
   • The platform applies configurable rounding rules by role or department, logs every rounding adjustment and makes the log available for audit3 pts
4. 4

   How does approved time data move from your scheduling or timekeeping platform into your payroll system?

   Diagnoses the payroll-export method, which is the single largest determinant of whether manual cleanup is eliminated or merely relocated.

   • Someone re-enters hours from a printed or emailed timesheet into the payroll system by hand0 pts
   • Someone downloads a CSV or spreadsheet, reformats columns to match the payroll system's import template, then uploads it1 pt
   • The platform exports a file in the payroll system's native format, but someone must trigger and verify the export manually each pay period2 pts
   • The platform syncs approved hours, pay codes and cost centers directly into the payroll system through an API or scheduled automated export with no manual file handling3 pts
5. 5

   How does your platform handle overtime threshold alerts?

   Diagnoses whether overtime costs are managed proactively or discovered after they hit payroll.

   • We find out about overtime when the payroll report shows it after the pay period closes0 pts
   • Managers check hours manually during the week and try to adjust schedules before overtime hits1 pt
   • The platform calculates overtime automatically on timesheets, but alerts are not sent until hours are already worked2 pts
   • The platform sends real-time alerts to managers when an employee approaches an overtime threshold, giving time to reassign shifts before the threshold is crossed3 pts
6. 6

   Does your platform generate a pre-payroll exception report before each payroll run?

   Diagnoses the last line of defense against payroll errors: a consolidated exception review before data leaves for payroll.

   • No; we rely on managers to spot problems in individual timesheets0 pts
   • We run an ad-hoc report when someone remembers to, but it is not part of a standard payroll-close process1 pt
   • The platform generates an exception report, but someone must run it manually and review it line by line2 pts
   • The platform automatically generates a pre-payroll exception report on a schedule, flags unresolved items and blocks payroll export until flagged exceptions are cleared3 pts
7. 7

   How does your platform map pay codes, departments and cost centers to your payroll system's structure?

   Diagnoses whether field mapping is automated or requires manual translation each pay period.

   • Pay codes and departments are not tracked in the time platform; payroll staff assign them manually during entry0 pts
   • The platform tracks departments, but pay-code mapping to the payroll system requires manual adjustment in the export file each period1 pt
   • Pay codes and departments are mapped once during setup and export correctly, but new codes require manual configuration by an admin2 pts
   • Pay codes, departments and cost centers are mapped and synced bidirectionally with the payroll system; new codes added in either system propagate automatically3 pts
8. 8

   How does your platform handle meal and rest break compliance tracking?

   Diagnoses whether break compliance is documented and auditable or left to informal manager oversight.

   • Breaks are not tracked in the system; compliance depends on manager observation and employee honesty0 pts
   • Employees clock out and in for breaks, but the platform does not flag missed or short breaks1 pt
   • The platform flags missed or short breaks on exception reports, but break waivers and attestations are handled on paper2 pts
   • The platform enforces break rules, captures digital break waivers or attestations, flags violations and includes break compliance data in the audit trail3 pts
9. 9

   When a timesheet is edited after initial submission, how is the change recorded?

   Diagnoses audit-trail completeness, which determines defensibility in a wage dispute or compliance audit.

   • Edits overwrite the original entry with no record of who changed what or when0 pts
   • The manager notes edits in an email or side spreadsheet, but the platform itself does not log changes1 pt
   • The platform logs edits with timestamps, but does not capture the reason for the change or require manager approval2 pts
   • The platform logs every edit with the original value, new value, editor identity, timestamp, reason and manager approval status in a searchable audit trail3 pts
10. 10

    How confident are you that your current platform could produce a complete, per-employee punch history if requested in a Department of Labor audit or wage dispute?

    Diagnoses the practical defensibility of time records, the ultimate test of payroll-readiness.

    • We would need to reconstruct records from multiple sources (email, paper, spreadsheets) and it would take days0 pts
    • The platform stores punch data, but exporting a complete per-employee history requires IT help or a support ticket1 pt
    • A manager can pull a per-employee report, but it may not include edits, approvals or break attestations2 pts
    • Any authorized user can generate a full per-employee audit report including punches, edits, approvals, break attestations and scheduling context in minutes3 pts

Score Yourself

Add up the points from every answer. Your total falls between 0 and 30. Find your band below.

• 0 to 8 points

  Manual-Cleanup-Dependent

  Your current platform requires significant manual work before every payroll run. Time data leaves the scheduling system incomplete or in the wrong format, and payroll staff must re-enter, reformat or reconcile hours by hand. This state adds hours of admin labor each pay period and leaves your organization exposed in a wage dispute because edit trails and break records are incomplete or scattered across spreadsheets and emails.

  Next step: Audit every manual step between your time platform and your payroll system, then list which steps could be eliminated by a platform with direct payroll integration and automated exception handling.

• 9 to 15 points

  Patchwork Automated

  Your platform handles some payroll-readiness tasks but leaves gaps that require manual intervention. You likely have basic digital time capture and some form of export, but rounding rules, exception handling or pay-code mapping still depend on a person catching errors before payroll closes. Each gap is a potential payroll error that costs time and trust. Break compliance and audit trails may exist in part but would not hold up well under scrutiny.

  Next step: Identify the one dimension where you scored lowest and determine whether your current vendor offers a higher tier that closes that gap, or whether the gap requires a platform change.

• 16 to 23 points

  Mostly Payroll-Ready

  Your platform automates most of the path from punch to payroll, and your team spends relatively little time on manual cleanup. The remaining gaps are likely in advanced areas such as real-time overtime alerts, automated pre-payroll exception blocking or bidirectional pay-code syncing. Closing these gaps would reduce your payroll-close cycle further and strengthen your audit defensibility for break compliance and timesheet edits.

What to Do Next

Your payroll-readiness score highlights where your scheduling platform delivers clean data and where manual cleanup still hides. EasyClocking by WorkEasy Software built this scorecard because every minute spent reformatting exports or chasing missing punches is a minute that could go toward running your operation. If your score landed below Payroll-Ready, the next step is to map each gap to a specific platform capability and evaluate whether your current vendor's higher tier or a purpose-built time tracking platform from EasyClocking by WorkEasy Software closes it. Start with the dimension where you scored lowest.

• Scheduling Software Vendor-Fit Diagnostic
• Scheduling Software Total Cost Calculator
• WorkEasy Software Payroll-Readiness Framework