Overview
Timesheets in JACK group into the same payroll periods you pay against in Xero. Set your payroll start date and frequency in Settings, then bulk-approve an entire period at once instead of working through each staff member separately.
💡 JACK defaults to a weekly period running Monday to Sunday.
Payroll Settings
Navigate to Settings > Accounting and Payments > Payroll Settings.
Choose a Start Date, the first day of a payroll period, and ensure it matches your Xero payroll calendar. Then select a Frequency of Weekly, Fortnightly or Monthly. JACK displays your Current payroll period and Next payroll period underneath so you can check they line up.
Click Save Changes, and your existing and new timesheets regroup into the new periods.
💡 Check your payroll calendar in your accounting software before choosing a Start Date. If the dates don’t match, the periods you approve in JACK won’t line up with your pay runs.
Timesheet Layout
Navigate to Timesheets. The All Timesheets tab groups every staff member’s entries by payroll period, then by staff member, with total hours for each. Click a name to expand or collapse their entries.
The My Timesheets tab shows your own entries by period, with the current one labelled This Payroll Period. The timer stays at the top of the screen.
Timesheet Approval
On the All Timesheets tab, click the thumbs-up icon next to an entry to approve that entry, next to a staff member’s name to approve all their pending entries in that period, or next to a period’s total hours to approve every pending entry in the period.
Approved entries show an undo icon as long as they have not been synced to your accounting software, which reverts the entry to Pending if you need to make a change.
⚠️ Note: Approving timesheets requires write access in timesheet permissions.
Xero Payroll Sync
The Sync checkbox on each entry controls whether it’s sent to your accounting software once approved. Unticked entries are approved in JACK only and never sent out. You can change this on the All Timesheets tab before approving.
To send approved timesheets, click Sync Timesheets in the top right (it shows how many are waiting), then click Sync in the confirmation window. If any previously failed (highlighted in pink), tick Include previously failed timesheets in sync once you’ve resolved the cause.
Staff without Xero/Quickbooks Payroll
A red cloud icon next to a staff member’s name means their timesheets can be approved in JACK but won’t sync to Xero/Quickbooks. This happens when they aren’t linked to a Xero/QuickBooks employee, or when they don't have an earnings rate or payroll calendar set. Hover over the icon for details, or click it to open their profile and link them.
Filters and Search
Click Filter to narrow what’s displayed. All Timesheets filters by Staff, Payroll Period, Date Range or Status, and My Timesheets offers Search, Payroll Period, Date Range, Status and Cost Category. Use Search Job Name to find entries by job or task, for example “Sick Leave”. Click Clear Filters to reset.
Timesheet Exports
Click the download button beside a period’s total hours and the green approve thumb button, and choose Export Period as CSV or Export Period as PDF.
To export every period currently loaded on screen, click Download Report at the top of the screen and choose CSV or PDF. The report shows the full date range, then each period and staff member with their total hours.