Integration

After you have approved your time sheets from inside of TimeForge, you are ready to run payroll.

Make sure you have QuickBooks running, and have opened your company file.

Then, choose Synchronize Now from the TimeForge Accounting Translator to start.

Synchronizing your time sheet and payroll data from TimeForge into QuickBooks could take from one to five minutes.

Decide if you would like to receive a pop-up notification when the synchronization is complete.

If you choose to receive a pop-up reminder, TimeForge will notify you after the synchronization is successful and the timesheets have been placed into QuickBooks.

Any notes, errors, or warnings about the synchronization / import will be shown in the Messages screen.

After the time sheets are imported, you can run payroll with QuickBooks. Using QuickBooks, you can run your own checks, or use one of their many options to do electronic payroll.

After you open your QuickBooks company file, you will receive a prompt similar to the above image.

1. Make sure to choose the “Yes, whenever the QuickBooks company file is open.” option.

2. Continue …

Please note: You may receive an additional prompt to ensure that you want to allow TimeForge access to your company file.

The TimeForge Accounting Translator will tell you about the status of the TimeForge synchronization.

1. After permission has been granted to access your QuickBooks company file, you still need to set up the payroll type to import (which is the next step). Click on the link to set up the payroll item type.

A payroll item in QuickBooks is a way to do payroll calculations and reporting. Every item on a paycheck is tracked with a payroll item, thus the name payroll item.

Some items you could track using QuickBooks payroll items include:

- Hourly wages

- Overtime wages

- Salaries

- Sick time

- Vacation time

- Federal, state, and local taxes

- Employee and company 401(k) contributions

- Garnishments such as child support

- Benefits such as health insurance, health club dues

- Etc…

Payroll items are also required to track non-taxable items such as:

- Mileage reimbursements

- Employee loans

- Etc…

TimeForge allows you to choose a payroll item for importing time sheets. Currently, TimeForge only allows one payroll item to be chosen for all imported time sheets. In the future, TimeForge will allow separate payroll items for hourly, salaried, sick, vacation, and overtime.

Choose an appropriate payroll item to import the time sheets.

Before importing staff time sheets, make sure to review the Employee List.

TimeForge imports employees into QuickBooks based on their Full Name (the combination of their first name, middle name, and last name).

Because TimeForge imports employees into QuickBooks based on their Full Name (the combination of their first name, middle name, and last name), you will want to make sure that these lists of staff members are both correct.

1. This is a list of employees who are present in TimeForge (and may have time sheets), but are not in QuickBooks. The time sheets for these employees will not be imported into QuickBooks. To import the time sheets for these staff members, please add the employees into QuickBooks.

2. This is a list of employees who are present in QuickBooks, but are not in TimeForge. These employees do not have TimeForge accounts, nor do they have time sheets. If you would like to collect time cards for these staff members, please add the employees to TimeForge.

If the TimeForge Accounting Bridge was not properly configured to use a Web Service account, you will first need to configure the Web Services.

If the TimeForge Accounting Bridge has not yet been fully configured, make sure to set up the Web Service Username and Password.

These values can be configured on the TimeForge web site, and will allow the software to communicate with TimeForge securely.

Review the TimeForge Accounting Bridge dashboard.

1. Click on this link to set up the type of QuickBooks payroll that is imported. TimeForge will import all payroll hours (time sheets) as a single type of pay, for example, as “Regular Pay” or “Hourly Rate”. If you would like to split the time into multiple payroll types, this will need to be done inside of QuickBooks.

2. If a QuickBooks file is currently open, the company file will be displayed. In this example, no QuickBooks company file is open.

3. A status message about QuickBooks will be displayed. In this example, QuickBooks does not appear to be running.

You are all done! You can start using TimeForge and QuickBooks to process your payroll.

Begin installing the TimeForge Accounting Bridge software.

Accept the terms of the End User License Agreement.

Choose a directory to install the TimeForge Accounting Bridge. The default is usually correct.

Choose the Start Menu Folder to install the software.

1. If you already have a TimeForge account, enter your Web Service Username and Password to connect with TimeForge.

A web service username and password is not the same as your TimeForge username (usually your email address), but is a secured username and password that allows the TimeForge Dinerware Bridge to communicate with TimeForge.

You can create a Web Service account by logging into your account, and go to the Settings for your location / store. You can then set your web service username and password.

2. If you do not yet have a TimeForge account, get started by creating a TimeForge account. We will create a Web Service Username and Password for you automatically.

If you need to create a TimeForge account, please fill out all of the fields, including your company name, first and last name, email address, password, and a password recovery answer.

We will automatically create your Web Service Username and Password for you.

Finish the TimeForge Accounting Set up.

Access the Sales menu to set up Menu Items and Menu Item Groups for Sales Forecasting within TimeForge.

This will allow you to benchmark and schedule labor in comparison to your desired labor needs.

TimeForge allows up to 10 Menu Items from your Micros Menu to be chosen for Sales Forecasting.

Details for the sales of these 10 Menu Items are replicated from your Micros database to your TimeForge labor management system, and will allow you to accurately compare sales against schedules and actual attendance.

Menu Item Groups allow you to easily and quickly combine sales from multiple menu items in your Micros menu into a single Sales Forecast.

For example, you may want to build schedules based on entrées, or drinks, or some other combination of menu items.

Enter a descriptive name, and choose the necessary menu items from your Micros database. Choose Save when you are finished.

TimeForge will automatically synchronize your sales data the next time it connects to the TimeForge server.

Check the Windows task bar, which is the bar that normally runs along the bottom of the computer and contains the Start menu (on the left) and clock (on the right).

You should see icons similar to those shown above. Both of these icons should be displayed, and if they are, then TimeForge is working properly.

In TimeForge, access the Attendance Options (located in the Attendance tab). You will want to set the grace periods for early clock in, and late clock out.

These settings can be set to values that make sense for your business, though many businesses choose a 5 - 10 minute early clock in, and a 10 - 20 minute late clock out.

Create and post a schedule in TimeForge, so that staff members are notified of upcoming shifts.

This will also allow the TimeForge Micros Bridge to synchronize and enforce the schedule.

TimeForge automatically synchronizes data between your Micros POS system and the live TimeForge server.

This ensures that employees, positions, time cards, schedules, and sales are automatically transferred between the two systems.

During heavy activity at your restaurant, this synchronization is done very often, and during slower periods of activities, it is done less often.

Before an employee can access the Micros RES 4 POS, they must clock in.

The staff member needs to enter their PIN or swipe a mag card to clock in or clock out.

Employees must choose a job assignment or position before clocking in.

Any staff member who is not scheduled will be presented with a screen for a manager override.

Additionally, employees who show up too early, or attempt to clock out too late, will also be prompted for a manager override.

This immediately reduces your labor costs by 2% - 3% instantly!

If the TimeForge Micros Bridge was not properly configured to use a Web Service account, you will first need to configure the Web Services.

If the TimeForge Micros Bridge has not yet been fully configured, make sure to set up the Web Service Username and Password.

These values can be configured on the TimeForge web site, and will allow the software to communicate with TimeForge securely.

Configure the Dinerware POS side of the TimeForge Micros Bridge. Some of the important values on this screen include:

1. Micros RES 4 Server settings, including the Database Name, Username and Password.

2. Choose how often the software should poll or synchronize with the Micros POS system.

Review the TimeForge Micros Bridge dashboard.

1. The Last Successful Sync Date shows the last date and time that the software was able to read from your Micros database.

2. The Last Synchronization shows the last date and time that a synchronization was attempted.

3. The Status shows the status of the last synchronization (it will either be SUCCESSFUL or FAILED).

4. The Next Synchronization shows the date and time of the next scheduled synchronization.

You are all done. TimeForge will synchronize your data based on the needs of your restaurant, and will keep the data in TimeForge and in Micros POS communicating properly.

Begin installing the TimeForge Micros Bridge software.

Accept the terms of the End User License Agreement.

Choose a directory to install the TimeForge Micros Bridge. The default is usually correct.

Choose the Start Menu Folder to install the software.

1. If you already have a TimeForge account, enter your Web Service Username and Password to connect with TimeForge.

A web service username and password is not the same as your TimeForge username (usually your email address), but is a secured username and password that allows the TimeForge Micros Bridge to communicate with TimeForge.

You can create a Web Service account by logging into your account, and go to the Settings for your location / store. You can then set your web service username and password.

2. If you do not yet have a TimeForge account, get started by creating a TimeForge account. We will create a Web Service Username and Password for you automatically.

If you need to create a TimeForge account, please fill out all of the fields, including your company name, first and last name, email address, password, and a password recovery answer.

We will automatically create your Web Service Username and Password for you.

Set up the Micros database connection settings. You will need to configure your Micros database (by default, this is named micros), and you will also need to configure a username and password to connect to the database.

Please note: The username and password must have read and write access to your Sybase database.

If your database connection parameters are incorrect, TimeForge will let you know.

At this point, go ahead and run the TimeForge Bridge software.

Check the Windows task bar, which is the bar that normally runs along the bottom of the computer and contains the Start menu (on the left) and clock (on the right).

You should see icons similar to those shown above. Both of these icons should be displayed, and if they are, then the TimeForge Dinerware Bridge is working properly.

1. In the TimeForge Translator, make sure that the “Allow clock in and clock out, regardless of schedule settings” is selected. This will allow your users to clock in and out of Dinerware as necessary - which is important for choosing cash drawers and meal coursing, as well as check printing.

2. In the TimeForge Translator, make sure that the “Use Dinerware Time Punches for TimeForge Attendance” is NOT selected. This option turns off the synchronization of the Dinerware time punches, and instead allows you to use TimeForge Attendance for tracking time.

To be able to use the software immediately, you will need to force the software to synchronize itself.

You can do this by right-clicking on the Connector, and choosing “Synchronize Now“

TimeForge Attendance is very flexible, and could allow your employees to clock in from their cell phones, facebook, or any Internet-enabled computer. However, most businesses will prefer to have staff clock in from restricted computers - such as those provided at their work location.

1. Lock down attendance tracking by limiting clock-in’s and clock-out’s to specific IP’s. To do so, simply click on the button displayed above.

Employees can now log into TimeForge using their username (usually their email address) and password. Alternatively, if the location is using a compatible fingerprint scanner, staff members can use their fingerprints to log in to TimeForge.

After logging in, they will see a clock in / clock out box on the right-hand side of their screen.

Clocking in and out is now point and click easy!

If the TimeForge Aloha Bridge was not properly configured to use a Web Service account, you will first need to configure the Web Service account.

If the TimeForge Aloha Bridge has not yet been fully configured, make sure to set up the Web Service Username and Password to access your TimeForge data.

These values can be configured on the TimeForge website, and will allow the software to communicate with TimeForge securely.

If the Aloha POS location has not yet been configured, you must first configure where Aloha stores the daily grind files.

Configure the Aloha POS side of the TimeForge Aloha Bridge. Some of the important values on this screen include:

1. The path to the Aloha grind files, which is normally C:\Aloha or C:\AlohaQS (for quick service or QSR restaurants).

2. Choose how many previous days TimeForge should consider for labor adjustments. This ensures that TimeForge scans old time punch / time card entries to identify manager edits to time punches.

3. By default, TimeForge users the time punch values from Aloha. However, if you would like to circumvent the Aloha time punches (time cards), and would prefer to use the TimeForge Attendance system and optional biometrics, then please un-check this option.

Review the TimeForge Aloha Bridge dashboard.

1. The Last Successful Sync Date shows the last date and time that the software was able to read from your Aloha grind files. This normally happens once per day, and should occur automatically.

2. The Last Synchronization shows the last date and time that a synchronization was attempted.

3. The Status shows the status of the last synchronization (it will either be SUCCESSFUL or FAILED).

4. The Next Synchronization shows the date and time of the next scheduled synchronization.

You are all done. TimeForge will synchronize your data based on the needs of your restaurant, and will keep the data in TimeForge and in Aloha POS communicating properly.