Month-end close step by step

The month-end close is the moment when Zeitflex pays for itself: recorded times become a file that the payroll office can process. It is included from the Starter plan onwards.

The process in four steps

Open Month-end close on the left and select the month at the top.

Step 1: Review

Zeitflex lists what stands in the way of payroll:

• Open clock-ins — someone is still clocked in
• Missing clock-outs on past days
• Open absence requests in the period
• Working-time violations (maximum working time, rest period, breaks)
• Mini-job limits — who is over the limit or close to it?

Work through the list. Each item is linked and takes you to the place where you deal with it.

Step 2: Calculate

Zeitflex calculates for each person:

• Working time under § 4 ArbZG (German Working Hours Act) with the break rules and your rounding setting
• Premiums for night, Sunday and public holiday work (see Understanding premiums)
• Overtime balance against the working-time model
• Absence days by type

You see a preview for each person. If something is wrong, go back to step 1 and correct it.

Step 3: Lock

Locking finalises the month:

1. Click Lock month.
2. Confirm.

Unverified tablet times. If the wall tablet clocked in without a network and the PIN could not be confirmed on upload, the time has been created and is included in payroll, but stays under reservation. Whatever of it is still unapproved when you lock is listed by the closing under “wall-tablet records without a confirmed PIN”, and the month is only locked once you explicitly confirm that list. If the list changes afterwards, you confirm again. Where it is settled that one of those rows was never worked, you can mark it as “not recognised” in the timesheet, with a reason, before you lock: it then drops out of this list and out of the payroll figures, but stays in the timesheet, the monthly sheet and the audit folder as “not recognised” with your reason, and the person concerned receives a message in the bell. The route only appears on rows whose clock-in was booked without a confirmed PIN — not on a break, not on a row from before September 2026, and not where only the clock-out came without a PIN. That limit keeps the route narrow, but it does not prevent misuse: anybody with access to the wall tablet can produce the mark, and any manager can shorten any time to one minute anyway. What exposes misuse is visibility. Details, and the limits of that route: Working without a network.

After that, the times of this month can no longer be changed — neither directly nor by a detour, and not by the owner either (Corrections after locking). The calculated values are recorded permanently — even if a master data entry changes later.

Step 4: Export

Choose the format:

The month changes to exported. Your tax adviser finds the files in the tax adviser portal.

If a person has no personnel number, month-end closing names them above the buttons. In CSV and PDF their column stays empty; DATEV and payroll profiles create no file until the number has been entered under Employees. Zeitflex does not make up a substitute number.

The result: a locked month, finalised values and a file at the payroll office.

The four places where things get stuck

“The lock cannot be clicked.” There are still open clock-ins in the month. Zeitflex deliberately prevents a month with a running booking from being closed.

“The hours do not match my own calculation.” Usually the break rule: for more than six hours, Zeitflex deducts the statutory minimum break, even if nobody clocked it. See Recording breaks correctly.

“Premiums are missing.” Either the plan is free (premiums from Starter), or no premium rules are set up (Settings → Premiums), or the federal state is wrong and therefore the day was not a public holiday.

“I found a mistake after locking.” No reason to panic. The way forward is described under Corrections after locking.

What Zeitflex does NOT do

A good rhythm

Need more help?

If your tax adviser cannot import the file, the solution is described under Setting up the DATEV export.