Pay Types

Classify each worker's day into your own payroll categories.

Last updated About 2 hours ago

Introduction

Pay types let your company classify a worker's day into your own payroll categories, like Regular, Overtime and Double Time. Building Swell captures the hours; you decide how each day gets split, and payroll receives your codes rather than a single block of straight time.

Building Swell does not work out the split for you. Overtime rules vary by union, agreement and jurisdiction, so the classification stays yours and the system records it.

Before you start. Pay types are off until an admin turns them on under Settings, in Company. Until then nothing changes on the timesheet.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Turning On Pay Types

  1. Go to "Settings" and open the "Company" tab.

  2. Find the "Pay Types" section.

  3. Add the types you need first, then switch the toggle on.

  4. Click "Save".

The setting applies to the whole company, not to a single department or person.

2. Building Your List of Pay Types

Each pay type carries a name your team reads and a payroll code that payroll reads. The starter set is Regular or Straight Time, Overtime, and Double Time.

  • Rename any of them to match what payroll already calls them.

  • Reorder the list so the types you use most sit at the top.

  • Add your own types for anything else you pay against.

  • A payroll code can be edited up until the first time that type is used, then it locks.

  • A type that has been used cannot be deleted. Deactivate it instead. It stays visible on the days that already reference it.

3. Assigning Hours to Pay Types

  1. Go to "Timesheets" under "Insights" and pick the department.

  2. In the Check in/out view, click a day to open the detail panel.

  3. Switch from "Check-in/out" to "Pay Types".

  4. Enter the hours against each type. The header tracks what you have Added and what is still Missing.

  5. Click save.

The split covers the worker's whole day, not an individual order, stage or session. If somebody clocked in and out three times, those blocks roll up into one total before the split is checked.

The number you have to reach is paid attendance for the day, meaning total attendance minus scheduled break time. A partial split saves as a draft, so you can come back to a day you are still working through without losing what you entered.

4. Finding Days That Are Missing a Type

When a day's split does not match its paid hours, the timesheet flags it in red as Missing Type. That covers a day nobody has split yet, and a day whose hours were edited after the split was entered.

  • Turn on "Show errors only" to pull the flagged days together and clear them in one pass.

  • A day flagged Missing Type cannot be approved or sent to payroll.

  • A day with a check-in still open cannot be approved either. Close it out first.

5. Getting Pay Types Out of Building Swell

Pay types come out two ways.

  • Export: pay type is a column in the Check in/out download. Set the department, the date range and any filters first, then use the ⋮ menu and choose "Download as .csv" or "Download as .xlsx".

  • API: the allocation is part of the payload, carrying each pay type's payroll code and the hours booked against it, so a payroll integration reads your codes rather than a single daily total.

Tips

  • The split is yours, not ours. Building Swell will not turn a nine-hour day into eight and one on its own. It records the eight and one you enter.

  • Editing hours later does not move your split. Change a day's times after you have classified it and your split stays put, which can push the day back into Missing Type. Reopen it and rebalance.

  • Settings changes apply going forward. Turning pay types on, or changing the list, affects future days. Days already in progress keep what they started with, and historical days are not reclassified.

  • Name types the way payroll names them. The payroll code locks after first use, so agree on it before the first day gets classified.

For the rest of what the Timesheets page does, see Timesheets. For where the hours come from in the first place, see Tracking Time.

Conclusion

Pay types give payroll the breakdown it needs without anyone splitting hours by hand downstream. If you've got questions, reach out and we'll help you get sorted.

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