FAQ
Questions.
Getting started
- I work somewhere that already uses Firmhours. Do I sign up here?
- No. Signing up here creates a brand new company. Your employer sends you an invite by email; open that and set your password from the link inside. Can't find it? Check junk mail, then ask your manager to resend it.
- How does the free trial work?
- 14 days. Add a card or US bank account at the end of sign-up. You aren't charged today. The first charge lands on the day the trial ends (start on the 6th and it's the 20th). Each month you pay $4 for every active user, meaning anyone who clocked in at least once that month. Cancel before the first charge and you pay nothing.
- How long from sign-up to first punch?
- A few minutes. Confirm your email, set a password, name the firm, add a card, add one person. They punch from a phone or a tablet PIN.
- Do we have to leave Gusto, ADP, or QuickBooks?
- No. Keep the payroll you already run. Keep QuickBooks for the books. Firmhours makes the hours file those systems import.
- Is there an app to download?
- No download. Firmhours runs in the browser on a phone, tablet, or computer. On a phone, add it to the home screen and it opens like an app.
- How do people get logins?
- Add them and they get an email to set their own password. Nobody types a password for someone else.
- I'm a bookkeeper. Can I run several client firms?
- Yes. Switch between client firms from one login. Each client keeps its own payroll and its own file.
- Who can see what?
- Managers see their own team. Each permission is set separately, like approving time, running payroll or seeing company reports. Admins see everything.
- Can I bring my crew in from a spreadsheet?
- Yes. Paste your list, match the columns, and everyone is in. Starting PTO balances can be loaded too.
Clocking in
- Do people need an email to clock in?
- No. A tablet on the wall takes a name and a four-digit PIN. People who should see their own time card get an email and set their own password.
- Do you track people all day?
- No. Location is read only at the moment of a punch, and only if the person allows it. Nothing runs in the background. A punch away from a work site is flagged. It is never blocked.
- What about people who work from home or on the road?
- Mark them remote. Their punches aren't checked against a work site.
- Somebody forgot to clock out. Now what?
- Open their day and set the time they actually left. The change carries your name and the employee is told.
- What does a flagged punch mean?
- Something looked unusual: no location shared, a punch away from a work site, a long break. The flag explains itself. Nothing is blocked or corrected for you.
- Some of my people work in another state. Whose clock do I see?
- Each punch is shown in the time zone of the person who made it, with the zone named when it differs from yours. Someone in California clocking in at 7:00 their time reads as 7:00 PDT, not 8:00. Hours are unaffected: an eight-hour shift is eight hours in any zone.
- How are breaks and overnight shifts counted?
- Breaks are paid or unpaid, set for the whole company. A 10pm–6am shift is 8 hours, or 9 on the night clocks fall back.
Approvals & payday
- What does finalizing a pay period do?
- Locks the hours, posts accrual, hands you the file. An admin can reopen within four hours.
- Someone was missed. Do I redo the whole run?
- No. Pay one person off-cycle.
- How is time off worked out?
- It accrues on hours worked at the rate you set. Anyone can see their own ledger: earned, used, adjusted.
- A holiday lands on a weekend. Do I do anything?
- No. It moves to the observed day on its own.
- Does Firmhours calculate overtime?
- Hours over 40 in the workweek are overtime. California, Alaska, Nevada, and Colorado daily rules are applied for people who work in those states.
- What about salaried people?
- Mark them Salary. They record hours, or Firmhours adds a set number of hours on the days you pick. A day with a punch, time off, or a holiday gets nothing added.
Payroll files
- Which payroll files can I download?
- Any hours file your provider's import accepts. You map the columns by hand once: the order, headers and date style. Save it, and every export after that is one click. Most import failures are a header mismatch, so compare your file with what the provider expects and fix the header. OnPay has been tested with a real import. Gusto, RUN Powered by ADP and Paychex Flex formats are built to match their published imports but have not been tested with a real import yet.
- Do I need to turn anything on in my payroll?
- Maybe. Some providers have to switch on their hours import for you. RUN Powered by ADP Time Sheet Import must be turned on for your company, Paychex Flex Standard Payroll Import (SPI) is set up through your Paychex rep, and OnPay Upload Hours is enabled by OnPay support. Check with your provider before your first payday.
- What's in the hours file?
- Whatever columns you choose. Typical files carry regular, overtime, double time, PTO and holiday hours per person, as decimals like 7.93.
- My payroll provider changed its import file. Now what?
- Open your saved format, change the columns or header to match the new sample, and save.
- Can I build a format for a provider you don't list?
- Yes, if they import an hours file. Map their columns by hand once and save it. Simple formats take seconds; complex ones a few minutes.
- Can I build a report that isn't in the list?
- Yes. Pick the columns you want, name it, save it, and it sits in your report list and downloads as a CSV like the rest.
Billing
- What does “active” mean on the bill?
- Anyone who clocked in at least once during that month. Someone who doesn't clock in during a month isn't charged for that month.
- Do people on leave count on the bill?
- Only if they clocked in at least once that month. Someone who doesn't clock in during a month isn't charged for that month.
- How do I cancel?
- Settings, then Billing, then Cancel Firmhours. It opens Stripe, where you confirm. Cancel before the first charge and you owe nothing. Cancelling stops the next charge. Nothing is deleted, and your records stay in Firmhours.
- How do I pay?
- Card or US bank account, through Stripe. Firmhours never sees or stores the number. Bank payments take a few business days to clear, so the money leaves after the charge date. If a payment fails, nothing is switched off. Update how you pay and Stripe tries again.
- Does Firmhours run payroll or file taxes?
- No. Firmhours tracks hours and hands you the file. Your payroll provider pays wages, withholds tax, and files.
- Is there an API?
- Not yet. Join the list on Coming soon.
- I'm a payroll company or bookkeeper. Can we work together?
- Leave your details on the Partners page and we'll reach out.