Payroll and invoicing

How a month runs

This page is for whoever prepares payroll and raises the invoices. It walks through a month in the order it happens and says who can change what at each point. It also says what to do when a mistake is found.

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Two timetables apply to the same records. Payroll runs on a pay period, a month from the day your organisation chooses. Invoicing runs on a calendar month, the 1st to the last day. For a timesheet or expense against a client, the first of the two to close is what stops it changing. Training, admin and other non-client work is on no invoice, so only the pay period applies to it.

The two are given different names on purpose. A pay period closes to staff the day after it ends, and is finalised after that. A calendar month is closed for invoicing. Both phrases are written out in full on this page, because “closed” on its own would mean either of them.

People add, amend and delete their own entries. An admin can also add, correct and remove another person's timesheets and expenses on Review, before and after the period is finalised. Nobody can change another person's time off request.

While the pay period is open

During the pay period

Staff add, amend and delete their own timesheets, time off requests and expenses on the Staff tab. The heading over each list names the period. The line under it gives the first day of the period and the last day entries can be recorded. In the last week the countdown appears under “Add timesheet” and “Add expense”.

The date fields accept only dates in that period. A timesheet or an expense dated after the period's last day is refused, because its own period has not started. The line under the date field says when that period opens and gives the latest date that can be recorded now. Time off is outside this and is booked ahead, so the Request time off form takes any date.

Whoever recorded an expense can amend or delete it until the pay period closes or payroll is finalised, whichever comes first. An expense against a client also becomes unchangeable when its calendar month is closed for invoicing. An expense's receipt photos are listed under it wherever it is shown; tap one to read the photo at full size.

The Timesheet tab on a phone, headed This pay period. Each shift has a receipt to add an expense, a pencil to amend and a bin to delete beside it. An expense entered with a visit is listed under it by amount and category. An Add timesheet button sits above the list.
Example screen

While the pay period is open

Reading timesheets on Review

Reviewers approve or reject time off on the Time off tab on Review. Whoever made the request can amend or delete it at any time. If they amend it, a reviewer has to approve or reject it again, because the days have changed.

The Timesheets tab has three buttons across the top: All, Needs attention and Waiting. Each one sets the filters and the order of the list, and the filters it sets appear as chips under the buttons. The tab opens on All: every timesheet, at any date, the most recently received first. All’s count is the number of timesheets matching every filter you have set except Show, whichever button is chosen. While the list is in the order the timesheets were received, newest first, a line across it marks when you last saw the tab.

Needs attention sets Show to Needs attention, for any date: every timesheet that is flagged and not yet checked, or sent back. A timesheet is flagged when details are missing or its figures differ from recent visits. A flagged timesheet in a closed pay period or month is left off Needs attention. It cannot be sent back until the close is reopened. Every other filter still lists it with its flags.

The last column, Notes, says where each timesheet stands and why it is flagged. Under that is the note its owner wrote, up to two lines. Point at a note to read all of it, or select the row to open the timesheet with the whole note. The Expenses and Time off tabs show each record's note in the same column. On a phone, all of this is on the last line of each row.

Waiting sets Show to Sent back, for any date, and lists the timesheets sent back and not yet corrected, longest first.

Check a timesheet when it looks right, or send it back with a note when it needs a correction. A check counts for the whole organisation: once anyone has checked a timesheet, it is checked for every reviewer. A checked timesheet keeps its place in the list, turns grey so the ones still to read stand out, and shows who checked it. It is left off Needs attention the next time Show is set to Needs attention. Every other filter still lists it, and you can send it back from any of them.

Amending a checked timesheet removes the check, because the figures that were read have changed, and puts it back on Needs attention. A timesheet that was sent back stays on Needs attention after its owner corrects it, until a reviewer checks the new figures. It is listed there with the reason “Amended after being sent back”.

To see a timesheet's full history, select its row in the list. The timesheet opens, and its last section, History, lists each event oldest first. Each line gives when it happened, to the minute, who did it, and the reason given for a send-back. Corrections by the person whose timesheet it is appear there too.

Staff and Client or activity, beside the Filters control, narrow the list to one person, or to one client or activity. Each opens a list with a search box at the top: type part of a name to shorten the list. On a phone they are also the first two fields under Filters.

The Filters control sets the other filters by hand. Work date keeps the work done in this month, one of the three before it, or the last 30 days. It also offers recent pay periods, or a range you choose. Received keeps the rows that arrived today, or in the last 7 or 14 days.

Show keeps only rows that need attention, are flagged, sent back or still unchecked. Hours over and Miles over keep the rows above a number of hours or miles. Expenses keeps the rows with expenses entered with the visit.

Each filter that is set appears as a chip beside the Filters control, which counts them. You can open a chip to change or clear it, and Clear filters removes them all. If nothing matches but the dates hide some timesheets, the list says how many match at any date, with a button to show them.

The list shows 25 timesheets at a time. The line under it says how many of how many are shown, and Show 25 more adds the next 25 below them. Changing a filter, the search, the sort or the grouping goes back to the first 25. The totals under the list count every timesheet that matches, shown or not.

Changing a filter, or searching, leaves the button you started from highlighted, with a dot after its name to show the list has changed. Its count is still the button’s own, and the line under the list gives the timesheets that match. Reset, after the three buttons, puts that button’s filters and order back, and so does pressing the button. The sort and the grouping are not filters, so changing either leaves the button as it was.

The strips under the list show when visits happen, on which days and how long they last, for the client visits on screen. Training, admin and other activities are left out. Their caption says how many visits that is.

Finalising a pay period creates the payroll record for your organisation to review and authorise according to its own financial controls. Visitsheet records expenses and their receipts but does not decide how your organisation approves them. Reviewers read them on the Expenses tab on Review, where an expense has no approve action and never needs attention.

One that is wrong can be sent back, as a timesheet can, unless it was entered with a visit. An expense counts from the moment it is saved. It goes into that pay period's payroll as it stands, and one against a client into that month's invoicing figures too.

The Timesheets tab on Review. Three buttons across the top of the card, All, Needs attention and Waiting, each with a count, and All chosen. A search box is at the other end of their row. Under them are a Filters control, Staff and Client or activity controls, a sort control and a group control. Below those are the timesheets received most recently, one row each. Each row gives the person, the client or activity, the time, the hours and the miles. Its last column says where the timesheet stands, why it is flagged and any note its owner wrote. Three rows hold hours an administrator entered as totals, marked on a coloured band with the administrator's name and reason. Circled: the presets and the Filters control.
Example screen

While the pay period is open

Downloading a draft

A reviewer or an admin can download a draft from the Finance tab at any time. A draft is a copy of the figures to check. It leaves the period open and changes no records.

Visitsheet keeps both files of the last draft of each pay period or month, with the names and figures in them. The next draft replaces them. If the figures change after that, a warning on the Finance page says so, and lists what changed where it can.

The period cannot be finalised while it is still open. The Finalise button says so, and gives the date it closes on.

The Payroll tab of the Finance page, on the pay period still being recorded into. The Pay period summary card is headed This pay period above the name of the period. The total hours, miles, expenses and people so far are opposite. A table gives the hours, miles and expenses for each person who has recorded anything in it. Under that are Draft summary and Draft detail buttons, and a Finalise button naming that period, greyed out. A line under it gives the date the period closes. Circled: the Draft summary and Draft detail buttons and the Finalise button.
Example screen

The pay period closes to staff

After the pay period ends

Each organisation chooses the day its pay period starts. One that starts on the 24th runs from the 24th of one month to the 23rd of the next. The period from 24 August to 23 September is the September period. The day is agreed when your organisation joins Visitsheet. To change it, write to hello@visitsheet.com.

The period's last day is the last day a timesheet or expense dated in it can be added, amended or deleted by its owner. Staff cannot change one from 00:00 UK time the next day. After that, until the period's payroll is finalised, a reviewer can send a timesheet back for correction. An admin can also correct a timesheet or expense on Review.

On the Timesheet and Expenses tabs the heading changes to “Closed pay period”. The Add button is no longer shown, and neither are Amend and Delete on the entries. The line under the period name gives the date it closed and says what can still be changed in it. While payroll is being prepared that is a timesheet a reviewer has sent back. Once payroll has been finalised the line says so instead, and nothing in the period can be changed until an admin reopens it.

If someone enters a date in that period on an add form, the line under the date field says so. It gives the period the date falls in and says the day it closed. It also names the period open now and the earliest date they can record.

None of this applies to the Time off tab. The Request time off button is still there, every request still has Amend and Delete, and days already taken can still be recorded. Holiday pay is accrued separately, so a request records an absence and is not part of the payroll figures.

Reviewers can still approve and reject time off, and send a timesheet back. This is the week payroll is prepared. Payroll can be finalised while time off requests are still pending.

The Timesheet tab on a phone showing a closed pay period. The heading reads Closed pay period, the line under it says when it closed, and the shifts listed have no receipt to add an expense. Only the one sent back for correction has a pencil and a bin.
Example screen

Correcting a figure after the period has closed

Sending a timesheet back

A mistyped figure is usually noticed while payroll is prepared, once the pay period has closed to staff. A reviewer opens Review, Timesheets, steps to the pay period, finds the entry and taps Send back, giving a reason. An expense is sent back the same way from Review, Expenses.

The person who recorded it sees it marked “sent back” on their Staff tab, with the reason and Amend beside it. Amend is there even though the period has closed to them. Once they have corrected it and saved, they cannot change it again.

Once the period is finalised, the sent-back timesheet can no longer be corrected. Amend disappears from it along with every other one. The line under the period name on their Staff tab says the period has been finalised. Send a timesheet back before the period is finalised, or reopen the period to have one corrected afterwards.

A send back applies to one timesheet or expense only, and its date has to stay inside the pay period it was recorded in. An expense entered with a visit cannot be sent back on its own: an admin corrects it. A time off request never needs one: the person who made it can amend it whenever they like.

Nothing has to be sent back before payroll: timesheets are paid as they were recorded. Undo send back cancels a send back nobody has acted on.

The Timesheets tab on Review with one timesheet open. The pane sits beside the list on a wide screen and takes the whole screen on a phone. It gives the person, the date, the client, and the recorded time, hours and miles. Below those are the rest of that person's day, the recent visits to the same client and a History list. Mark as checked and Send back buttons sit at the foot of the pane, with Correct and Remove under them in a section headed Admin. Circled: the Send back button.
Example screen

An admin's changes on Review

Correcting, adding and removing entries

At month end an admin can correct a timesheet or expense on Review instead of sending it back. That does not wait for the person who recorded it. The admin opens the timesheet and chooses Correct or Remove under Admin, giving a reason. Correct opens the form the staff member uses, filled in. An expense is corrected the same way from its own pane.

The person sees the change on their own list with the admin's name, the figures it changed and the reason. Review shows the same, and History keeps them. Their phone also tells them, if they have notifications on. A sent-back timesheet corrected this way no longer holds the period. An admin cannot correct their own entries here.

A removed timesheet or expense stays on Review and on the person's own list, marked with who removed it and why. It is not counted anywhere and cannot be changed.

A missing timesheet or expense is added from the person's band with Add timesheet or Add expense, under Admin. Someone with no timesheets has no band in the table. Open theirs with Timesheets in their details on the Admin page, or from their name on one of their expenses.

Review lists the timesheets of active staff. For someone who has been deactivated, choose them under Deactivated in the Staff filter, or select Timesheets beside their name in Admin's deactivated list.

An entry in a finalised period or a closed month is corrected the same way. The change goes into the next open period, as When a mistake is found says.

The Timesheets tab on Review with one timesheet open, which an administrator has corrected. The pane sits beside the list on a wide screen and takes the whole screen on a phone. It gives the person, the date, the client, and the recorded time, hours and miles. Its History says who corrected it, the reason they gave and the figures that changed. Mark as checked and Send back sit at the foot of the pane, with Correct and Remove under them in a section headed Admin. Circled: the Correct and Remove buttons.
Example screen

For people who do not use Visitsheet

Entering hours as totals

For someone who does not use Visitsheet, such as a subcontractor, an admin enters their hours as totals. Choose Enter hours for the period on the person's band, then the pay period. Each client or activity has a box for each month the period runs in. Give a reason and save.

The totals are paid in that pay period and charged in each part's month, and they count as no visits. On Review each is marked “Hours entered by” with the admin's name. Correct on one opens the same form, and a change after the period is finalised goes into the next open period.

A person can have timesheets they recorded and totals in the same period, so check Review for hours entered twice.

The form for entering a person's hours as totals, opened from their band on Review. A Pay period list at the top is set to the period being recorded into. Each client and activity has a row with two boxes, one for each part of the period. Each column is headed by its dates. The boxes hold the hours already entered, with a total under each column. A box for the reason for the change is at the foot. Circled: the headings of the two parts of the period.
Example screen

When the figures are right

Finalising the pay period

A reviewer or an admin finalises the period on the Finance tab, under Payroll. They can do so once no timesheet in it needs attention and nothing in it is out for correction. Until then the Finalise button says what is outstanding. Time off is not part of that: it is not in the summary, the totals or either of the stored files.

A timesheet or an expense that has been sent back is left out of the figures until it is corrected. Its row is marked on the summary, and the period cannot be finalised until the correction has been made.

A line under a person's row says when their figures include a correction to a finalised period, work paid late or hours entered as totals.

Finalising stores the two files that payroll is run from: a summary of one row per person, and the detail behind it. They are listed under Finalised periods. From that moment nothing in the period changes, approvals included. A correction an admin makes afterwards is paid or deducted in the next period instead.

Download a draft and check it first. Finalising closes the period to reviewers as well as staff, and only an administrator can undo it. The files stored here are kept when they do.

The Payroll tab of the Finance page. The Pay period summary card is headed Closed pay period above the name of the period being prepared. The total hours, miles, expenses and people for the period are opposite. A table gives the hours, miles and expenses for each person who recorded anything in it. Under that are Draft summary and Draft detail buttons and a Finalise button naming that period. The top of the Finalised periods card shows below it. Circled: the Finalise button.
Example screen

The administrator's undo

Reopening a finalised pay period

An administrator reopens a finalised period on the Payroll tab, beside the period's files, and is asked for a reason. The reason is kept with the record of who reopened it and when. Reviewers cannot reopen a period: finalising is routine monthly work, but undoing it changes what staff were paid, so only an administrator can.

Until the period is finalised again, a warning above the Finance page's tabs names it with who reopened it, when and the reason. Its flagged timesheets are back on Review's Needs attention, so read the reason there before working through them.

The same warning says whether the period has changed since it was finalised. Once it has, the period is listed under Payroll has changed since it was finalised instead, which also says who finalised it. Download a fresh draft and compare it with the files payroll was run from. Pay any difference in the next payroll run: HMRC's guidance is to correct pay in the next submission, not to amend one already sent.

A reopen puts the period back to the day it closed to staff, not to the day before that. The period's last day has still passed, so staff still cannot correct their own entries on their own. This is the part that catches people out: a reviewer has to send the timesheet back before the person who recorded it can change it.

A reopen makes Send back available again on that period's timesheets, and lets the period be finalised again. It changes nothing for time off, which finalising never affected.

The stored payroll files stay under Finalised periods, marked as superseded, with when, by whom and why. They can still be downloaded. Finalising again stores new files above them. Where an earlier version of the app deleted a reopened period's files, the warning says so, and still says whether the period has changed.

The Payroll tab with a finalised period chosen. The Pay period summary card is headed Finalised pay period above the name of the period, with the figures filed for it. A line says the period is final, when it was finalised and by whom. Download summary and Download detail buttons sit under those, with a Reopen button naming that period under them. A note under that button says reopening keeps the payroll files under Finalised periods, marked as superseded. The per-person figures as the records stand now are at the foot of the card. A card below is headed Finalised periods, with a Chart these periods button opposite the heading. It lists the periods already filed, one row each, with who finalised it. Circled: the Reopen button.
Example screen

Calendar months, not pay periods

Closing a month for invoicing

Clients are billed for the calendar month, so invoicing is closed separately, on the Invoicing tab of the Finance page. A month runs from the 1st to its last day. It can be closed from the 1st of the month after it, once no timesheet in it needs attention or is out for correction.

Closing a month stores a summary of one row per client and the detail behind it, under Closed months. Only visits to clients and expenses against them are counted; training, admin and the other activities are paid for rather than billed.

A line under a client's row says when its figures include a correction to a closed month, work charged late or hours entered as totals.

Closing a month stops changes only to the work billed for it. A timesheet or an expense against a client, dated in the month, can no longer be changed, whatever the state of its pay period. A timesheet or expense against training, admin or other non-client work is on no invoice, so only its pay period applies to it. Closing a month does not affect time off, which can still be requested, amended, deleted, approved and rejected.

An administrator reopens a closed month the same way, on the Invoicing tab, with a reason. The month's two stored files stay under Closed months, marked as superseded, as a reopened pay period's files do. A warning says if the month has changed since it was closed. Closing the month again stores new ones above them.

Reopening the month changes nothing about the pay period. A timesheet in a finalised pay period stays as it was paid, and a correction to it still goes into the next open pay period.

The Invoicing tab of the Finance page. The Invoicing month card is headed Month ended above the name of a month that is over and not yet closed. The total hours, miles, expenses and clients for the month are opposite. A table gives the visits, hours, miles and expenses for each client. A line under the first client's row says how many of its hours were entered as totals. Under the table are Draft summary and Draft detail buttons, and a Close button naming that month. A card below is headed Closed months, with a Chart these months button opposite the heading, and lists the months already closed, one row each. Circled: the Close button and the line under a client’s row.
Example screen

Where the two overlap

One date, two months

A pay period spans two calendar months, so most dates fall in one pay period and one calendar month. Take a visit to a client dated 30 July.

  • It is in the August pay period, 24 July to 23 August, which closes to staff on 24 August and is finalised after that.
  • It is in the July invoicing month, 1 to 31 July, which can be closed for invoicing from 1 August.

Whichever of the two closes first is what stops it changing. Closing July for invoicing on 1 August stops that timesheet changing before August payroll is finalised. Reopening the pay period would not change that, because it is the closed invoicing month that is stopping it.

Had the same date been booked against training rather than a client, closing July would not affect it. Only client work is billed, so a training or admin timesheet or expense can still be changed until the August pay period closes.

By state and role

Who can do what

The first set of tables covers a single record, in the state its dates give it. Adding, amending and deleting always mean a person's own entries. Time off comes first because it is the exception: none of the states below applies to a time off request.

A time off request, in any state

Any date, in any pay period, finalised or not. Holiday pay is accrued separately, so a request records an absence and is not part of the payroll figures. It is often recorded after the days it covers.

ActionStaffReviewerAdmin
AddCanCannotCannot
Amend or deleteCanCannotCannot
Approve or RejectCannotCanCan

A timesheet or an expense: the pay period is open

From the first day of the period until the end of its last day.

ActionStaffReviewerAdmin
AddCanCanCan
Amend or deleteCanCanCan
Send backCannotCanCan
Correct or remove another person’sCannotCannotCan

A timesheet or an expense: the period has closed to staff

From the first moment of the day after its last day, until it is finalised.

ActionStaffReviewerAdmin
AddCannotCannotCannot
Amend or deleteCannotCannotCannot
Send backCannotCanCan
Correct or remove another person’sCannotCannotCan

A timesheet or an expense has been sent back

From the send back until the person who recorded it amends it. That one record only, and its date has to stay inside the pay period it was recorded in. A finalised pay period still refuses the change, and so does a month closed for invoicing where it was for a client.

ActionStaffReviewerAdmin
Amend or delete itCanCannotCannot
Send back or Undo send backCannotCanCan

A timesheet or an expense: the period is finalised

From the moment it is finalised on the Finance tab. An admin’s correction leaves the record as it was paid, and puts the difference in the next pay period not finalised.

ActionStaffReviewerAdmin
AddCannotCannotCannot
Amend or deleteCannotCannotCannot
Send backCannotCannotCannot
Correct or remove another person’sCannotCannotCan

A timesheet or an expense: the period has been reopened

After a reopen. The same as the day it closed to staff.

ActionStaffReviewerAdmin
AddCannotCannotCannot
Amend or deleteCannotCannotCannot
Send backCannotCanCan
Correct or remove another person’sCannotCannotCan

A timesheet or an expense against a client: the month is closed for invoicing

Any date in that month, whatever the state of its pay period. Only client work is billed, so that is all the close stops: a timesheet or expense against non-client work follows its pay period as usual. An admin’s correction leaves the month’s invoicing as it was, and puts the difference on the next month not closed.

ActionStaffReviewerAdmin
AddCannotCannotCannot
Amend or deleteCannotCannotCannot
Send backCannotCannotCannot
Correct or remove another person’sCannotCannotCan

What can be done to a pay period or a month

ActStaffReviewerAdmin
Download a draftAny time before the pay period is finalised, or before the month is closed for invoicing.CannotCanCan
Finalise the pay periodOnce the period has closed to staff, and no timesheet in it needs attention or is out for correction. Pending time off requests do not hold up finalising, because time off is not in the payroll figures.CannotCanCan
Close the month for invoicingFrom the 1st of the next month, once no timesheet in the month needs attention or is out for correction.CannotCanCan
ReopenAfter the pay period is finalised, or after the month is closed for invoicing. It asks for a reason, which is kept with the record of who reopened it.CannotCannotCan

  • Download a draft

    • StaffCannot
    • ReviewerCan
    • AdminCan

    Any time before the pay period is finalised, or before the month is closed for invoicing.

  • Finalise the pay period

    • StaffCannot
    • ReviewerCan
    • AdminCan

    Once the period has closed to staff, and no timesheet in it needs attention or is out for correction. Pending time off requests do not hold up finalising, because time off is not in the payroll figures.

  • Close the month for invoicing

    • StaffCannot
    • ReviewerCan
    • AdminCan

    From the 1st of the next month, once no timesheet in the month needs attention or is out for correction.

  • Reopen

    • StaffCannot
    • ReviewerCannot
    • AdminCan

    After the pay period is finalised, or after the month is closed for invoicing. It asks for a reason, which is kept with the record of who reopened it.

A finalised period's two files stay on the Finance tab under Finalised periods, and a closed month's under Closed months. Reviewers and admins can download them at any time.

A warning appears above the Finance page's tabs in six cases. Each names the period and what to do.

  • A pay period was reopened and has not been finalised again. The warning says who reopened it, when and why.
  • A month was reopened for invoicing and has not been closed again, with the same details.
  • A payroll draft was downloaded, and the period no longer adds up to it.
  • An invoicing draft was downloaded, and its month no longer adds up to it.
  • A pay period has closed to staff and has not been finalised.
  • A month is still open for invoicing, and the month after it is over.

What to do

When a mistake is found

  1. While the period is open. Tell the person who recorded it, or send the timesheet back with a reason. They amend or delete it themselves on the Staff tab, or an admin corrects it on Review.
  2. After it closes to staff and before finalising. An admin corrects the timesheet or expense on Review. Or a reviewer sends it back on Review, and the person who recorded it corrects it. The period cannot be finalised until they have.
  3. After finalising. Once payroll has the figures, nobody can be paid less for that period after the event. So the period stays as it was paid. The correction is paid or deducted in the next pay period that has not been finalised. An admin chooses Correct or Remove on Review, as before. Visitsheet keeps the original and adds two rows in the next period: the original's figures taken off, and the corrected ones put on. Remove adds the first alone, so it comes off the next payment. The form says which period that is.

The same goes for invoicing. A month's invoices stand once it is closed. A correction to client work in it goes on the next month not closed. A visit moved from one client to another comes off the first client's figures and onto the second's. On the next period's files, those rows keep their own dates and say which period or month they are for.

A total for a person or a client can come out below nothing in that period. That is the deduction. Reopening is still there for a period that has to be finalised again from scratch.

An expense entered with a visit cannot be sent back. Once the period has closed to staff, an admin corrects or removes it on Review, before and after finalising, in the same way.

A time off request needs none of that. The person who made it can amend or delete it at any point, in any period, so they correct it themselves.

The Add timesheet form on a phone with a date in a closed pay period. The date field is marked in red. The line under it says the pay period for that month has closed and gives the earliest date that can be recorded.
Example screen

The other guide

How to use Visitsheet

The page for a new starter: recording the work they have done, asking for time off, and claiming back money they have spent.

Read the new starter’s guide