QuickBooks Time, the product that used to be TSheets, is the default answer for anyone already in the Intuit world, and its native sync into QuickBooks Payroll is a real advantage. It is also priced as a base fee plus a charge per user, which is the part owners of 10 to 50 person teams write in to complain about. This page is the alternative: what ClockOut exports, exactly which QuickBooks product that file matches, and where the trade sits.
Which QuickBooks product this matches
This matters more than anything else on the page, so it is stated plainly rather than left for you to find out on payroll day.
- QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets). The export is built to that column set: display name, email, hours, rate, amount and the period dates. This is the one the format targets.
- QuickBooks Online Payroll. There is no separate file for it. The QuickBooks CSV is a plain, small column set, so you map the columns once at import or use it to key hours in. It is not an Intuit-native import file and it is not pretending to be one.
- QuickBooks Desktop. Desktop uses its own import shapes, including IIF files, which ClockOut does not produce. Use this file or the generic payroll CSV as the source you key or map from.
Intuit renames and moves these menus regularly, so the durable thing is the file: nine named columns, decimal hours, one row per employee per period. If you tell us which import screen your QuickBooks product shows and what it expects, email hello@useclockout.com and we will look at matching it exactly.
Exporting hours from ClockOut into QuickBooks
- 01
Match the display names first
Open your employee list in QuickBooks, copy each person as it is written there, middle initial and all, and make the ClockOut name identical. Name mismatches are the classic QuickBooks import failure: the row does not error, it just quietly does not land.
- 02
Clear exceptions and approve timesheets
Missed clock-outs, late arrivals, short breaks and overtime show up in the exception inbox for the period. Resolve or accept each one, then approve the timesheets.
- 03
Create the pay run and lock it
Use your configured pay period (weekly, every two weeks, every four weeks or monthly) or any custom date range. Locking freezes the hours so the file and your live data cannot drift apart.
- 04
Download the QuickBooks file
On the locked run, choose QuickBooks. The file downloads as
payroll_quickbooks_2026-09-01_2026-09-14.csv, one row per employee with the period dates on each row. - 05
Bring the hours into QuickBooks
Use the hours import your QuickBooks product offers and map the columns once; the mapping is remembered for later periods. Confirm which payroll item each hours column lands on, regular against regular and OT against overtime, then compare the preview totals with the ClockOut pay run summary before you submit. The wider checklist is in our payroll export guide.
What is in the QuickBooks file
One row per employee for the whole pay period, with a header row on top. Hours are decimal, so 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75. Names and emails are quoted, so a comma in a name cannot shift the columns.
| What goes in it | |
|---|---|
| Display Name | Full name as entered in ClockOut. QuickBooks matches on this, so it must match exactly. |
| The employee's ClockOut email address. | |
| Total Hours | All paid worked hours in the period, after unpaid breaks and rounding. |
| Regular Hours | Decimal hours below the overtime threshold. |
| OT Hours | Decimal overtime hours from your weekly threshold and any daily rule. |
| Hourly Rate | The employee's base hourly rate, two decimals. |
| Total Amount | Total pay for the period, including double time and any pay adjustments. |
| Start Date | Pay run start date, on every row. |
| End Date | Pay run end date, on every row. |
What the QuickBooks file does not carry
- Double time as a column. Hours are split into regular and OT only, while Total Amount already includes double time pay. If you run daily double time rules, use the ClockOut pay run CSV, which has a Double Time Hours column, so your hours and your dollars agree.
- Job codes and customers. ClockOut tags punches with job codes and reports hours by job on the reports page, but the QuickBooks export is one row per employee. Job-level billing comes off the job costing report instead.
- Paid leave. Worked hours only. Approved time off comes from the ClockOut PTO tracker and is entered in payroll.
As a QuickBooks Time alternative for clocking in
The trade is straightforward. QuickBooks Time syncs natively into QuickBooks Payroll and tracks job codes deeply, and it charges a base fee plus a price per user, so the bill grows with every seasonal hire. ClockOut charges a flat plan with a per-person amount that is small and published, keeps the clock separate from your accounting file, and hands over a CSV instead of a sync.
If the native sync is the reason you are on QuickBooks Time, stay. If the reason is that it came up first when you searched for a time clock, the comparisons are here: ClockOut vs TSheets for the head to head, and TSheets alternatives for the wider field. Both were written before the current plan prices, so use the numbers on the pricing page for ClockOut.
Built for teams of 10 to 50
Ten to fifty is the size ClockOut is designed around: too big for a spreadsheet and a group text, too small for an implementation project. Most of the team never opens a laptop, one person runs payroll on a Friday, and nobody has time to be trained. Setup fits in an afternoon and the employee side is a phone screen with one button on it.
What that buys you: GPS and geofence rules on every punch, a tablet kiosk with QR badges for anyone who does not want an app on their own phone, schedules with open shifts and swaps, overtime alerts before the hours get expensive, and approvals that make the export trustworthy. The mechanics are in time and attendance system.
QuickBooks time tracking FAQ
Does ClockOut integrate with QuickBooks?
Not by API. ClockOut does not connect to QuickBooks and nothing is sent to Intuit. It produces a CSV in QuickBooks Time’s column format that you upload or map in QuickBooks in about a minute, once per pay period, after you lock the hours.
Which QuickBooks does the export target?
QuickBooks Time, formerly TSheets. QuickBooks Online Payroll users map the same columns at import, and QuickBooks Desktop users key or map from it because Desktop uses its own import shapes such as IIF files, which ClockOut does not produce.
Is ClockOut a QuickBooks Time alternative?
For clocking in, scheduling and overtime, yes, and for a flat plan instead of a base fee plus a price per user. The difference is the sync: QuickBooks Time pushes hours into QuickBooks Payroll natively, and ClockOut hands you a file to upload. See ClockOut vs TSheets for the detail.
Why do the hours and the total amount not add up?
Because Total Amount is total pay for the period and includes double time and any pay adjustments, while the hours columns show regular and OT only. If your company runs daily double time or break premiums, export the ClockOut pay run CSV as well: it carries double time hours, premium hours and premium pay in their own columns.
Can I track job codes for job costing in QuickBooks?
ClockOut tags punches with job codes on Starter and Pro and reports hours and cost by job, and the ClockOut pay run CSV carries a Job Code column. The QuickBooks format is one row per employee for the period, so job-level detail comes off the job costing report rather than out of that file.
Related pages
- All payroll exports: every format, what it carries and which plan it needs.
- ADP export and Gusto export: the other two formatted files.
- ClockOut vs TSheets (QuickBooks Time): the head to head comparison.
- TSheets alternatives: the wider field, with who each one suits.
- Time and attendance system: punches, approvals, overtime and reporting.
- Exporting payroll to ADP, Gusto and QuickBooks: the pre-export checklist and the four common failure modes.
- How to run weekly payroll in 30 minutes: the Friday routine end to end.
- Pricing: current plans and checkout.