THE SHORT ANSWER
Match the employee.
Match the work. Explain the pay.
Compare the same employee and work dates across the roster, timesheet and payroll earnings behind the payslip. Explain differences in shifts, hours, breaks, pay codes and adjustments before deciding whether a payment is wrong.
A roster describes planned work. A timesheet records work and breaks, but its accuracy still needs checking. A payslip reports payroll earnings and deductions, often as totals for a pay period. None of these records, by itself, proves that every entitlement was correctly paid.
The aim is an explained comparison, not three identical totals. Changed shifts, paid breaks, minimum engagements, leave and later adjustments can legitimately make the records look different.
KNOW YOUR EVIDENCE
Each record answers
a different question.
| Record | Use it to check | It cannot establish alone |
|---|---|---|
| Roster | Planned dates, start and finish times, breaks and shift changes. | What was actually worked or paid. |
| Timesheet | Recorded work times, breaks, edits and supporting approvals. | Every applicable pay rule or the correct payment. |
| Payslip | Reported pay period, earnings, rates, gross pay and deductions. | The work performed or whether a bank transfer settled. |
Fair Work describes a roster as a timetable of required work and explains what a pay slip must show. If earnings are grouped into period totals, obtain the underlying payroll lines to connect them with individual shifts.
STEP 01
Choose one employee and a clear period.
Start with a manageable review period and record exactly which work dates it covers. Keep the pay-period start and end, payment date and payroll cut-off date separate. A payment made this week may relate to earlier work.
Confirm the employee identifier in each system. Use names as a cross-check, not the sole matching key. Include all relevant jobs, locations and pay runs for the employee, including off-cycle payments and reversals.
If overtime or another entitlement depends on a week, fortnight or roster cycle, collect the complete period and relevant adjacent shifts. A single payslip or isolated shift may not contain enough evidence.
Keep: the employee, review dates, pay periods and a list of included and missing records.
STEP 02
Keep originals and collect the detail.
Gather the roster version used for the shift, changes to that roster, original clock entries or timesheets, approved edits, payslips and detailed payroll earnings exports. Collect relevant employment terms, classification and agreed pay-rate changes as well.
Keep original exports and reconcile copies. Record the file, row or transaction reference behind each comparison. Where a record is corrected, retain the reason, person responsible and link to the earlier version.
Fair Work’s record-keeping guidance explains the required records and access rules. Records must not be false or misleading and may be changed only to correct an error. A reviewer’s spreadsheet should not silently overwrite the underlying record.
Keep: source references, export dates, versions and access limited to authorised people. Use the payroll audit data checklist to organise the evidence.
STEP 03
Align dates, units and shift references.
Create one comparison row per shift, with additional rows where payroll splits the shift into different earnings segments. Retain the employee ID, work date, start and finish timestamps, location and payroll reference.
- Clock format: distinguish 24-hour times from AM/PM and confirm the date format.
- Decimal hours: 7 hours 30 minutes is 7.50 hours, not 7.30 hours. Thirty minutes is 0.50 hours.
- Overnight work: preserve the finish date when it differs from the start date.
- Time zones: confirm the workplace’s local time zone and any daylight-saving change before comparing timestamps.
- Rounding: keep raw entries, identify rounding rules and investigate their effect on payable time.
- Duplicates: use original shift and payroll references to identify overlapping exports; do not delete genuine separate shifts.
If the payslip has only a fortnight total, reconcile the individual earnings lines to that total first. Do not invent a daily allocation to make a shift appear paid.
Keep: the original value alongside each conversion or allocation and the reason it was needed.
STEP 04
Reconcile work, breaks and payable time.
Compare planned start and finish times with the best evidence of work actually performed. Ask about early starts, later finishes, changed duties, missed clock entries and edited times. Neither the roster nor an unverified clock entry should automatically win when the records conflict.
For the elapsed-time calculation, subtract only the breaks verified as taken and unpaid for the comparison. Do not subtract every recorded break or assume a scheduled meal break happened. Check whether a break was paid, unpaid, interrupted or missed under the applicable rules.
Fair Work’s break guidance explains that Awards and registered agreements set rules about breaks and payment. Keep the break’s actual timing where it affects entitlement.
Then distinguish elapsed work from payable hours. A minimum engagement or another payment rule may mean a short attendance is paid for more hours. Leave or other paid time may also appear in payroll without a worked shift.
Keep: planned hours, verified work and break evidence, payable-time assumptions and the reason for each difference.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Half an hour to explain.
The roster and payslip match. The timesheet differs.
Assume a weekday shift with a verified 30-minute unpaid break. The timesheet’s later finish has been confirmed as work. For illustration, all eight payable hours are ordinary hours at an agreed $30.00 per hour; no other entitlement applies. This is an invented scenario and rate, not a published Award calculation.
| Record | Entry | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Roster | 09:00–17:00; 30-minute unpaid break | 7.50 planned |
| Verified timesheet | 09:00–17:30; 30-minute unpaid break | 8.00 payable, as assumed |
| Payslip earnings | Ordinary hours at $30.00 | 7.50 recorded |
What to investigate: was the extra half hour paid on another earnings line or a later adjustment? Did payroll use planned hours instead of verified work? Does the applicable instrument require overtime, penalties or another treatment?
A later finish is not automatically overtime. Eligibility for ordinary hours is assumed only for this example. Confirm all relevant entitlements and adjustments before treating the $15.00 as a confirmed shortfall.
STEP 05
Map payable time to gross earnings.
Connect the reconciled shift with the payroll codes that paid for it. Separate ordinary hours, overtime, penalties, loadings, allowances, leave and corrections. Some codes add an amount to hours already counted elsewhere, so summing every “hours” column may double-count time.
Check the applicable Award or agreement, employment type, classification, effective rate and any agreed higher rate. Explain whether a displayed rate already includes a loading. Do not assume that matching hours establishes correct pay.
Reconcile earnings-line amounts with the payslip’s gross total. Compare the same entitlement, employee and work dates. Reconcile deductions and the bank deposit separately; net pay is not the right starting point for an hourly gross-entitlement comparison.
A grouped payment, minimum engagement or back payment can explain a mismatch. Keep the evidence for that explanation rather than forcing every payroll line into one shift.
Keep: pay-code definitions, hours allocated once, rate sources, gross amounts and adjustment references.
STEP 06
Document and resolve each difference.
For each mismatch, write down the question, records checked, explanation, outstanding evidence and person responsible for follow-up. Distinguish a record-format issue from a timing adjustment, an unresolved entitlement question and an evidenced payment error.
Ask the employee or relevant manager to help resolve conflicting work records. Do not replace an uncertain start time, break or classification with a guess. Keep material uncertainty visible until the evidence supports a decision.
Where a shortfall remains, follow the underpayment checking guide. Where the paid amount appears higher than expected, use the overpayment and unexpected-payment guide before deciding what happened or considering recovery.
Correct confirmed issues through the appropriate payroll process and retain the supporting record. Recheck the affected period and the next relevant pay run. If the cause is shared, examine other affected employees and dates.
Keep: the decision, reviewer, evidence, correction reference and follow-up result. Obtain qualified advice on disputed entitlements or unclear legal arrangements.
BUILD YOUR COMPARISON
What to put in
a reconciliation worksheet.
Start with one row per shift, then add linked earnings rows where necessary. These are suggested working fields, not a WageReview upload template.
- Match: employee ID, shift reference, work date, location and pay period.
- Plan: roster version, planned start, finish and breaks, plus change references.
- Work: recorded start and finish dates and times, verified breaks, edits and evidence.
- Pay: payroll reference, earnings code, paid hours, rate, gross amount and adjustment link.
- Review: hours difference, amount difference where established, explanation, missing facts, owner and outcome.
Keep a source reference for every row. A missing record should appear as missing, not as zero hours or evidence of non-payment. Leave a difference unresolved where the available data cannot establish it.
PREPARE FOR A TRACEABLE REVIEW
Where WageReview can help.
WageReview’s controlled demo uses employee profiles and pay/time CSVs to compare recorded paid amounts with supported deterministic hourly-pay calculations. Pay segments and source evidence help a reviewer investigate differences.
Use this comparison process to verify the source records before preparing the input files. The demo does not automatically read or reconcile arbitrary timesheets, roster files, payslip PDFs or bank statements, and it cannot establish that a clock entry reflects work actually performed.
Represented outcomes cover the Retail, Hospitality and Restaurant Awards for casual, part-time and hourly full-time employees. New audit periods must start on or after 1 July 2025; some calculations need complete period and arrangement evidence.
It does not establish legal Award coverage or provide a complete entitlement audit. Tax, superannuation, leave, termination and salary or annualised-wage reconciliation are outside its calculations. Production use is not approved, and payroll is not automatically corrected.
Common questions.
Should roster hours and paid hours always match?
No. A changed shift, verified actual work, paid time off or a minimum engagement can explain a difference. Find the supporting record and applicable entitlement rather than assuming every mismatch is an error.
Is 7.30 hours the same as 7 hours 30 minutes?
No, if the field uses decimal hours. Seven hours thirty minutes is 7.50 hours. A decimal value of 7.30 hours is seven hours eighteen minutes. Check the export’s units before converting.
What if the payslip shows only a weekly or fortnightly total?
Obtain the underlying payroll earnings lines and reconcile them to the payslip. Preserve the pay codes and adjustments so that amounts can be allocated to the correct work without double-counting.
Does matching all three records prove correct pay?
No. You still need the applicable entitlements and rates. Three records can share the same wrong assumption, and excluded entitlements may need separate review.
What should I do when a timesheet is missing?
Record the gap, request the available work records and seek clarification from the people involved. A roster alone does not establish actual work, and missing evidence must not silently become zero hours.
Official sources and related guides.
- Fair Work: Record-keeping
- Fair Work: Pay slips
- Fair Work: Rosters
- Fair Work: Breaks
- How to Check for Payroll Underpayments in Australia
- Payroll Overpayment or Unexpected Payment? What to Check First
General information for payroll review in Australia. Not legal advice. Confirm the applicable workplace-relations system and instrument, and obtain advice for the particular circumstances.