Name the data product
Raw attendance is a stream of accepted in/out events. A timesheet evaluates events with schedules, configured deductions and applied corrections. Payroll adds wage valuation and other applicable rules. These layers are related but are not the same dataset.
Attendify’s REST API returns raw events. Its dashboard payroll exports use reviewed daily calculations. Choose the appropriate source; do not expect a raw-event pull to contain every decision represented in a calculated hours export.
Account for exceptions before release
Illustrative example: three workers appear in the period. Worker A has a complete 7.5-hour day. Worker B has a missing checkout. Worker C has a complete eight-hour day but no payroll ID.
Scroll the table sideways to read all columns.
| Worker | Named-format treatment | Required follow-up |
|---|---|---|
| A | Eligible reviewed row | Validate receiver mapping |
| B | Blocking day contributes no policy-export row | Investigate genuine work and correction |
| C | Excluded from payroll-ID-keyed format | Supply valid receiver identity |
The file’s 7.5 hours are not a conclusion that B and C have no pay entitlement. Payroll needs a complete disposition of the population, including omitted rows.
Define who owns each decision
The supervisor owns the evidence supporting a missing punch. An authorized reviewer decides a correction where approval is used. Payroll owns pay treatment and release. The integration owner maps and validates the receiving data. These responsibilities may be assigned differently by company, but they need to be explicit.
Correction approval alone is not a final timesheet sign-off or a payroll-period lock. In Attendify, a user can hold both correction and approval permissions; independent review is not automatically enforced.
Make reruns safe in the receiver
A unique capture ID prevents a repeat attendance submission from creating another accepted event. It does not make a repeated payroll-file import safe. Agree whether a reissue replaces, reverses or adds rows and how late corrections are identified.
A period key alone is insufficient if the receiver has no defined replacement semantics. Some export identities include a check-in time that a correction can change. Test that case deliberately.
Reconcile the full handoff
Before release, compare selected population, work dates, exported rows/hours and exclusions. After import, compare accepted/rejected receiver counts and totals. Retain the receiver result and an accountable disposition for every exception.
Files, APIs and webhooks can each serve useful purposes, but delivery is not business acceptance. Attendify’s scheduled dispatcher operation remains an open prerequisite, so do not assume automatic recurring ERP delivery.
Use the payroll export overview, specific integration layouts and the pre-payroll checklist to turn this into your actual release process.