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Exporting hours for payroll

Download everyone's hours as one Excel file, and lock them once payroll is done.

Manager3 min read

Choose a period and who to include, and you get one Excel file with everyone's hours, ready for payroll. You'll find it in the Export hours card on the Company page.

Important: Export isn't available on phones. Use a tablet, laptop or desktop computer.

Export the hours

  1. Start date and End date: set them to your payroll period. The fields start on the last 30 days, which is rarely the same as your payroll month. One export can cover up to 180 days.
  2. Select employees: everyone is selected, including employees who have left. Click it to untick anyone you don't need, then click Save selection.
  3. Lock hours after export: leave it off if you only want the file. Locking is explained below.
  4. Export to XLS: the file downloads straight away. A registration that's still running isn't included.

What's in the file

  • Summary: each employee's hours per time type (Normal, Sick, Vacation and so on), both as hours and minutes (07:30) and as decimal hours (7,5). Total adds all time types together, sick and vacation included.
  • Projects: only if your company uses projects. See Tracking time on projects.
  • One sheet per employee, with every day in the period: start, end, break, hours worked, type and notes.

What the colours mean

Longer than 10 hours
Stopped automatically (forgot to stop)
Added after other hours that day were locked
BoldSaturday or Sunday

The hours are written as text, not formulas. They don't change if you edit a cell, and Excel's SUM won't add them until you convert them to numbers.

Lock the hours (optional)

Locking stops employees from changing their hours after payroll is done.

⚠️ Important: Locking can't be undone in TwoWork. Nobody can change a locked entry afterwards: employees can't, and as a manager you can't edit employee hours at all. Ask employees to correct their hours before you lock.

  1. Turn on Lock hours after export and click Export to XLS.
  2. The file downloads, and a Lock Hours dialog asks you to confirm the period. Open the file and check it before you answer.
  3. Click Lock Hours to lock. Cancel keeps the file and locks nothing.

What locking does

What gets locked
Every finished registration for the selected employees in the period.
Can employees edit or delete locked hours?
No.
Can they add new hours on those dates?
Yes.
Are new hours flagged in later exports?
Only if that day already has locked hours. Then the row is red, with a note.

If something goes wrong

  • I can't find Export hours
    On a phone, the card only shows a note. Open the Company page on a tablet or computer.
  • "Please select at least one employee"
    Click Select employees, tick at least one person and click Save selection.
  • "Date range cannot exceed 180 days. Please select a shorter period."
    Split the period into two exports.
  • Some hours are missing from the file
    Check the dates and who is selected. A registration that's still running isn't included. Ask the employee to stop it, then export again.
  • I clicked Cancel in the Lock Hours dialog
    You have the file, but nothing is locked. To lock, export again with Lock hours after export on and click Lock Hours.

Related

Using ChatGPT for payroll calculationsUse ChatGPT or Claude to apply rates and supplements to your export, prompt included.How do I edit my employees' hours?Why only employees can edit their own hours, and what to do when something is wrong.An employee forgot to stop their time registrationHow TwoWork auto-stops registrations after 13 hours, and what to tell the employee.

Is anything missing from the export file? Write to us at support@twowork.app.