ShopClock: The small business time clock
ShopClock Features and Benifits
Sample ShopClock Windows and Reports
Down an Evaluation Copy of ShopClock
ShopClock Subscription Terms and Prices
How to get Support for ShopClock
Frequently Asked Questions

Use VPN Connections to connect ShopClock to Multiple Locations

Multiple locations can be serviced by ShopClock by connecting the locations to a common database via VPN connections. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection allows you to securely connect one computer to another through the internet.


There are several advantages to this.

Third party companies have made VPN inexpensive and easy to setup and manage. Here are two links to companies offering this service

The ShopClock network server is installed at one of the locations, call it the head office. Computers in the remote locations simply access the ShopClock's network server via the VPN connections to the home office.

Each location can be defined as a Department. Then the computers at each location can be easily programmed to display only those employees working at that location.

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Running ShopClock from a Limited User Account

ShopClock does not need to be run with Admin Privileges, but the the local database does need to be accessible by the limited user. That is, the limited user must have read/write privileges on the folders containing the local database.

The location of the local database varies across versions of windows, but it's location is listed in the "About ShopClock" window. Just click on Help and then on the bottom option "About ShopClock. The location of the local database will be listed on the right hand side of the About ShopClock window.

In Windows 7 the local database is usually located in the C:/Program Data/Pacific Rim Software Inc/ShopClock-3 folder. The limited/Standard user must have read and write permission on both the ShopClock-3 folder and the Pacific Rim Software Inc folder.

In Windows XP the local database is usually located in the C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/Pacific Rim Software Inc/ShopClock-3 folder. The limited/Standard user must have read and write permission on both the ShopClock-3 folder and the Pacific Rim Software Inc folder.


How do I update ShopClock

There are several ways:

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Something has damaged the .NET Framework 2.0 on my computer. How can this be fixed?

Detailed Instructions

To resolve this issue, remove Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and reinstall it. Select the option for your Windows operating system:

Windows XP

Uninstall and reinstall Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0:

  • Click the Windows Start button and select Run.
  • Enter control in the Open field and click OK.
  • Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
  • Select Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 in the list of programs and click Remove.

If you are unable to remove .NET using these instructions , download and run the dotnetfx_cleanup_tool utility to remove .NET, download .NET from the links below, and reinstall Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, and 1.1 SP1.

Click here to download the dotnetfx_cleanup_tool.

Click here to read more about the tool.

If you are unsure which version to download, refer to "How to determine whether your computer is running a 32-bit version or a 64-bit version of the Windows operating system."

If ShopClock still does not start correctly try reinstalling it.

Windows Vista.

.NET Framework 2.0 is built in to the Windows Vista operating system. Because of this, it cannot be uninstalled from Vista. To repair .NET Framework 2.0, follow the steps below to run the System File Checker tool:

  • Click Start, and then type cmd in the Start Search box. Do not press Enter
  • Right-click cmd.exe in the Programs list in the search results, and then click Run as administrator.
    If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type your password or click Continue
  • At the command prompt, type the following line and then press ENTER:
    sfc /scannow
  • After the tool has finished running, double-click the QuickBooks icon.

For more information about using the System File Checker, refer to the following Microsoft knowledge base articles:

Windows Vista: "How to repair the operating system and how to restore the operating system configuration to an earlier point in time in Windows Vista."

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How do I move my data to a new server?
  1. Download and install ShopClock on the new server.
  2. Start ShopClock and from the Network Setup task on the Admin Window download and install another ShopClock network server.
  3. Backup the data on the old server to somewhere that that it can be accessed by the new server (Perhaps a USB Flash drive).
  4. Restore the data to the new server.
  5. On each client start shopclock and in the “Network Setup” task of the Admin Window click on “Use Network Server Button” ShopClock will report that there are two network servers. Choose the new one. Repeat this step for each existing ShopClock Client on the network.
  6. Finally, Uninstall the Old ShopClock server. (DO THIS LAST)

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An employee has left. How do I take him/her off the time clock – but still save his/her data for the reports?

Simply change the employee from Active to Inactive in the Add/Edit Employee task of the Admin Window.. The employee will no longer be able to punch in or out , but all of the employees data will still be included in the reports.

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Employees keep clicking on someone elses name when clocking in (usually the name above their own).

You can make the buttons bigger and/or assign a unique password to each employee

What is the correct order to do things when Processing the the Pay Perod.

Start at the top of the Pay Period Processing window and work your way down to the bottom.

  1. Select the date when the pay period ends
  2. Print the report (if necessary edit time cards and print it again)
  3. Export the data (now that everything has been corrected in the previous step)
  4. Close the Pay Period. Closing the Pay Period clears the data off of the time cards so that they can start accumulating data for the next pay period.

If you closed the pay period before you meant to, you can reopen it. Chose an employee for whom the pay period was closed. Click on Examin Closed Pay Periods and then click on the closed pay period. the buttons above the closed time card let you reopen the pay period the chosen (current employee) or for all employees

 

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Working with QuickBooks

There are two parts to working with QuickBooks:

  1. Exporting the Employees from QuickBooks and Importing them into ShopClock. (this must be done when you first start using ShopClock and thereafter whenever new employees are added).
  2. Exporting the PayPeriod data from ShopClock and importing it into Quick Books

In both cases data is exported from either ShopClock or QuickBooks by writing a file containing the data somewhere on your computer where the other program can find it. Data is Imported by reading the file that was written by the other program.

Importing Employees from QuickBooks

When using ShopClock with QuickBooks, QuickBooks serves as the master database. New employees should be added to QuickBooks and then the list of employees should be exported to ShopClock.

There are two phases to this operation: first the employee list must be exported from QuickBooks and saved to file located in an area of your computer that is easily accessible by ShopClock The way to do this varies slightly from version to version of QuickBooks. In QuickBooks Pro 2007, select the following QuickBooks menu option: File->Utilities->Export->List to IIF Files .

When the "Select the lists that you would like to export" dialogue box appears select "Employees" and then click on the OK button and choose to save the file somewhere (like your desktop) where you can easily find it. Then click on the Import Employees form QuickBooks button on the Employee Maintenance task of ShopClock's Admin Window. Navigate to and select the employee list that you save earlier.

When importing the employee list, ShopClock uses the employees social security number to distinguish between employees. If no employee in ShopClock has a matching social security number the employee is added to ShopClock's list of employees. If ShopClock finds the social security in its database, it just updates the information based on the data in the import file.

Exporting the Data

When ShopClock exports data it is always written out to a file which is saved some where on your computer. Your desktop is suggested because it makes easy to find the file. After the data has been exported it can be imported by your pay roll program or even email to the people doing your pay roll. The file is always a plain text file which means it could be opened with any text editor like notepad. The data in the export file can be separated by either a comma (in which case the file is referred to as a CSV file (Comma Separated Values) or by tabs in which case it is referred to as a TSV file (Tab separated values). Except in the case of the QuickBooks export file the separator choice is made when in the Export File Customization window.

The first option is where you tell ShopClock where to save the file and what to call it. Unless you change your mind you only need to do this once - ShopClock will remember where to put the file.

ShopClock can export 4 types of data file: QuickBooks, Pay Period Totals, Day by Day Totals, and Session by Session data. Except for QuickBooks (which has its own unique format) the files can be exported as either Comma Separated Values (.CSV files) or Tab Separated Values (.TSV files)

  • QuickBooks
    If you choose this format, all the decisions have been made. The data will be exported as day by day totals in whatever format was chosen above (hours && minutes or decimal hours)
  • Pay Period Totals
    This choice exports one line of data for each employee included in the report. the data can be whatever you choose and in whatever order you choose. See Export File Customization below.
  • Day by Day Totals
    When this option is chosen ShopClock exports one line of data for each employee for each day the worked (or had managed hours) in the pay period. Again, what data and in what order is configured in the Export File Customization task.
  • Session by Session Data
    This choice exports one line of data for each session for each employee. Its pretty close to raw data - no processing is done.

All of the above choices are remember, so you only have to make them once. When ready, just click on the Export Now button to export the data. The Customize Export File button is a short cut to the Export File Customization task which is list below.

Special notes about exporting ShopClock data to QuickBooks

In QuickBooks data is defined by Payroll Items and you must have a payroll Item for each type of payroll data that is imported. You can add as many Payroll Items to QuickBooks as you want. Depending on how you use ShopClock and the state in which you are located, ShopClock can export up to 8 types of data. There must be a Payroll Item in QuickBooks for each data type that you want to import from ShopClock, and the names must match exactly. the items are:

  • Regular Hours
  • Overtime Hours
  • Double Overtime Hours (used in California)
  • Vacation Hours
  • Sick Hours
  • Holiday Hours
  • Bereavement Hours
  • Paid Time Off Hours

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ShopClock Has the Wrong Time

Whenever an employee clocks in or out ShopClock asks the computer it is using as the server what time it is. (the single computer version uses the local computer time). Computers are notoriously bad time keepers so Windows has the ability to sync the computers clock with an atomic clock on the internet once a week. But in some cases, the computers internal clock is so drifty that this is not adequate. In this case you may want use software that will sync your computer with an atomic clock more often.

 

check out ClockWatch at http://www.beaglesoft.com/index.htm

or Atomic Clock Sync v3.0 at http://www.worldtimeserver.com/atomic-clock/


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Security Settings for using LogMeIn-Rescue with IE 6 & 7

Make www.shopclock.com a trusted website, and then Enable Active X

For IE 6.x and 7.0 for Windows:

  1. Click on "Tools" menu in the browser.
  2. Select "Internet Options" from the pull-down menu.
  3. Click on the "Security" tab on the top portion.
  4. Click on the "Custom Level" button on the 'Internet' zone option.

You will see a scroll-down menu with radio buttons. Select the 'Enable' radio button for the following menu choices:

  1. Click on the "OK" button to exit and save.
  2. Click on the "OK" button again to exit out of Internet Options menu.
  3. Now, exit your browser and restart. ActiveX should now be enabled.
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ShopClock has the wrong time - how to correct it.
How to update ShopClock.
How to move the ShopClock server to another computer.
How to delete employees but keep thier data (make them inactive)
How to keep employees from accidently clocking in/out as someone else.
How to process a pay period.
How does ShopClock work with QuickBooks (Complete Over View)
How to repair the Net Framework.
How to enable Windows Internet Explorer to work with LogMeIn
How to use single ShopClock subscription (database) in multiple locations
How to run ShopClock from a limited user account.