Who can do this?
- The Boss · Business Owners
- The Books · Finance
- One-Person Show · Sole Traders
- The Foreman · Supervisors
Overview
The payroll export pulls approved timesheets into a format you can use in your payroll system. Only approved timesheets are exported — anything still in Submitted or Draft is excluded. The export is restricted: only the Business Owner, Supervisor, and Finance can export payroll. Admin cannot export payroll — this is by design.
Who This Workflow Is For
This workflow applies to Business Owner and Finance.
Before You Start
Approve all the timesheets you want included in the export — see Review and approve a timesheet. Decide the pay period dates (typically Monday to Sunday for a weekly export, or your business’s pay cycle).
Step-by-Step Process
- In the left sidebar, select Timesheets.
- Open the payroll export or export tab.
- Set the pay period — start date and end date — to cover the week or pay cycle you are exporting.
- Review the list of approved timesheets in the period. Confirm all employees you expect to see are present and that none are missing.
- (Optional) Filter by employee or role to spot-check entries.
- Select Export Payroll to generate the export file.
- The export file downloads — open it from your Downloads folder.
- Import the file into your payroll system, or hand it to your payroll provider.
What Happens Next
The export file is a snapshot of approved time at the moment you generated it. If you later approve more timesheets for the same pay period, regenerate the export so payroll has the complete picture. Document History captures the export event and the user who ran it. Once payroll has been processed, you can keep the timesheets in MyApprentice as the source-of-truth record for the period.
Common Issues
- An employee’s hours are missing from the export. The timesheet was not approved. Approve it via Review and approve a timesheet and regenerate the export.
- Admin user cannot find Export Payroll. Admin cannot export payroll — this guardrail is by design. Use a Business Owner, Supervisor, or Finance account to export.
- Tradie or Apprentice cannot see payroll export. Tradie and Apprentice have no payroll export access.
- Wrong pay period dates. Set the period before exporting. The export only includes approved entries within the period.
- Need to re-export after corrections. Run the export again after the latest approvals. The export reflects the current state at the moment it runs.
Related Guides
Related in Time & Payroll
Submit Your Timesheet for the Week
Send your week's recorded time to your Supervisor or Business Owner for approval so it can flow into payroll.
Review and Approve a Timesheet
Confirm that the hours an employee has submitted are correct and signal that the time is ready for payroll. There is no dedicated Reject ac…
Export Payroll
Export approved timesheet data so it can flow into payroll.
Recording, Submitting, and Approving Timesheets
Timesheets in MyApprentice capture the hours you (or your team) worked each week. Time can be recorded by clocking in and out on shifts, by…