Import Time Clock Data

1. Overview
   • Time Clock Import feature enables you to easily import Time Clock data collected from your Time Clock or Biometric Attendance System.
2. Best Practices
   • Before you start importing, it will help you breeze through the whole import process if you adopt these recommended approaches to importing your Time Clock data.
   • First, try to add a few Time Clock records manually to get a better understanding of the purpose of the data fields.
   • After that, go through this user guide to understand the steps involved and what to expect if error happens.
   • Examine the downloaded Excel template for the data structure provided. There are plenty of useful comments in the template to guide you through the data fields, such as which are the required fields or what possible values are allowed.
   • You may test the import by using the sample data prepared in the Excel template. Just remember to change the relevant fields such as #REPLACE_YOUR_ID_1# by using an Employee ID that has already existed. After seeing the result, you may easily delete the imported records.
   • Finally, you may start to prepare your first dataset for the import, but it is strongly recommended that you prepare a small dataset of 5 to 10 records for the first import. You may always import the rest of the data afterwards. Doing so will help you identify the potential problems easily if the import is not completed successfully. You may then examine and correct the invalid data by following the instructions sent to you when your import is processed.
3. Steps
   1. Go to Attendance ❯ Management. Click at the button.
   2. From the Import Time Clock window, download the Excel template to prepare your Time Clock data for import.
   3. In the Excel template, only the first sheet is needed for the preparation of Time Clock data. Other sheets may be present to provide additional information such as lookup data for the Time Clock data fields.
   4. The Excel template comes with some sample data that you may change or delete once you get an idea of how to fill up the Time Clock data.
   5. Make sure that you fill in all the Required fields accordingly, and you may leave other fields empty if you do not need them.
   6. DO NOT change the name of the first sheet. DO NOT remove or change the order of any column in the first sheet. Start entering your Time Clock data from the 2nd row.
   7. Time Clock records must be unique based on Employee ID, Time and Action. For instance, an employee with Employee ID of 0001 can have ONE AND ONLY ONE Check-in record at 2022-10-31 09:00:00.
   8. ATTENTION:
      Since Time Clock data will be imported according to the Time Zone set via Employer ❯ Setting, please make sure that you have had your Time Zone set up correctly prior to importing.
      If you want to add a record to mark an employee as being Absent, you may do so by setting the Action field to ABSENT. Take note that the Time format for Absent record must be YYYY-MM-DD only without the time portion, i.e. to indicate the date when the employee is absent.
      You can't import Time Clock data with future time, but you may import ABSENT records with future date. This is to ease the setting up of default Absent records for employees (Absent records will be overridden when employees clock in on the marked Absent days).
      If you are importing Time Clock data for night shifters (who need to clock in and out overnight), you will need to pay attention to the For field. the For field is used to indicate the date that a record should be associated with. For instance, for an employee who works night shift that clocks in at 2022-01-18 22:00:00 and clocks out at 2022-01-19 04:00:00, you will need to set the For field of the clock-out record to 2022-01-18 (while leaving the For field of the clock-in record empty). This is to indicate that the clock-out record is actually associated with the work session that starts at 2011-01-18.
      If you set the Duration Calculation Preference to Actual Duration for Valid Check-In and Check-Out Pairs, due care must be exercised when you are preparing your Time Clock records for import. All Time Clock records imported must follow ascending time order, i.e. earlier time must be added first prior to later time. Otherwise the work duration will not be properly calculated.
   9. When you are done, save your data and proceed to the next step in the Import Time Clock window, then click Excel File to select the XLS file that you prepared just now, and click IMPORT to start the import process.
   10. When your data is processed, the result of the import will be shown. This includes how many Time Clock records imported and skipped, and the corresponding reasons why certain records are not imported and how to rectify them.
   11. If the Time Clock data is not imported completely, you may:
       1. Remove successfully imported Time Clock records from the Excel file.
       2. Double check Invalid Records and correct the errors.
       3. Upload and import the rest of the data after correcting the errors.