A .csv sheet is a single sheet from spreadsheet softwares such as excel or google sheets, but can often be exported by other systems, including punch clock systems.
Buddy's upload function does not require a specific format for Timesheets, so this can be customised. The most important columns are:
- Employee Reference
- Date
- Time in
- Time Out
Other fields, such as Break Time (in minutes) can also be added. The important thing is that each row has only one time in and one time out. If someone punched in and out multiple times within a day, these should be imported as two different rows.
The screenshot below gives an example of a simple .csv sheet for 6 employees:
Mapping Timesheet Settings
The first time you are uploading a timesheet via .csv, you will be asked to Map your columns to Buddy's Timesheets.
As shown in the screenshot below, you will see the Field Name, the Buddy Mapping and Data Preview for each column:
- Assign a Buddy Mapping for each relevant field
- Click Save
- Click Import File to start the import
These timesheet mappings can be changed and saved whenever you upload a new .csv.
Uploading Timesheets via .csv
To upload the Timesheets,
- Go to the Timesheets section
- Click Upload CSV Timesheet File
- Select the Timesheet file you want to import.
- Update the Mapping if necessary (see above)
- Click Import File
- Buddy might show you some warnings if required (e.g., an ID reference that does not match)
- Perform any changes on timesheets with warnings
- If these warnings are to be ignored, click Ignore Warnings & Import, or click Import if there are no warnings
- The timesheets have now been imported
We recommend you check Viewing and Editing Timesheets to ensure the import was successful.
Browser Settings and Dates
If you have received a warning that the dates are invalid, you most likely have an incompatible browser language with the .csv you uploaded.
These settings vary from Browser to browser. An example on Chrome would be to:
- Click on the triple dot on the top right
- Select Settings
- Select Advanced
- Select Languages
- Click on the "Add language" button to choose another variant of English that corresponds to your date preference, whether that is United Kingdom, US or otherwise.
After updating the browser language, try to import the sheet again.