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Add & manage staff timecards

[For Admins + Managers] Learn how to view, add, edit, and delete staff timecards for payroll

Sabrina avatar
Written by Sabrina
Updated this week

Easily view, add, and manage staff timecards from your account to ensure accurate records for payroll and ratios!

ℹ️ The Payroll tab is now home to brightwheel's new payroll solution designed to save you time. Join the waitlist to request early access. If you are actively using this feature, learn more.

If you are looking for a report on the total hours staff worked in a specific date range, check out the Time summary option below!


View Staff Hours

Admins have two options to view staff hours on the Time Tracking page in brightwheel - All timecards and Time summary. Use the steps below to locate each option and export timecard data as needed.

View Timecards on the Web

Administrators can view a detailed breakdown of staff check-in and out times from the All timecards tab.

  1. Navigate to the Staff & Payroll page on the left sidebar

  2. Toggle over to Time tracking

  3. Under All timecards, filter by Staff member, Room, and/or Date Range
    ​💡 If filtering ‘By Custom date range’ the end date must be within 60 days of the start date!

  4. To view Staff Health Screens, select the checkbox ‘Show Health Screens

  5. Changes will automatically populate once input or selected

  6. Export, Download, or Print as needed

View Timecards on the App

Program admins can access timecards for themselves and staff on the brightwheel mobile app taking the steps below. Non-admin Staff should take steps here to: View Timecard on the Mobile App.

  1. Log in on the app

  2. From the Administrator Home, tap on Staff

  3. Tap the View Timecards button at the bottom of this screen

View Time summary on the Web

Administrators can view the total hours worked by staff along with overtime calculations and paid time off from the Time summary tab.

  1. Log in on the web

  2. Click the Staff & Payroll section on the left-side menu

  3. Click the Time tracking tab

  4. Toggle to the Time summary tab

  5. Filter timecards for staff the the following times:

    1. All Time, Month, Week

    2. Pay Period (the default Pay Period can be customized from your School Settings)

    3. Custom
      💡If you choose to use the Custom date range, you can only view information for 180 days at a time. If you need to do a custom date range for longer than that, we recommend using our Timecard Report instead

  6. If exporting, click Export or Print

💡 All staff timecards are calculated to the minute.


Add a New Timecard

Adding a new timecard for missed clock-ins can be easily remedied!

  1. Log in on the web

  2. Click the Staff & Payroll section on the left-side menu

  3. Jump to the Time tracking tab

  4. Click the Add timecard button

  5. Choose the staff member in the 'Staff' dropdown menu

  6. Input the Date & Room the timecard is for

  7. Input the staff member's Time in and Time out (the Shift total will automatically calculate)

  8. If needed, click + Add another timecard to repeat the process for another date/time

    💡The Time In and Time Out columns will autofill with the same times as the last timecard entered.

  9. When finished, click Create or simply press enter/return on your keyboard


Edit/Delete a Timecard

Admin can edit or delete a staff's timecard from either the web or mobile platform.

💡 If staff are consistently forgetting to check out for the day and encountering an error when they go to check in the next day, enable the Auto Check Out Staff setting for your program!

On the Web

  1. Log in on the web

  2. Click the Staff & Payroll section on the right-side menu

  3. Jump to the Time tracking tab

  4. On the All timecards tab, use the Date, Staff, and Room filters to locate the applicable timecard
    💡 If Pay Periods are enabled, this will be the default Date filter but can be changed manually if needed!

  5. Once located, click Actions on the timecard row

  6. If editing, click Edit

    1. Adjust the Room and Time in/out as needed

    2. Click + Add another timecard to add another time card for the same or a different day as needed

      💡The Time In and Time Out columns will autofill with the same times as the last timecard entered.

    3. When finished, click Save

  7. If deleting, click Delete

    1. Click Delete again to confirm the action

On the App

  1. Log in on the app

  2. From the Administrator Home, tap on Staff

  3. Tap the View Timecards button at the bottom of this screen

  4. View all staff timecards including dates, staff name, room, check-in, and check-out time

  5. Click on any timecard entry to edit or delete it

  6. If editing:

    • Tap the pencil icon next to the In/Out times to adjust them

    • If removing a timestamp, click Remove

    • If updating a timestamp, click Set when finished

  7. If deleting:

    • Click the 🗑️ icon in the top right corner and the page will automatically reload and the timecard entry will be deleted


View changes made to timecards

Administrators are able to if any edits are made to timecards, along with logs of who created the timecard or made any adjustments. This is helpful to ensure these records are accurate and contain no discrepancies.

  1. Log in on the web

  2. Click the Staff & Payroll section on the right-side menu

  3. Jump to the Time tracking tab

  4. On the timecard row, click Actions > History

🚩 Please note that audit logs are not accessible for timecards created or updated prior to 4/26/2024.


Additional Attendance Reporting

While brightwheel recommends viewing staff attendance and timecard data from the centralized Time tracking page, the same data can be viewed and exported through additional reporting options.

Timecards Report ↓

The Timecards Report details the total hours worked for staff in a date range. Overtime hours worked by staff hours are automatically calculated within this report. Visit View staff overtime for details on how overtime is calculated.

  1. Navigate to the Reporting page on the side menu & select Reports

  2. Under Staff reports, select Timecards

  3. Filter by Staff Member, Room, and Date from/to as needed

  4. Click Apply

  5. Download, Export, or Print as needed

    1. To download click Export > select the File Type > click Download or the Email to button

    2. To print, type CMD/CNTRL + P on your keyboard to open the print preview pane

🚩 When pulling a report from Reporting > Timecards, it is limited to 180 days. For longer periods, use Staff & Payroll > Time Tracking and filter for "All Time"

ℹ️ The top number shows the 'current page' hour count. If there are multiple pages, click 'Show All' at the bottom for the total of all records

Time Summary Report ↓

The Time Summary Report displays detailed attendance records with rooms, times, and total hours in a date range.

  1. Navigate to the Reporting page on the side menu & select Reports

  2. Under Staff reports, select Time Summary

  3. Use the Date filter to select the appropriate range
    💡 If Pay Periods are enabled, this will be the default filter but can be changed!

  4. Select the Staff member using the dropdown filter

  5. Results will auto-populate based on the selected filters

  6. Download, Export or Print as needed

    1. To download click Export > select the File Type > click Download or the Email to button

    2. To print, type CMD/CNTRL + P on your keyboard to open the print preview pane


Brightwheel's payroll offerings are a complete, easy-to-use payroll solution enabling providers to automate tax filings, save time, and manage payroll with confidence with the #1 payroll provider for small businesses.

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