Most time clock vendors put logos on an integrations page and let you assume there is a live connection behind each one. ClockOut does not have live connections, so here is the plain version: every pay period you lock the hours in ClockOut, download a CSV built for your payroll provider, and upload it there. Nothing runs in the background, nothing silently half-syncs mid pay period, and nothing breaks when a provider rotates an API key.
What an integration means here
A payroll import has three moving parts: the column names, the units, and the rows. Get all three right and the upload takes a minute. Get one wrong and the provider rejects the file or, worse, accepts it and pays the wrong hours. ClockOut’s job is to get all three right for you.
- Column names match the provider. Each format writes the header row that provider expects, so you are not renaming columns in a spreadsheet before every payroll.
- Hours are decimal, never clock time. 7 hours 45 minutes exports as 7.75. Payroll systems reject 7:45.
- One row per employee for the whole period. Not one row per punch. Names are quoted, so a name like Mary “MJ” Ward cannot shift the columns.
- The period is locked first. Export comes after lock in the pay run, so the file and your live data agree. This is the single most common payroll bug and the workflow removes it.
The formats, and which plan each one needs
| Plan | What the file carries | |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll report CSV | Every plan, Free included | Employee, email, hourly rate, hours worked, regular hours, overtime hours, work from home hours, regular pay, overtime pay, total pay, plus a total row |
| ClockOut pay run CSV | Pro | The above plus department, job code, double time hours, premium hours and premium pay |
| RUN Powered by ADP | Pro | Employee ID, employee name, regular hours, overtime hours, rate, department |
| Gusto | Pro | Employee email, employee name, pay period start, pay period end, regular hours, overtime hours, holiday hours, PTO hours, additional earnings |
| QuickBooks | Pro | Display name, email, total hours, regular hours, OT hours, hourly rate, total amount, start date, end date |
| Xero, Sage | Pro | One row per employee per earnings line (regular, overtime, double time) with hours and the rate paid |
Files are named for the format and the period, for example payroll_adp_2026-09-01_2026-09-14.csv, so a folder of them stays readable at year end.
The generic CSV, for every other provider
Paychex, OnPay, Square Payroll, Patriot, Wave, Rippling, Paylocity and every bookkeeper with a spreadsheet accept manual hours. For those, use the payroll report CSV on the admin reports page: it is on every plan, including Free, and carries employee, email, rate, hours worked, regular hours, overtime hours, work from home hours, regular pay, overtime pay and total pay, with a total row at the bottom.
Most providers take it under an option called Import hours or Bulk time entry, where you map each column once and the mapping is remembered. If yours has no import at all, the same file is a clean sheet to key totals from, which is still faster than adding up paper timecards.
What the export files do not do
These are the edges worth knowing before payroll day rather than during it.
- No API push, no connected account. ClockOut never signs into your payroll provider and nothing is sent anywhere. You download and upload.
- Nothing comes back. Payroll providers hold pay stubs, taxes and deductions. None of that flows into ClockOut, and ClockOut is not a payroll processor.
- The Employee ID column carries the email. In the ADP format, ClockOut writes each employee’s email address in the Employee ID column, because that is the identifier ClockOut is sure about. If your provider matches on its own file number, replace that column once and keep the file as your template.
- Double time is only in some files. The ADP, Gusto and QuickBooks formats carry regular and overtime hours. If your state has daily double time rules, the double time hours sit in the ClockOut pay run CSV and the Xero and Sage formats, and need entering on the payroll side for the other three.
- Holiday and PTO columns export as zero. The Gusto format has the columns because Gusto expects them, but ClockOut fills them with 0.00. Paid leave comes off the time off balance report and is entered in payroll.
- Names have to match. QuickBooks matches on the display name. Spell people identically in both systems or rows drop quietly.
Need a format that is not here?
Ask. Email hello@useclockout.com with the name of your payroll provider and, if you can, the sample import file it gives you. A format is a header row and a units rule, so adding one is small work when the spec is in front of us. The step-by-step of the current exports is in the help guide.
On the roadmap, not shipped
A direct Gusto payroll push is built in the codebase but switched off, because turning it on needs a Gusto partner account that ClockOut does not have yet. Until that is approved, Gusto works the same way as every other provider on this page: download the CSV, upload it in Gusto. There is no timeline to promise, so choose ClockOut on the CSV path being good enough, not on the API arriving.
Integration FAQ
Is there payroll software with a time clock built in?
Yes, and it is worth understanding the trade. ADP, Gusto and QuickBooks all sell time tracking alongside payroll, usually as a paid add-on or an upgrade to a higher plan. That gets you one login. ClockOut is the other shape: it does the clock, the schedule, overtime and the hours math, then hands your payroll provider a file. Teams pick ClockOut when they want GPS punches, geofences, kiosk clock-in, schedules and time off to be good rather than adequate, and when a one-minute upload each period is an acceptable price for that.
Does ClockOut sync with ADP, Gusto or QuickBooks?
No. There is no API sync and no connected account. ClockOut generates a CSV in each provider’s import format and you upload it. For a team running payroll weekly or every two weeks, that is one upload per period, done after you lock the hours.
Which plan do the payroll formats need?
The generic payroll hours CSV is on every plan, including the Free plan for up to 2 active employees. The formatted ADP, Gusto, QuickBooks, Xero and Sage files come with pay runs on Pro, which is $39 a month for up to 5 people and $6 per extra person after that. Starter is $19 a month for up to 5 people, then $3 each, and includes the generic CSV.
Is ClockOut in the Zapier or Gusto app directories?
Not today. There is no Zapier app and no listing in a payroll vendor’s app directory, because both require a live API connection that ClockOut does not have. If you need a time clock that fires webhooks into other tools, say so in an email and it will count toward what gets built next.
Can I export hours for a period that is not my usual pay period?
Yes. Your company setting can be weekly, every two weeks, every four weeks or monthly with a start day, and ClockOut offers that period by default. A pay run can also be created over any start and end date, which is what a semi-monthly schedule or a mid-period correction needs.
Related pages
- ADP export: the file, the steps, and what ADP’s own time module costs you instead.
- Gusto export: the file, the steps, and when Gusto’s own time tracking is enough.
- QuickBooks export: the file, the steps, and which QuickBooks product it matches.
- Time and attendance system: the punches, approvals and reports the export is built from.
- Exporting payroll to ADP, Gusto and QuickBooks: the pre-export checklist and the common failure modes.
- How to run weekly payroll in 30 minutes: the whole Friday routine, start to finish.
- Product facts: every plan limit and boundary, stated plainly and dated.
- Pricing: current plans and checkout.