Timesheets: Payroll

In this article:

Payroll Codes Overview

      The Hierarchy of Payroll Codes

Payroll & Overtime Settings

Payroll Codes: Setup [By Job & Job Type]

Timesheets: Payroll | Troubleshooting 

Payroll Codes Overview

Your payroll codes are used to determine what wages employees are paid for the time they work.  You'll note (if you haven't already) that there is no pay or wage information in LMN.  That's because LMN exports hours, employees and payroll codes to applications like QuickBooks, or Paychex.  Your payroll software reads the employee who is to be paid, then uses the payroll code to determine the applicable wage for those hours.

In this guide, you'll learn:

• What a payroll code is used for
• How to add new payroll codes to LMN
• How payroll codes are used in QuickBooks to pay employees the correct wage

Payroll Codes will link to your Payroll Items in QuickBooks.  For example, in QuickBooks, employees have payroll codes for hourly and overtime wages.  If the employee was paid a 'premium wage' for other work types (like snow or unionized work) - you could setup additional payroll codes for that staff.

QuickBooks example of payroll codes can be found below.

To setup, your Payroll Codes, follow the steps below.

• Select the Settings wheel at the bottom left area of the screen
• Click on Payroll Codes Lister under Timesheets.

• Click on +Add New located on the bottom-right corner.

• Give the Payroll Code a name. (TIP: it's recommended you name your Payroll Codes as close as you can to your Payroll Item's in QB to avoid any confusion when running the QB Sync Tool and matching these).
• The Payroll ID is an extra field that could be used in the event you wish to add any extra pertinent information or if your bookkeeper uses IDs in QB to label each Payroll Item. This field is simply for viewing purposes and does not impact any aspect of LMN/QB; it can be left blank.
• Press OK.

You can also setup your Payroll Codes per Job Type and even down to the Job level.  For more information on the hierarchy of default Payroll Codes review information below.

The Hierarchy of Default Payroll Codes

In LMN, you will notice there are 3 different areas where you can set up Payroll Codes:

1. On your Payroll Settings;
2. On your Job Types;
3. On a Job itself

To understand the hierarchy of how these three interact, refer to the chart below:

Payroll & Overtime Settings

Your LMN Payroll settings is where you setup your overtime rules, and the default payroll codes to be used when creating jobs.

In this guide you will learn to:

Setup your company's overtime rules:

• Weekly overtime

• Daily overtime (if applicable)

• 7th day overtime (if applicable)

And set up your default (base level) payroll codes for hourly, overtime, and salary workers.

Setting up your Payroll & Overtime Settings will help determine when/how to track your employees hours accurately.

• Select the Settings wheel at the bottom left area of the screen.

Configuring your Payroll Periods

Setting up your payroll period information properly, is crucial for making sure that your Crew App users are seeing accurate information when they visit their 'My Hours' screen within the app.

If your payroll period starts every other Monday, for example, you can use the calendar selector to choose the most recent Monday, and the 'How often do you run payroll?' selector to choose 'Biweekly':

Configuring your Default Overtime Settings

• To edit each setting, select the drop-down menu and toggle to your desired selection (Yes or No).
• For some of the settings, if 'Yes' is selected, you will then be prompted to enter the value you desire.
• Each section will feature a button next to each section; hover your mouse over this button to view a description/explanation.

The descriptions can also be found below:

To view a video tutorial about Payroll Codes & Overtime Payroll Settings, click HERE

Configuring your Default Payroll Codes

If you are using QuickBooks, you will assign a Payroll Code to be used by default for your Hourly, Overtime and Salary wages. 

Payroll Codes: Setup [By Job & Job Type]

You have the ability to override your Payroll Codes on a per Job basis if required. Setting up your Payroll Codes within a Job will override the Payroll Codes that have been assigned as per the Job Type for the job in question. 

This will enable you to pay employees different wages for different types of jobs/work – especially handy if you pay premium rates for snow and ice work.

• To assign specific Payroll Codes for a Job, access the Job in question and select Payroll on the top menu.
  
  • Here you will notice that the Payroll Codes being used for Hourly, Hourly Overtime, and Salary  
  • To assign a new Payroll Code to each wage, click on the drop-down menu next to each wage you wish to edit and select the new Payroll Code(s).
  • Click Save.
  • Wages can also be set to the Job Type Default if these are left blank (to review which Job Type this job has been allocated to, click on the Overview tab on the top menu).

To set up your Job Type level Payroll Codes:

• Select the Settings wheel at the bottom left area of the screen and select Job Types
• Here you can either +Add New or you can select an existing Job Type to open it
• Select the Payroll tab and then you can set the Payroll Code at the Job type level, or leave it as Account Default (Account Default will pull from your Payroll Settings, the base level on the Payroll Hierarchy)
   

Timesheets: Payroll | Troubleshooting

LMN Timesheets & Payroll Reports Don’t Match (Rounding, Excel vs In‑App, Missing People)

Typical symptoms

You may see:

• Payroll Excel export (for example, Payroll Report – Excel [Detail] or [Simple]) doesn’t match the totals shown in in‑app payroll reports

• Different payroll reports show slightly different totals

• A foreman or crew member is missing from payroll/staff/crew daily log reports

• You need to know who edited a timesheet and where to see it

Why numbers may not match

Use this quick checklist:

1. Decimal / rounding differences

   • In‑app screens may use more decimal places (for example, 6) than the Excel export (usually 2).

   • When totals are rounded in Excel, small differences (minutes over many days/employees) can add up.

   • If the difference is only a few hundredths of an hour, it is almost always rounding, not missing time.

2. Approved vs submitted timesheets

   • Many payroll reports have an option like “Show Approved Time only”.

   • If this is checked:

     • The report will only include timesheets with status = Approved.

   • If this is unchecked:

     • The report includes all submitted timesheets (even if not approved).

   • Make sure you are using the same setting across all reports you’re comparing.

3. Different report purposes

   • Some reports are meant for payroll, others for job costing.

   • For example:

     • Payroll Summary – Daily Hours is often used for payroll totals.

     • Job Hours or Job History reports are focused on job costing and may filter differently.

   • Always compare like‑with‑like (payroll report vs payroll report; job‑cost report vs job‑cost report).

4. Date ranges and filters

   • Check date ranges carefully:

     • Some reports can run for all dates, one week, or up to a year.

     • Others (especially some exports) may be limited to certain windows.

   • Also check:

     • Employee filters (active vs inactive, staff groups).

     • Jobs and divisions included.

5. Overnight or early‑morning work

   • Shifts that cross midnight (for example, snow work from 11:00pm to 3:00am) may be counted on the next calendar day in some reports.

   • If a day appears to have “too many” hours, check if part of the previous night’s work was rolled into that date.

Finding who edited a timesheet

If you need to see who edited times:

1. Use a Foreman Edit Audit – type payroll report.

2. These reports list edits by foreman/approver, but may not always show if an office admin edited time instead.

3. If your office staff (not the foreman) often adjust times, you may see correct totals but not always the exact editor’s name in one place.

What to use as your “source of truth”

For most companies:

• Use a single payroll export (for example, Payroll Report – Excel [Detail]) as your source of truth for payroll.

• Use job‑costing reports (for example, Job History – Time [Excel] or Job Est. vs Actual) as your source of truth for job costing.

• Expect minor rounding differences when comparing hours on‑screen vs Excel.

When to contact Support

Reach out to LMN Support if:

• The difference is large or clearly wrong (not just a rounding issue).

• A specific employee or foreman is completely missing from all relevant payroll reports despite having timesheets.

• You have a concrete example where:

  • You can show one timesheet,

  • The exact report you ran, and

  • The settings/date range you used.

Include:

• Employee name

• Timesheet date(s)

• The name of the report you ran

• Screenshots of both the timesheet and the report row (or missing row)

Need more help?  Contact our Support Team by email at lmn-support@granum.com, through Live Chat, or by phone at (888) 347-9864

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