Pay, bill & margins

Pay and bill in one place - with margin in real time.

Pay and charge rates come from one rules engine, and gross margin totals per client, site and worker. Clients approve their hours, you close the pay week, and the files go to Sage and your invoices.

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Sage 50 Payroll file Sage 50 and Xero invoice files Hosted in the EU
app.tempclock.com/margins
Margin, Riverside DC · week 22 as approved
Worker Hours Pay Margin
James Patterson 38.5h £481 £241
Sarah Mitchell 42.0h £525 £315
David Kaczmarek 36.0h £450 £225
Emma Wilson 40.0h £500 £260
Tomasz Bąk 40.0h £500 £260
Week total 196.5h £5,288 £1,763
Illustration: gross margin on a week of hours, 25.0% this week.

0%

Gross margin on this week's hours, totalled automatically: no spreadsheet, no waiting for the invoice run.

Sage 50 Payroll file Xero invoices REST API Hosted in the EU
01/One timesheet

See the margin as the week runs

Because the pay rate and the charge rate are worked out from the same hours, the margin is not a month-end reconciliation: it is there as the hours come in.

  • Pay and charge resolve together from your rate rules.
  • Overtime and shift uplifts are already applied.
  • A thin or negative margin is flagged while you can still act on it.

James Patterson

Picker · 38.5h approved

Rates resolved
£0
Pay cost
£12.50/h
£0
Charge
£18.75/h
£0
Margin
33.3%

£18.75 charge − £12.50 pay = £6.25/h margin × 38.5h

02/Rate rules

Set the rules once; every clock-in inherits them

A rate hierarchy decides pay and charge for you. The most specific rule wins, so a site rate beats a client default, which beats a worker's base rate.

tier 1 Worker base rate £11.44/h
tier 2 Client default, Riverside Logistics £12.00/h
tier 3 Site rate, Riverside DC, Picker most specific · applied £12.50/h
on top Overtime & shift uplifts + rules

Specific beats general

The most specific matching rate rule wins, and the Site Rules pages show which rules apply where, so there is no ambiguity about which figure applies.

Pay and charge, together

Each rule carries both the cost you pay and the rate you charge, so margin is defined by the rule itself, not bolted on afterwards.

Premiums apply automatically

Overtime, weekend, Sunday, bank holiday and night premiums are set once and applied to every matching shift, including across midnight and clock changes.

Change once, applies everywhere

Adjust a site rate and every future timesheet for that site picks it up, no per-worker edits.

03/Verified hours

A margin you can actually defend

The figure you bill is only as good as the hours behind it. Every hour here arrives with a face-match score and a geofenced location, so the margin is built on verified attendance.

Verified hour

38.5h

face 94% · 50m

Resolved rate

£12.50/h

site rule

Margin

£241

33.3% on £722

Export

Sage / Xero

closed week

Read how attendance is verified on the security & GDPR page.

04/Export

Out to payroll from a closed week

Close the pay week and approved hours export with pay and charge already worked out, so there is nothing to re-key into your payroll or accounting system.

Sage 50 & Xero

A Sage 50 Payroll import file with one line per worker per pay element and your payment codes. Client invoices go to Sage 50 Accounts and Xero as import files. A Sage Accounting (cloud) send button on the charge schedule is being added.

REST API

Feed another back-office system from the REST API (timesheets and payroll, with scoped keys) and HMAC-signed webhooks for clock events.

Read the API docs →
05/FAQ

Pay & margins, answered plainly

How is gross margin calculated?
Gross margin is the charge to your client minus the cost of paying the worker, for the same approved hours. TempClock prices both from the same rules engine, so the margin report shows it per client, site and worker without a spreadsheet, and warns you about shifts with no charge rate.
When do I see the margin, at billing, or before?
Before. Because pay and charge are worked out from the same hours by the same engine, the margin is visible as the week runs, not weeks later when you reconcile the invoice. A thin or negative margin surfaces while you can still do something about it.
How do pay and charge rates get decided?
Rates come from rate rules, which can be set per client, site, job role or cost code. The most specific matching rule wins, and a matching rule takes priority over the worker's own rate. Overtime and premiums apply on top. The Site Rules pages show exactly which rules are applied and where.
Can it handle overtime, holiday pay and uplifts?
Overtime (daily and weekly), weekend, Sunday, bank holiday and night premiums are priced by the rules engine, as a multiplier or a fixed rate, and AWR rates apply once a worker’s AWR record shows 12 qualifying weeks. The AWR tracking page updates those records when you click Recalculate. Holiday pay accrual is not calculated in TempClock; that stays in your payroll system.
Does it export to my payroll and accounting system?
Yes. When you close a pay week, approved hours go to a Sage 50 Payroll file with one line per worker per pay element, using your payment codes. The charge schedule produces client invoice files for Sage 50 Accounts and Xero. Sage Accounting (cloud) connects through Sage's API and reads back paid status; a send button on the charge schedule is being added. There is also a REST API with a payroll endpoint.
How do I know the hours behind the margin are real?
Every hour carries a face-match score and a geofenced location from clock-in. The margin is built on verified attendance, not self-reported time, so the number you bill is one you can defend to a client or an auditor.

See it alongside the rest of the platform on the features overview.

Know who turned up, and pay every hour right.

Face-verified clock-ins, live geofencing and payroll-ready timesheets in one system. Tell us how your shifts run and we will show you how it fits.

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