UKG Timecard Approval and Payroll Close Workflow Guide

A reliable UKG payroll close follows the same order every period: resolve exceptions, have employees and managers approve timecards, sign off to lock them, export, and reconcile hours to payroll before checks are cut. Problems almost always come from skipping a step under deadline pressure, so the workflow needs owners, cutoffs and a correction path.

Key takeaways

• In UKG Pro Workforce Management, approval says a timecard is accurate; sign-off says it is ready for payroll and locks it.
• Resolve exceptions such as missed and early punches before approval, not after export.
• Publish a close calendar with hard cutoffs for employees, managers and payroll.
• Reconcile hours by paycode between UKG and payroll every period, not only when someone complains.
• Late corrections need a defined path that keeps the audit trail intact.

What is the difference between timecard approval and sign-off in UKG?

UKG's developer documentation for manager timecard approvals describes the sequence in UKG Pro Workforce Management. Managers typically review timecards after employees approve them. Once timecards are ready for payroll, managers sign them off. A manager must remove the sign-off before removing an approval, and exceptions should be resolved before approving or signing off.

In plain terms:

• Employee approval means "these are my hours."
• Manager approval means "I have reviewed and agree."
• Sign-off means "payroll can use this," and it locks the timecard against further edits for the period.

Who holds approval and sign-off rights is set through access configuration, so it varies by organization. UKG Ready uses its own approval and pay period close processes, so confirm the equivalent steps and rights in your tenant before you copy this workflow.

What does a good UKG payroll close calendar look like?

The calendar below assumes a biweekly period that ends Saturday with payroll processed the following week. Adjust days to your pay schedule and to your states' payday rules; the Department of Labor maintains a table of state payday requirements.

When	Owner	Task
Daily during the period	Managers	Clear missed punches, early and late punches, and unexcused absences
Last day of period	Employees	Review and approve own timecards
First business day after	Managers	Final exception sweep, approve timecards
By noon next day	Managers or payroll	Sign off timecards
After sign-off	Payroll	Run pre-export reports and reconcile
Export window	Payroll or integration	Export or confirm integration run, review import results
Before payroll final	Payroll	Compare payroll register hours to UKG totals by paycode

Put the cutoff times in writing and send reminders the day before. A manager who knows approvals close at noon behaves differently from one who thinks "sometime Monday" is fine.

How should managers work exceptions before approval?

Exceptions are where wage risk lives. A missed out punch that someone fixes by guessing creates a record that may not match hours actually worked, and the Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #22 is clear that "work not requested but suffered or permitted to be performed is work time that must be paid for by the employer."

Rules that make exception handling defensible

• Every edit carries a comment or reason code that says why it was made.
• Missed punches are corrected with the employee's confirmation, not from the schedule.
• Early clock ins are investigated, but time actually worked is paid even if it was not approved.
• Meal break exceptions are resolved with the employee, especially where state law requires premium pay for missed breaks.
• Managers do not edit their own timecards.

A pattern of the same exceptions every period usually points to a process or device issue rather than individual behavior. Our guide on time clock integration with HR software covers fixes at the capture point.

Which checks should payroll run before export?

Run these after sign-off and before the export or integration sends data to payroll. Most can be built as saved reports in UKG Pro WFM; confirm what your role can access.

1. Unsigned timecards: list every employee in the pay period without sign-off and chase them before export.
2. Remaining exceptions: any open exception after sign-off should be explained.
3. Zero hours: active hourly employees with no hours may be on leave, or may have a missing assignment.
4. High hours: anyone above a threshold you set (for example, 60 hours in a week) gets a second look.
5. Paycode totals: compare total regular, overtime, PTO and premium hours to the prior period and investigate large swings.
6. New hires and terminations: confirm they appear with correct dates and pay rules.

After import, compare payroll register hours by earning code to the UKG totals. Even with an automated integration, mapping errors and rejected records happen. If your time data flows to a separate payroll, see how UKG Pro time data syncs to Workday Payroll for the mapping view.

How do you handle corrections after timecards are signed off?

Corrections after sign-off are normal. What matters is that they follow one path.

• Before payroll final: payroll removes sign-off for the affected timecard, the manager corrects and re-approves, and payroll signs off and re-exports that employee.
• After payroll final: make the correction in UKG as a historical edit or adjustment so the time record is accurate, and pay the difference on the next run or an off cycle check, according to policy and state law.
• Always: record who requested the change, who approved it, and why.

Recordkeeping is a legal requirement, not a nice to have. The Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #21 requires employers to keep hours worked each day and each workweek, and to retain time cards for two years and payroll records for at least three years. Your correction path should leave a record that matches what was paid.

For related UKG guides, see our UKG guides hub, and for a wider view of where time and payroll data diverge, read the real story behind HRMS and payroll integration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can payroll sign off timecards instead of managers?

It depends on how access is configured. Some organizations let payroll perform sign-off after managers approve, which gives payroll one control point before export. Others require managers to sign off. Either works if the rights are documented, the cutoff is clear, and payroll has a report of anything not signed off before the export runs.

What happens if a manager misses the approval deadline?

Define the fallback in policy before it happens. Common options are approval by a backup manager or by payroll, with the unapproved timecards flagged for review next period. Employees must still be paid on time for hours worked, so a missing approval should never delay or reduce pay.

Should employees approve their own timecards?

Employee approval is a useful control because it captures the employee's agreement with their recorded hours, which helps if a dispute arises later. It also catches missed punches early. If you require it, give employees a simple way to flag a problem instead of approving, and route that flag to the manager.

How do we reduce the number of exceptions each period?

Report exceptions by type, location and manager for several periods and look for patterns. Repeated missed punches at one site often mean a device placement or connectivity problem. Repeated early punches may mean shift start times or rounding rules need review. Fix the cause, then coach individuals.

Next steps to tighten your close

1. Publish a close calendar with named owners and cutoff times.
2. Build the six pre-export reports and run them every period.
3. Write the correction path for before and after payroll final.
4. Review approval and sign-off rights to confirm they match the calendar.
5. Track exception counts by type each period and review trends monthly.

Last reviewed: October 2026.

Sources

• Timecard Approvals for Manager, UKG Developer Hub
• Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements under the FLSA, U.S. Department of Labor
• Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the FLSA, U.S. Department of Labor
• State Payday Requirements, U.S. Department of Labor