Round-off rules in a pay policy adjust employee punch-in and punch-out times before pay is calculated. A punch can be moved to a tidy interval or to the scheduled shift time. This removes small, irregular time fragments, such as a punch a few minutes early or late, and keeps payroll consistent. System Admins set the rules in the Round-Off Rules section of a pay policy, separately for punch in and punch out.

Note: Round-off rules for punch in and punch out are set independently. You can turn on rounding for punch in, punch out or both, depending on your organisation's needs.

Open the Round-Off Rules Section

Step 1 - Go to Attendance → Configurations → Pay Policies and click the name of the pay policy.

Step 2 - Expand the Round-Off Rules section.

Step 3 - Turn on Round-Off Punch In, Round-Off Punch Out or both.

Step 4 - For each one, choose a rounding option: Round Off to Nearest or Round Off with Shift Rules. Both options are explained below.

Step 5 - Click Save and complete the Save Changes window (see Save Your Changes).

Configurable Time Intervals for Rounding Rules

Each rounding method has its own set of values:

• Round Off to Nearest: 5 Minutes, 10 Minutes, 15 Minutes, 30 Minutes or 1 Hour. These values are the same whether you use Round Off to Nearest for the whole punch type or for one side of the shift time.
• Round Up to Shift Start and Round Down to Shift End: from 5 Minutes up to 5 Hours (5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, or 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 hours).
• Round Down to Shift Start and Round Up to Shift End: from 5 Minutes up to 1 Hour (5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, or 1 hour).

View Actual Punch-In or Out Times

The system always keeps the actual punch-in and punch-out times alongside the rounded times. To display the actual times in attendance records, select "View Actual Punch In Time" and "View Actual Punch Out Time". Both the actual and rounded times are then shown, for greater transparency.

Round Off to Nearest

The Round Off to Nearest option moves every punch to the closest interval on the clock. For example, with 15 Minutes a punch rounds to :00, :15, :30 or :45. A punch exactly halfway between two intervals rounds up. This option rounds punches whether or not the employee has a shift that day.

• Round Off Punch In to Nearest: adjusts employee clock-in times to the nearest selected interval (e.g., 5 minutes).

• Round Off Punch Out to Nearest: adjusts employee clock-out times to the nearest selected interval (e.g., 10 minutes).

Round Off with Shift Rules

The Round Off with Shift Rules option replaces the earlier Round Off to Shift Start (punch in) and Round Off to Shift End (punch out) options. It lets you treat early and late punches differently by choosing a separate method for each side of the shift time.

When you select Round Off with Shift Rules, two rows appear:

• Punch In: Before Shift Start and After Shift Start
• Punch Out: Before Shift End and After Shift End

Each row has a method dropdown and a value dropdown. For each row, choose one of these methods:

• Move the punch to the shift time. Choose Round Up to Shift Start, Round Down to Shift Start, Round Up to Shift End or Round Down to Shift End, depending on the row. The value is the window: a punch within it moves to the shift time, and a punch outside it is not rounded.
• Round Off to Nearest. The punch is rounded to the nearest interval on the clock. The value is the interval.
• Select. That side is not rounded.

Note: When you first select Round Off with Shift Rules, each row starts with the move-to-shift-time method. If you change a row's method, its value resets to "Select". One row can be left as "Select", but not both. The dropdowns can only be changed while Round Off with Shift Rules is selected.

Punch In: Before and After Shift Start

[Screenshot: replace with the Punch In "Before Shift Start" and "After Shift Start" rows.]

• Before Shift Start: choose Round Up to Shift Start or Round Off to Nearest.
  • Round Up to Shift Start example: Shift Start 9:00 AM, window 15 minutes. Actual punch 8:52 AM. Recorded as 9:00 AM.
• After Shift Start: choose Round Down to Shift Start or Round Off to Nearest.
  • Round Down to Shift Start example: Shift Start 9:00 AM, window 5 minutes. Actual punch 9:03 AM. Recorded as 9:00 AM.

[Screenshot: replace with the new Punch In rows.]

Punch Out: Before and After Shift End

[Screenshot: replace with the Punch Out "Before Shift End" and "After Shift End" rows.]

• Before Shift End: choose Round Up to Shift End or Round Off to Nearest.
  • Round Up to Shift End example: Shift End 5:00 PM, window 5 minutes. Actual punch 4:57 PM. Recorded as 5:00 PM.
• After Shift End: choose Round Down to Shift End or Round Off to Nearest.
  • Round Down to Shift End example: Shift End 5:00 PM, window 30 minutes. Actual punch 5:20 PM. Recorded as 5:00 PM.

How "Round Off to Nearest" Works on One Side

When a side is set to Round Off to Nearest, it behaves the same way as the main Round Off to Nearest option:

• The punch is rounded by clock time, and there is no window. It is rounded however far it is from the shift time.
• The rounded time can cross the shift time. For example, the shift starts at 8:10 AM and Before Shift Start is set to Round Off to Nearest, 15 Minutes. A punch in at 8:09 AM is recorded as 8:15 AM.
• The punch is rounded even when it falls inside another shift or after the shift has ended. For example, the shifts are 8:00 AM–12:00 PM and 12:30 PM–4:30 PM, and After Shift Start is set to Round Off to Nearest, 15 Minutes. A punch in at 4:55 PM is recorded as 5:00 PM.

Worked Examples

Punch in, shift starts at 8:00 AM

Punch out, shift ends at 5:00 PM

Note: A punch exactly at the shift time is left as it is. A side set to "Select" is not rounded. A punch outside a move-to-shift-time window is recorded as it is.

When Rounding Applies

• The employee must have a shift that day. Round Off with Shift Rules works only when the employee has a shift on the day of the punch, from a Fixed Work Schedule or a published Roster. If there is no shift that day, the punch is not rounded, even on a side set to Round Off to Nearest. Flexible Work Schedules have no shift times, so their punches are not rounded under this option.
• Nearest shift. For each punch, the system finds the nearest shift start (punch in) or shift end (punch out), checks which side of it the punch falls on, and applies the method set for that side.
• Punches inside another shift. If a punch falls within another shift on the same day, a move-to-shift-time method (Round Up/Down to Shift Start/End) does not round it. For example, with shifts of 8:00 AM–12:00 PM and 2:00 PM–6:00 PM and Round Up to Shift Start set to 3 hours, a punch in at 1:00 PM moves to 2:00 PM. A punch in at 11:30 AM is not rounded, because it falls inside the 8:00 AM–12:00 PM shift. A side set to Round Off to Nearest still rounds these punches.
• Where punches come from. Punches are rounded when the attendance record is created. This covers web, mobile, biometric devices, data upload and a new punch added in the Edit Timeline View. All sources are treated the same.
• Manual edits. When a user edits the time of an existing punch, the system saves the time as entered and does not round it.
• Where rounded times are used. Rounded times are used in Attendance Sheets and the Edit Timeline View, and for worked durations and pay codes. Round-off rules change only the punch times. They do not change your pay code rules.

When Punches Are Rounded Again

The system rounds punches again from the actual punch times, using the current method and value for each side, when:

• a Roster shift is added, edited, deleted or published, if Round-Off Recalculation based on Roster Shift Changes is turned on;
• the employee's Attendance Calculation Basis changes;
• a new attendance sheet is created;
• the pay policy version changes, or the employee is assigned a different pay policy.

The Round-Off Recalculation based on Roster Shift Changes toggle appears when Round Off with Shift Rules is selected for punch in, punch out or both.

Note: Approved (frozen) attendance sheets are never rounded again.

Upgrading from Earlier Versions

When your system is upgraded, existing round-off settings are converted automatically, and rounding works exactly as before:

• Pay policies that used Round Off to Shift Start or Round Off to Shift End are moved to Round Off with Shift Rules. Each side keeps its method and window. For example, "Round Up to Shift Start, 30 minutes" and "Round Down to Shift Start, 15 minutes" become Before Shift Start: Round Up to Shift Start, 30 Minutes, and After Shift Start: Round Down to Shift Start, 15 Minutes.
• A side that was left as "Select" stays as "Select".
• All versions of each pay policy are converted, so past periods round as before.
• Pay policies that use Round Off to Nearest, or that have no round-off rules, are not changed.
• The upgrade does not round any existing attendance records again, and it does not add Audit Trail entries.

Audit Trail

Changes to round-off rules are recorded in the Audit Trail. An entry is created when a pay policy is added, when it is updated through the Save Changes window, or when a pay policy or a pay policy version is deleted. One save creates one entry, showing the round-off rules Before and After the change. Each side appears with its label, method and value, and values of 1 hour or more are shown in hours.

Example:

Round-off Rules changed
Before:
Punch In: Disabled
Punch Out: Disabled
Round-Off Recalculation based on Roster Shift Changes: Disabled
After:
Punch In: Round Off with Shift Rules [Before Shift Start: Round Off to Nearest, 15 minutes; After Shift Start: Round Down to Shift Start, 30 minutes] (View Actual Time: Yes)
Punch Out: Disabled
Round-Off Recalculation based on Roster Shift Changes: Enabled

Save Your Changes

Once you have configured all rounding rules, click Save. In the Save Changes window that opens, enter a name for the change in Event, choose the Effective Date and click Save Changes. The message "Successfully Saved" confirms the update.

The new rules apply from the effective date to the employees assigned to the pay policy. Punches on attendance sheets that are not yet approved are rounded again from the actual punch times. Approved sheets are not changed. For more on effective dates and versions, refer to How to Set up Pay Policies.

Related Articles

• How to Set up Pay Policies