Managers can file timesheets for employees in QuickBooks Payroll
A recurring community question about entering hours on an employee's behalf has an accepted fix: a payroll setting that unlocks manager entry.
Across community threads from Australian payroll users, one request keeps returning: a manager needs to record hours for staff who never touch a timesheet themselves. Casual crews, field teams, and employees without app access are the usual drivers. We read the accepted answer closely. The fix is not a workaround but a single setting, followed by a dedicated entry screen inside QuickBooks Payroll powered by Employment Hero.
The problem managers kept reporting
Users described a dead end. The timesheet area appears built around self-service, with each employee logging their own hours and submitting them for approval. When a supervisor tried to act for someone else, the entry point was not obvious. Several assumed the feature did not exist and fell back on notes, emails, or spreadsheets in the days before each payroll run.
The accepted answer, posted by the vendor’s own support team, confirms the capability exists and carries one precondition. A manager entry option has to be switched on first. Until that happens, the software stays quiet about the whole feature.
One setting unlocks manager entry
The path runs through the Employees area of the payroll app. Open All apps, select Payroll, then Employees. From there, move to the Payroll Settings tab and open the Timesheets page. One checkbox matters: the option that lets managers create timesheets for employees who are not enabled to use them. Tick it and save.
Wording deserves attention here. The setting covers staff who have timesheets switched off entirely, not merely staff who have not logged in this week. That is precisely the group most managers are asking about. Once the box is ticked, the capability applies across the employee list.
Recording the hours step by step
Entry happens from the same Employees area. Choose Manage Employees, then Create Timesheets. Pick a name from the employee field, set the week or fortnight ending date, and decide whether timesheet costs should show on screen. Then type the hours into the grid and save.
Only the rows you need have to be filled. Days the employee did not work can stay blank. A red x beside each line clears a mistake before saving.
There is a hard limit worth knowing. Sheets that are already approved, processed, or rejected cannot be edited or cleared from this screen. The lock is deliberate, protecting the payroll run from late changes. Anyone holding the approve permission also gains a second choice, save and approve, revealed by a small arrow beside the save button.
Can managers see what the hours cost?
Yes, if the option is switched on. In the filter menu, enable Show Timesheet Costs. A Costs column then appears alongside the hours. Hovering over any figure shows the breakdown for that line. Managers who watch budgets week to week can sanity check a shift before it reaches payroll.
The editor covers what the grid leaves out
Three details cannot be typed into the grid itself: notes on the timesheet, a second or third break within a shift, and a higher classification, used when an employment agreement pays higher duties for part of a period. For everything else, the grid is enough.
The way in is a pencil icon at the right edge of the row. It opens a fuller editor where every part of the timesheet can be changed. Apply closes the box and returns you to the grid with the edits intact.
Split shifts, copied weeks, and a full clear
The Actions button on the entry screen carries the extras. A manager can add another line for the same day, which covers staff who work a morning shift and a separate evening one. A copy option prefills the current period with the previous week’s entries, ready to adjust before saving. A clear action wipes the sheet entirely.
Copying is the quiet time saver in that list. Rosters that repeat week after week take seconds instead of a fresh retype, and exceptions can be corrected line by line.
Our read for payroll managers
The default assumption in this payroll product is self-service: hours belong to the employee who worked them, and manager entry stays hidden until the setting is flipped. If your team needs supervisors to file hours for staff without app access, the switch lives in payroll settings, on the timesheets page. Keep the lock in mind when planning your week. Approve late, or fix first, because processed timesheets are closed to everyone. For split shifts, extra breaks, and higher duties, the pencil icon is the door the grid does not advertise.