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Day Clocks

A day clock records when a technician starts and ends their workday. It is the shift-level time entry that captures the full span of a technician's day — from first clock-in to final clock-out. Day clock data is used for attendance tracking, payroll calculations, and overtime monitoring.

Who Can Access This​

RoleAccess Level
Administrator, Group AdministratorFull access — view, create, edit, delete, export
OfficeView, create, edit, and delete; review and approve corrections
SalesView, create, edit, and delete; review and approve corrections
HR AdminView, create, edit, and delete; review and approve corrections
Payroll AdminView, create, edit, and delete; review and approve corrections
Field TechnicianClock in/out, view own entries, request corrections
note

If you don't see day clock features, your role may not have permission. Contact your administrator.

How Day Clocks Work​

A day clock has two parts:

  • Clock In — The time the technician starts their workday
  • Clock Out — The time the technician ends their workday

The system calculates total hours automatically. A technician typically has one day clock per workday. If a technician forgets to clock out, the day clock stays "open" (in progress) until someone adds the missing clock-out time.

Day Clocks vs Job Clocks​

These two types of time entries work together:

RecordWhat It TracksHow Many Per Day
Day ClockFull shift — when the workday starts and endsUsually one
Job ClockPer-job — when the technician arrives at and leaves each customer propertyOne per job visited

Day clocks capture the big picture of the workday. Job clocks capture time at each stop. Both feed into payroll, but day clocks determine the total shift length while job clocks break down where that time was spent.

Overnight Shifts​

Day clocks support shifts that span midnight. For example, a technician could clock in at 11:00 PM and clock out at 2:00 AM the next day. The system uses separate date and time fields to handle this correctly.

For Technicians: Clocking In and Out​

How to Clock In​

  1. Open the Time Tracking page on your mobile device or the technician portal
  2. Tap Clock In
  3. The system records the current time as your clock-in

Your location may be captured when you clock in, depending on your company's settings. This helps your office team verify attendance.

How to Clock Out​

  1. Check out of any job you are still checked into. While you are checked into a job, Clock Out is disabled and shows "You must check out of jobs before Clocking Out." with a Go to job link
  2. At the end of your workday, return to the Time Tracking page
  3. Tap Clock Out
  4. The system records the current time and shows your total hours for the day

The clock-out screen shows your clock-in time and current time so you can verify the hours look correct before confirming.

Viewing Your Day Clock History​

Navigate to Your Timeclocks in the technician portal to see a list of your past day clock entries. Each entry shows the date, clock-in time, clock-out time, and total hours.

What If You Forget to Clock In or Out​

If you missed clocking in or out, submit a correction request:

  1. Find the day on your Time Tracking page
  2. Tap Request Change
  3. Fill in the correct times:
    • Original Clock In and Original Clock Out — What the system recorded (or blank if missed entirely)
    • Requested Clock In and Requested Clock Out — The correct times
  4. Enter a reason explaining what happened (up to 250 characters)
  5. Tap Send for Review

Your manager or administrator will review and approve or deny the request.

tip

Clock in and out as close to the actual time as possible. If you forget, submit a correction request the same day while the times are fresh in your memory.

For Office Staff: Viewing Day Clocks​

Day clock entries appear in several places throughout MaidCentral Pulse.

On the Time Page​

  1. Navigate to Office > Time
  2. Select a date
  3. Day clocks appear in all views:
    • Timeline — Day clocks show as colored blocks at the top of each technician's row, spanning the full shift
    • Table View — Day clocks appear as rows with type "Day Clock," showing clock-in time, clock-out time, and total hours
    • Variance — Day clocks are compared against the technician's scheduled shift

Click any day clock entry to open its detail drawer.

In the Day Clock Detail Drawer​

When you click a day clock entry, the Day Clock Details drawer opens showing:

  • Technician name
  • Clock Date
  • Start Date & Time — When the shift started
  • End Date & Time — When the shift ended (blank if still open)
  • Work Start Date & Time — Optional, for tracking when actual work began
  • Duration — Total hours calculated automatically (for example, "8h 30m")
  • Scheduled time — The technician's scheduled start and end for reference

In the Technician Profile​

  1. Open a technician's profile
  2. Go to the Time & Attendance tab
  3. The Schedule & Attendance sub-tab shows day clocks on the calendar and in a table view

In Payroll​

Day clock entries appear in the payroll period detail, showing each day's clock-in time, clock-out time, total hours, and type (Work or Break).

Creating a Day Clock (Office Staff)​

Office staff can manually create day clock entries — for example, when a technician forgot to clock in and out entirely.

  1. Navigate to Office > Time
  2. Open the Timeline or Table view for the correct date
  3. Click the add action or a scheduled entry for the technician
  4. If prompted, choose Clock In for Day (not a job clock)
  5. The Add Day Clock drawer opens
  6. Select the Technician
  7. Set the Clock Date
  8. Enter the Start Date & Time
  9. Optionally enter the End Date & Time (leave blank if still in progress)
  10. Click Save

Editing a Day Clock​

  1. Click the day clock entry from the Timeline, Table view, or Technician Profile
  2. The Edit Day Clock drawer opens
  3. Adjust the Start or End times as needed
  4. Optionally add or update the Reason for Change
  5. Click Save
note

If the date falls in a closed payroll period, editing is restricted. A lock banner at the top of the Time page shows when a period is finalized.

Open Day Clocks and Payroll​

An open day clock is a clock entry where the technician clocked in but never clocked out. Open day clocks are a common issue that can block payroll processing.

Why Open Day Clocks Matter​

When you close a payroll period, the system checks for open day clocks. If any are found, the payroll wizard flags them as a blocking issue — you must resolve them before you can finalize pay. This is because the system cannot calculate accurate hours or pay without a clock-out time.

How to Find Open Day Clocks​

Open day clocks appear in two places:

  1. Payroll Close Wizard — The "Open Day Clocks" step lists all employees who are still clocked in
  2. Time Page — In Timeline or Table view, look for entries marked In Progress without a clock-out time

How to Resolve Open Day Clocks​

  1. Navigate to Office > Time
  2. Find the technician with the open day clock
  3. Click the entry to open the detail drawer
  4. Enter the correct End Date & Time (clock-out)
  5. Click Save
  6. Return to the payroll wizard and continue
tip

MaidCentral Pulse can detect missing clock-outs automatically and send alerts. If a technician has a clock-in from a previous day with no clock-out, the system flags it so your team can follow up quickly.

Reviewing and Approving Corrections​

When technicians submit day clock correction requests, they appear alongside job clock requests in the pending requests queue.

How to Review a Day Clock Correction​

  1. Navigate to Office > Time
  2. Click Change Requests in the toolbar (the badge shows how many requests are waiting)
  3. Each request shows a Day Clock badge to distinguish it from job clock requests
  4. Click a request to open the review drawer
  5. Review the original times and requested times side by side
  6. Read the technician's reason
  7. Click Approve to accept, or Deny with a required reason

Approved corrections update the day clock entry immediately. The original times and the approver's name are recorded for audit purposes.

Breaks and Day Clocks​

Break entries are tracked separately from day clocks but occur within the day clock window. When a technician takes a lunch break or rest break, a break clock entry is created with its own start and end time. Break time is typically subtracted from total paid hours during payroll calculations.

Breaks appear alongside day clocks on the timeline and in the table view, with their own type indicator.

Exporting Day Clock Data​

  1. Navigate to Office > Time
  2. Click the Export button in the toolbar
  3. Check Day Clocks under export types
  4. Set the date range
  5. Optionally filter by technician or office
  6. Click Export to download the file

The export includes each technician's clock-in time, clock-out time, and total shift hours for every day in the selected range.

Tips and Best Practices​

  • Check for open day clocks daily, not just at payroll time. The sooner you catch a missing clock-out, the easier it is to determine the correct time.
  • Use the Variance view to spot technicians whose actual shift hours differ significantly from their schedule. This can indicate missed clocks or schedule issues.
  • Review the payroll wizard's Open Day Clocks step before every payroll close. Resolve all open entries before proceeding.
  • Technicians should clock in and out consistently — even on short days or when running late. A late clock-in is better than a missing one.
  • Use overnight shift support for technicians who work evening or overnight shifts. The separate date and time fields handle midnight crossings correctly.
  • Enable missing clock-out alerts so your team gets notified automatically when a technician forgets to clock out.

Troubleshooting​

IssueSolution
Technician has no day clock for a workdayThey may have forgotten to clock in. Create a manual day clock entry with the correct times, or ask the technician to submit a correction request.
Day clock shows "In Progress" with no clock-outThis is an open day clock. Edit the entry and add the correct end time, or ask the technician to clock out.
Can't edit a day clock for a past dateThe date likely falls in a closed payroll period. Check for the lock banner on the Time page.
Day clock hours don't match expected shiftCheck if the start or end time is wrong. Also check if the technician's schedule has changed — Variance view shows this clearly.
Correction request was deniedSubmit a new request with more detail in the reason field. Include specifics like "Forgot to clock out — left the office at 4:30 PM."
Payroll wizard shows open day clocksNavigate to the Time page, find the flagged technicians, and add their missing clock-out times before returning to the wizard.
Location not captured on clock-inThe technician's device may not have location permissions enabled, or they may have been in an area with poor GPS signal.