Auto rounding in RosterElf streamlines the payroll approval process by automatically rounding start, break, and finish times for shifts. This ensures times are consistent across your team and reduces the need for manual corrections. This guide explains how auto rounding works in both rostered and clock-in-out scenarios, with step-by-step instructions for configuring the settings.
1. What is auto rounding?
Auto rounding is a payroll setting in RosterElf that automatically adjusts clock-in and clock-out times to consistent increments based on configurable rules. Rather than recording the exact second an employee taps in or out, the system rounds times to the nearest logical point — either to the scheduled start time or to the nearest 5-minute increment.
This feature is particularly useful for businesses using time and attendance tracking with a high volume of staff, where reviewing and manually correcting every minor clock-in variation would be impractical. Auto rounding can be applied differently depending on whether shifts are rostered in advance or simply clocked in and out.
2. Access auto rounding settings
Auto rounding is configured in the Payroll settings. Follow the steps below to access the settings panel.
2.1 go to Payroll
2.1.1 Go to Payroll located in the top menu.
2.2 open settings
2.2.1 Click on the gear settings icon in the top right of the screen.
2.3 select Auto Rounding
2.3.1 Select Auto Rounding from the top menu options of the pop-up modal.
3. Rostered example of auto rounding
In the rostered scenario, auto rounding adjusts the clock-in time to match the scheduled start time when the employee clocks in close to their roster. This keeps payroll consistent with planned schedules and avoids minor over or under-payments caused by small timing variations.
3.1 applying rostered rounding rules
3.1.1 If a staff member clocks in within 5 minutes of their scheduled start, the clock-in time rounds to the rostered start time.
3.1.2 If clock-in occurs more than 5 minutes before or after the scheduled time, it rounds to the closest 5-minute increment.
Example: For a shift starting at 9:00am — if John clocks in at 8:56am (within the 5-minute window), his time rounds to 9:00am. If Jill clocks in at 9:11am (outside the window), her time rounds to 9:10am, the nearest 5-minute increment.
4. Clock-in-out example of auto rounding
The clock-in-out scenario offers more flexibility. The employee's exact clock-in time is used when it falls within a set window of the scheduled start, but is rounded if they clock in significantly earlier or later. This is useful when you want to capture genuine early starts without rounding them all back to the roster time.
4.1 applying clock-in-out rounding rules
4.1.1 If a staff member clocks in within 10 minutes of their scheduled start, their exact clock-in time is recorded.
4.1.2 If the clock-in time exceeds the 10-minute window, it rounds to the nearest 5-minute increment.
Example: For a 9:00am shift — if John clocks in at 9:14am (outside the 10-minute window), his time rounds to 9:15am. If Jill clocks in at 8:51am (within the 10-minute window before the start), her time rounds to 9:00am, the scheduled start time.