Payroll timesheet as CSV
Building the schedule is half the job. The other half is getting the hours into your payroll system without typing them in by hand. Here’s what a timesheet file must contain, why Norwegian CSV files use semicolons, and which three mistakes most often break an import.
The columns you need
A payroll timesheet rarely needs more than this: Employee — name and, preferably, the employee number if your payroll system uses one. Date — one row per shift, not per week. From and To — clock times, not duration. Break — unpaid minutes as its own column. Hours — what actually gets paid, i.e. time minus break. Comment — for anything that needs explanation. Include both the clock times and the calculated hours. The payroll system imports the hours; you and the employee refer to the clock times when someone wonders whether a shift looks right.
Why semicolons and decimal commas
On a Norwegian computer the comma is the decimal separator. If you write 7.5 hours in a comma-separated CSV, it becomes two columns: “7” and “5”. That’s why Norwegian CSV files use semicolons as the delimiter. Excel with Norwegian regional settings opens a semicolon file straight into columns without the import wizard, while a comma file lands in a single column and must be fixed manually. The same logic applies to dates: write them as DD.MM.YYYY. That’s the format Norwegian systems expect, and it avoids the ambiguity where 03.04 could be read as 3 April or 4 March.
First import is a mapping
Payroll systems with CSV import usually ask you to match their fields to your columns the first time. That isn’t a sign the file is wrong — it’s how the import is meant to work, and the setup is saved for next time. That’s why column names matter more than the format: if they’re written in Norwegian and clearly labelled, mapping takes two minutes. Rota’s export uses Employee, Date, Weekday, From, To, Break (min), Hours and Comment exactly so that step is obvious. Run the first import for a single week, not a whole month. Then it’s manageable to fix anything that mapped incorrectly.
The three recurring mistakes
Shifts past midnight. A shift from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. gives minus sixteen hours if someone has calculated end minus start without handling the overnight change. Always check night shifts in the export before you import. Break deducted twice. If your file has already deducted the break from the hours, and the payroll system is set to deduct break itself, every shift will be thirty minutes short. Check what your system does with the break column. Names that don’t match. “Ingrid H.” on the schedule and “Ingrid Hansen” in payroll are two different people to an import routine. Use employee IDs where you can, and otherwise use exactly the same name in both places.
Check the totals before you send
Before the file goes further: add up the Hours column and compare it with the total in the schedule. They should match. If they don’t, it’s almost always one of the three errors above — and it’s cheaper to catch it now than on the payslip. Rota’s planner shows the weekly total right next to the download button, so you have the number to compare with.
Frequently asked questions
Which payroll systems can read a file like this?
Most payroll systems have CSV import and let you map the columns yourself on first import. Check the documentation for your exact system to see which fields it requires — requirements vary, especially around employee ID and pay type.
Can I open the file in Excel first?
Yes, and it’s smart to do so. Open it, check that the dates and hours look correct, and save it again as CSV if you’ve made any changes. Make sure Excel doesn’t turn an employee ID that starts with a zero into a regular number.
What about overtime and allowances?
The rates belong in the payroll system, not in the timesheet. The timesheet just says when people worked; what it costs is a rule in your payroll system, and you don’t want that rule in two places.