Setting Up QuickBooks Time Inside QuickBooks Online: What's Involved

QuickBooks Online subscribers adding QuickBooks Time to their workflow face a multi-stage setup that spans two interfaces — the main QuickBooks Online dashboard and the QuickBooks Time application itself. We walked through the accepted setup path to map out where each configuration step lives and which decisions need to be made before employees can start clocking in.

Adding QuickBooks Time to Your Subscription

The process begins inside QuickBooks Online. From the main navigation, users open the Time section and select the pricing option. Two tiers are available — QuickBooks Time Premium and QuickBooks Time Elite. After choosing a tier, subscribers can either add it to their existing billing immediately or start a 30-day free trial. Once added, the Time app becomes accessible through the All apps menu under Time, where an overview screen provides a link into the full QuickBooks Time interface, referred to in the dashboard as “classic QuickBooks Time.”

Configuring Pay Schedules

The first substantive configuration happens inside QuickBooks Time under Company Settings. On the Payroll & Overtime tab, the Pay Schedule screen asks for two things: the week start day and the pay schedule frequency. Users also enter a recent payroll closing date — this anchors the schedule so that future periods calculate correctly from that point forward. Saving these settings locks in the cadence that time data will follow when it flows into payroll.

Setting Overtime Rules

Still under Payroll & Overtime, the Overtime screen provides standard overtime configuration options. For most businesses, the built-in selections cover daily and weekly overtime thresholds. Users with more nuanced compensation policies — staggered rates, weighted averages, or state-specific rules — can enable the Pay Rate Engine, which allows deeper customization of how overtime premiums are calculated. This is an optional path; simpler setups can skip it entirely.

Mapping Time Types to Payroll Items

This is the step that connects hours worked in QuickBooks Time to the correct pay categories in QuickBooks Online payroll. Inside QuickBooks Time, users navigate to the payroll preferences and open the Payroll Item Mapping Tool. On the Map Employees tab, each employee is configured individually: for every time type tracked — regular hours, overtime, double time, or any custom category — the user selects a corresponding pay type from the QuickBooks payroll list. Mappings save automatically as you work through each employee.

Getting this mapping right matters. If a time type is left unmapped or pointed at the wrong earnings item, hours can land in the wrong payroll line — a problem that often surfaces only at the end of a pay run.

Adding Employees and Contractors

Team setup splits across two locations depending on who is being added.

Employees are added through the Time team screen, accessed from the All apps menu. Selecting Add employee opens a form with required fields — name and contact details among them — and the employee is created on submission.

Contractors follow a different path. They are added from the Expenses page in QuickBooks Online, not from the Time team screen. The contractor form collects the necessary fields and creates the record, which then becomes available for time tracking.

Configuring Timesheet Requirements

QuickBooks Time lets administrators decide what information employees must provide when they clock out. These settings live under the Preferences screen in QuickBooks Time and include several toggleable requirements:

• Customers and sub-customers — when enabled, every timesheet entry must be tied to a customer. Customer records sync bidirectionally, so additions or edits in either QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Time appear in both.
• Service items — requires a service item on each timesheet, useful for job-cost tracking.
• Billable status — presents a billable or non-billable choice on timesheets; billable entries become available when invoicing in QuickBooks.
• Required billable choice — forces the billable decision before an employee can clock out, preventing ambiguous entries.
• Class tracking — requires a class selection on each timesheet for businesses using class-based reporting.

Selections save automatically. Depending on which requirements are toggled on, the corresponding lists import from QuickBooks Online into QuickBooks Time so that employees see the right options on their timesheets.

Inviting the Team

The final step is sending invitations. From the Invite team members screen, administrators select which people to onboard and choose a delivery method — text message or email. Recipients receive an invitation link, accept it, create credentials if they do not already have an Intuit account, and download the QuickBooks Workforce app to begin tracking time from their devices.

Until this invitation is accepted and the app is installed, employees cannot clock in — so completing this last step promptly is what actually closes the loop on the entire setup.