The calendar below tells it all, but don't fret. Your payroll nightmares are over! Our Payroll Snapshot™ report automatically does all of the painful math and calculations for your semi-monthly payroll, including breaking down the overtime correctly.

This calendar illustrates each semi-monthly pay period compared to the pay weeks.

Go to Snapshot Settings>Payroll Settings>Default Pay Types.

Fill in the Regular, OT1 and OT2 fields. The QB default names are the ones we used. If you aren't in California, you can enter NA for the OT2 field but don't leave it blank. Enter that info and save.

On the same screen, go to the Work Week Settings tab. This is where you will define your work week start day. If you are in California apply the Expanded Overtime Settings. Check the box for Timecard Settings if you need to split your time cards that cross over to the next workday. Save your settings.

Now we need to set your pay period. Go to Payroll Functions, Change Payroll Period and set your pay period from the dropdown, change your starting date, calculate payroll period and then accept changes. The PS is created from the dates you set here. 

Now go to Payroll Functions, Payroll Snapshot, and click on New Snapshot.

It will process and cue up at the top of the list. When it's ready it will tell you that the Snapshot has been created. Go ahead and click on it.

Then go to the Exports tab. In the Exports dropdown are several export formats. The first 3 are our unique exports, and the rest are for payroll companies. If your company isn't using QB or another payroll service, then use one of ours. For summary payroll hours, use either Summary or Summary Totals. 

In the screenshot below of our PS Detail report, the green box is my semi-monthly pay period, Saturday, March 16 to Sunday, March 31. My work week is Sunday-Saturday. Even though my new pay period starts on Saturday, March 16, I have hours earlier in that work week starting on Sunday, March 10.

These hours for Sunday-Friday were paid in the last pay period but factor into the OT calculations for the work week ending on Saturday, 3/16. The Fair Labor Standards Act refers to overtime in terms of "work week," which does not correspond with the semi-monthly pay period when that pay period starts or ends mid-week.

The red box shows the days (32.2 hours) worked earlier in the work week that were previously paid (which is why they are struck through), but are counting towards OT in this Sunday-Saturday work week.

So, on Saturday, 3/16 (the last day of the work week, but the first day of my pay period), I started the day with 32.2 hours for my work week, and at 7.8 hours, I hit weekly OT. I worked 12 hours total on Saturday and 4.2 hours counted as OT. 🤦‍♂️ I know, it can make your head spin. That's why our Payroll Snapshot™ is your lifesaver. 🚑 

The yellow arrow shows how a time card was split at midnight. 

That's it. For help on other topics, check out our Help Center.. 😉

Take a peek at our new platform, Chronotek Pro.