Connecting Time Reporting to Payroll
By CodexierPublished 5 min read
In many small Swedish companies, hours are entered three times: once by the employee in an app or spreadsheet, once by someone in the office into payroll, and once more into invoicing. Each step costs time and introduces errors that surface as wrong salaries or unbilled hours. This guide shows how to connect time reporting to payroll and invoicing, with approval steps and the rules from collective agreements built in.
Where hours are entered today
Start by drawing the flow as it is. Who enters hours, where, and how often? Who checks them? Who types them into payroll, and who transfers billable hours to invoices? Most businesses find at least one step where a person copies numbers from one screen to another.
- Paper time sheets or spreadsheets emailed at month end
- A time app that is not connected to payroll
- Project hours kept separately from salary hours
- Manual adjustments for overtime, travel and absence
- Invoices built from memory rather than from reported hours
Approval before payroll
Approval (attest) is where a manager confirms that reported hours are correct before they become salary or invoices. It protects against simple mistakes and against the rare deliberate one. In an integrated flow, only approved hours are transferred to payroll.
| Step | Who | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Report hours and absence | Employee | Daily or weekly, final by a set day |
| Approve | Manager or project lead | A few days before the pay run |
| Lock the period | Payroll or admin | After approval |
| Transfer to payroll | Automatic | Before salary calculation |
| Transfer billable hours to invoicing | Automatic | After approval |
Locking the period matters. If hours can still be edited after transfer, payroll and time reporting drift apart and nobody knows which one is correct.
Projects, invoicing and hours
For consultancies, trades and agencies, the same hour is both a salary cost and a billable item. Report it once, against a project and an activity, and let the system split it: salary type to payroll, billable time to invoicing. That removes the classic month-end hunt for unbilled hours.
- Each hour is tied to a customer, a project and an activity
- Billable and non-billable time is marked at entry
- Rates live in the system, not in a separate spreadsheet
- Invoices are drafted from approved hours and reviewed before sending
Collective agreements and rules
If you are bound by a collective agreement, your pay rules include things like overtime compensation, unsocial-hours supplements, on-call pay and specific rules for travel time. These rules must be configured somewhere. The safest place is the payroll system or a time system designed for your industry, so that the calculation is consistent and auditable.
- Overtime thresholds and compensation per agreement
- Unsocial-hours (OB) supplements by time of day and weekday
- On-call and standby compensation
- Absence types: sick leave, VAB, parental leave, holiday
- Working-time limits under the Working Hours Act
Payroll data also feeds the monthly employer declaration at individual level (AGI) to Skatteverket, so errors in hours become errors in reporting. Have your payroll consultant review the rule setup before going live.
Tools that connect to Fortnox and Visma
Both Fortnox and Visma have their own time-reporting modules and marketplaces of third-party apps that integrate with their payroll. Industry-specific tools for construction, cleaning, healthcare staffing and field service often include agreement rules out of the box. Our guide on Fortnox or Visma integrations compares the two ecosystems.
| Option | Good when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in module in your payroll system | Simple needs, few agreement rules | Limited project and invoicing features |
| Marketplace app with ready integration | Standard flows, common agreements | Check exactly which data transfers |
| Custom integration | Unusual systems or rules, several sources | Needs maintenance when APIs change |
A custom integration makes sense when no ready-made connector covers your combination of systems. That is the kind of work our integration and automation service covers; prices are on our pricing page.
When you do not need an integration
With a handful of employees on fixed monthly salaries and little overtime, manual entry once a month may take minutes. An integration adds a system to maintain without saving much. The same applies if your payroll consultant already receives time data in a format they can import. If you are unsure, book a short call and describe your current flow.
Frequently asked questions
Can hours be transferred to Fortnox Lön automatically?
Yes, through Fortnox's own time module or through third-party apps that integrate with Fortnox payroll. Check which salary types and absence types the integration actually transfers.
Who should approve hours?
The person who knows whether the work happened: usually the closest manager or project lead. Payroll staff should not approve hours they cannot verify.
What happens if hours change after the pay run?
They should be corrected in the time system and carried as an adjustment in the next pay run, not edited directly in payroll. That keeps both systems in agreement.
Do we need to handle collective-agreement rules ourselves?
Someone must configure them, but ideally only once, in the payroll or time system. Ask your payroll consultant or the system vendor whether your agreement is supported out of the box.
Typing hours in more than once?
Describe your time, payroll and invoicing tools on a short call and we will tell you whether a ready integration covers it or what a custom one would involve.
Book a free 15-minute call