Payroll Summary Workspace
Use Payroll Summary to review period payroll calculations before finalizing payroll. The workspace supports both real-time periods and closed historical periods.
Who Can Access This
| Role | Access Level |
|---|---|
| Administrator | Full access (review, export, close period) |
| Payroll Admin | View and export. Cannot close or reopen a period. |
| Office, Sales, HR Admin | No access |
This page requires the Payroll feature to be enabled. If you don't see it, contact your administrator.
How You Get Here
You can open Payroll Summary in two ways:
- From Create New Payroll on the Payroll page (real-time mode)
- From a historical row in Payroll History (closed period mode)
The page status badge changes by mode:
- Real-time: open period calculations from current source data
- Closed: archived values from payroll history tables
Understand Real-Time vs. Historical Mode
Real-time mode lets you work with current, live data. You can adjust dates, refresh to recalculate, view validation issues, and close the period when ready. Two extra charts appear for real-time analysis.
Historical mode shows a frozen snapshot from when the period closed. You cannot edit dates or refresh. All four charts are available. If detailed clock records are unavailable, you'll see a note in the employee drawer indicating that raw time entries are archived.
Why does an imported pay period show no employees?
An Imported (paid outside MaidCentral) period shows a note instead of employees, because its pay was processed in your previous system before you moved to MaidCentral. It has no employee totals and can't be reopened. Enter any correction as additional pay in your first MaidCentral pay period.
Read the Sticky Header
The top sticky header includes:
- Date range for the selected period. In real-time mode, pick any start date and end date to review hours for a single day or part of a week. The arrows move one full pay week at a time, and Full pay week in the picker returns to the pay week that contains your start date.
- Status badge (Real-time or Closed)
- View toggle (Table or Chart)
- Export menu
- Refresh action (real-time mode only)
- Settings gear icon (admin only)
Can I see payroll hours for just one day or a few days?
Yes. In real-time mode, click the date range, click a start date, then click an end date. Click the same day twice to see a single day. To close payroll, select the full pay week again with the arrows or Full pay week.
What does Refresh update?
Use Refresh when schedule, time clock, or additional-pay records changed during your review. The workspace recalculates totals from current source data and updates all cards, charts, table rows, and the validation step counts.
What stops me from closing payroll?
Only three checks stop you from closing payroll: Open Day Clocks, Missing Timesheets and Uninvoiced Jobs. Close Payroll Period stays disabled until all three are at zero for the selected date range. Every other check is a warning: review it, but it never disables the close. Each check is a step in the payroll wizard.
Blocking steps (must be cleared before closing):
- Open Day Clocks — employees who clocked in for the day and never clocked out
- Missing Timesheets — completed jobs where nobody clocked in, or someone clocked in but never clocked out
- Uninvoiced Jobs — completed jobs that haven't been invoiced yet. See Jobs Not Invoiced.
Warning steps (don't stop the close):
- Timesheet Issues — job clocks outside the employee's day clock, or on a different date than the job
- Change Requests — clock change requests waiting for approval or denial
- Missing Tips — jobs with tips not yet added as additional pay (only shown when tip validation is turned on for your company)
The Close Period step may also remind you if your last closed payroll ended over 14 days ago. That doesn't block the close.
For what each step lists and how to fix it, see Payroll Errors and Validations.
Pulse won't close a period that overlaps an already closed period. Change the dates or reopen that period first.
Review Summary Cards and Key Metrics
Six summary cards appear at the top of the data section:
- Total Payroll — gross wages for the period
- Total Hours — all payroll-relevant hours
- Employees — count of employees in payroll
- Total Tips — employee tips for the period
- Overtime Pay — overtime wage portion only
- Avg Hourly Rate — average hourly wage across all employees
You can collapse any card to save space. Your collapse state is saved across sessions.
In real-time mode, a category breakdown section also shows totals grouped by employee pay model:
- Job Based
- Hourly
- Clock Only
- Additional Only
Use Table View for Audit Detail
Table view is designed for payroll verification at the employee level. The table has 32 columns organized into 9 column groups:
Hours · Base Pay · Before SP & OT · Supplemental · Before OT · Overtime · With OT · Time Off & Tips · Final
Key table features:
- Category badges — show each employee's pay model (Job Based, Hourly Tagged, Clock Only, Additional Only)
- Red wage indicators — flags average hourly wages that fall below your configured minimum wage
- Sorting — click any column header to sort ascending or descending
- Filtering — use column filter menus to narrow results by value
- Row grouping — drag a column header into the Group By area to group employees by category or other fields
- Column visibility — use the sidebar panel to show or hide specific columns
- Expand All / Collapse All — toggle all grouped rows open or closed at once
- Pinned totals row — always visible at the bottom for quick period checks
Click an employee ID to open the detailed payroll drawer.
Use Chart View for Quick Analysis
Chart view gives you a visual way to validate payroll data and spot outliers before drilling into the table.
Charts available in real-time mode:
- Pay Type Distribution (pie) — wage composition by pay type
- Category Breakdown (horizontal bar) — pay totals by employee pay model
- Top 10 Earners (horizontal bar) — highest earners in the period
- Hours by Category (stacked vertical bar) — hours totals by pay model
Charts available in historical mode:
- Top 10 Earners (horizontal bar)
- Hours by Category (stacked vertical bar)
Review Individual Employee Details
Click an employee ID in the table to open the employee drawer. The drawer shows summary and day-level data together.
Header: employee avatar, name, and category badge.
Stats: Gross Wage, Clock Hours, Allowed Hours, Jobs, Days Worked. Allowed Hours is the period total of allowed hours from the employee's jobs and additional pay.
Day-by-Day Breakdown table:
- Lists each work day with Clock Hrs, Job Hrs, Allowed Hrs, Jobs, and Total Pay
- Click any day row to expand and see that day's detail
Day detail view (two modes):
- Table — shows Day Clocks, Job Entries, and Additional Pay as separate tables
- Timeline — shows a visual layout of the day's events
Job entries show Fee Split values alongside split percentages so you can verify commission calculations at a glance.
See who edited a day clock or job time
In the Table detail view, a clock icon next to a Day Clock or Job Entry time means someone edited that time after it was first recorded. Point at the icon to see who made the edit and when. This indicator may not be turned on for your company yet — ask MaidCentral support if you don't see it and want it enabled.
Additional Pay lists every additional pay item in the period in one table (see below).
Wage Calculation Breakdown shows cascading sections that build from Base Pay up to Final Gross:
Base Pay → Before Supplemental & OT → Supplemental → Before Overtime → Overtime → With Overtime → Time Off & Tips → Final
Hours Breakdown shows three sections:
- Worked Hours (Clock, Job, Travel/Office)
- Pay-Relevant Hours (Regular, Overtime)
- PTO Hours (Vacation, Sick, Holiday)
For historical periods, some raw clock detail may be unavailable. The drawer shows a note when detailed entries are missing. All summary totals remain accurate.
The job entry tables show Fee Split values alongside split percentages, so you can verify commission calculations at a glance.
See all additional pay for an employee in one list
The employee drawer's Additional Pay section lists every additional pay item in the period in one table, so you don't need to expand each day to find them. Each row shows the date, type, amount, and notes, and a Total row sums the items. The section appears only when the employee has additional pay in the period.
Export Payroll Files
Use Export in the header to download payroll data:
- Export as CSV — spreadsheet-friendly summary rows
- Export as Excel — formatted workbook
- Pay Sheets (PDF) — individual employee pay pages
- Pay Sheets (Excel) — one worksheet per employee, listing every day's jobs individually with daily subtotals, labeled additional-pay sections, and period totals
Exports respect the selected period dates and pull payroll summary data for that range.
Pay Sheets (Excel) only appears after the period is closed — it reads from the archived historical record, and there is no realtime equivalent yet. Pay Sheets (PDF) remains available for both open and closed periods.
Admin-Only Features
Administrators see two extra controls in Payroll Summary:
Settings gear icon:
- Opens the Payroll Settings drawer from within Payroll Summary
- Lets you adjust company-wide payroll processing rules without leaving the page
Force Close (Skip Validations):
- Appears on the Close Period step when blocking issues remain
- Lets admins close payroll even when blocking checks still have items
- Does not bypass a job whose technician is still checked in — enter the clock-out first
- Use only when directed by your payroll team
Close Payroll Period
When the three blocking steps are at zero, close the period from the wizard's last step.
- Open the Close Period step. It shows whether you're ready to close and lists any remaining issues. Closing needs the full pay week selected; if you are viewing a shorter range, the step explains that instead of showing the button.
- Click Close Payroll Period.
- In the Close Payroll - Scope of Work Settings dialog, check the scopes of work to include. Your company's defaults are pre-selected. Confirm & Close Payroll stays disabled until live payroll updates are connected; wait for it to become available.
- Click Confirm & Close Payroll. A progress overlay shows the close status.
- When the close finishes, the page switches to the closed (historical) view of the period.
Once closed, the period is locked as a historical record. To change it, reopen it. See How to Reopen Payroll.
Revenue totals only include closed and completed jobs, and recurring job counts reflect actual occurrences within the period.
Troubleshooting
Why is Close Payroll Period missing?
You are viewing part of a pay week. Payroll closes one full pay week at a time. In the date picker, click the arrows or Full pay week to select the whole week, then return to the Close Period step.
Close Period stays disabled
Only three checks block closing: Open Day Clocks, Missing Timesheets and Uninvoiced Jobs. One of them still has items. Open each of those steps and clear every item. Warnings such as Timesheet Issues and Change Requests never block the close. See What stops me from closing payroll?.
Administrators can use Force Close (Skip Validations) on the Close Period step to bypass the blocking checks when needed. Force Close still stops for a technician who is checked in.
Export failed
Check the period date range and retry. Very large date ranges may be restricted by the system.
Why is an employee missing from Payroll Summary?
Employees with no hours, no pay and no approved Paid Time Off or Sick hours in the selected period aren't listed, even if they have the Hourly tag. An approved unpaid Time Off request doesn't count. Once the employee clocks in, works a job, gets additional pay or has approved Paid Time Off or Sick hours in the period, click Refresh and they appear.
Numbers changed after refresh
Real-time mode recalculates from current source records. If clocks, jobs, or adjustments were edited, totals update when you refresh.
I can view payroll but cannot close it
Payroll Admin can view and export payroll but cannot close a period. Closing is done by an Administrator. Ask an Administrator in your office to close the period.
I don't see the Settings gear icon
The Settings option is part of the Administrator role. Payroll Admin does not include it.
Historical periods show missing detail in the employee drawer
When raw clock data is not stored for older periods, the drawer shows a note. This is expected for historical records. All summary totals remain accurate.