> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.paypunch.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How PayPunch Works

> Understand the Bookkeeper Org → Client Company → Employee hierarchy and how clocked hours flow through review, approval, and QuickBooks export.

PayPunch has two things to understand: the **hierarchy** (who owns what) and the **data flow**
(how a clock-in becomes payroll). Once these click, the rest of the product makes sense.

## The hierarchy

PayPunch is a **B2B2C** platform with three nested levels:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Bookkeeper Org (the tenant)">
    The bookkeeping firm. This is the top-level account that holds everything below it. Admin
    users (the firm's staff) live here, along with org-wide settings like timezone, overtime
    rules, holidays, and branding.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Client Company">
    A business the bookkeeper does payroll for — a construction company, a diner, a tech shop.
    Each company has its own pay-period schedule, job codes, employees, and client users
    (owners and managers). Companies are isolated from one another.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Employee">
    A worker at a client company. Employees clock in and out, record breaks, request time off,
    and view their own hours. They authenticate with a short **PIN** rather than a password.
  </Step>
</Steps>

```
Bookkeeper Org  (ACME Bookkeeping)
   ├── Client Company  (Builders R Us)
   │      ├── Employee  (John Smith)
   │      └── Employee  (Maria Garcia)
   └── Client Company  (Sunny Side Diner)
          └── Employee  (...)
```

## The data flow

Hours travel a clear path from the clock to QuickBooks. Each hop changes the entry's status and
leaves an audit trail.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Employee clocks in and out">
    A worker punches in with their PIN on a shared time clock (or in the app), takes breaks, and
    punches out. PayPunch calculates regular and overtime hours automatically.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Hours land in a pay period">
    Each entry is assigned to the company's current **pay period** (weekly, bi-weekly,
    semi-monthly, etc.). The period accumulates everyone's time.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The company reviews and submits">
    A client owner or manager reviews the timesheets, fixes or rejects anything that looks wrong,
    and submits the period to the bookkeeper.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The bookkeeper approves and locks">
    The bookkeeper does a final review, approves the payroll, and locks the pay period so no more
    edits can slip in.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Export to QuickBooks (IIF)">
    The bookkeeper exports the approved hours to a QuickBooks Desktop `.IIF` file and imports it
    into QuickBooks. Payroll is done — no re-keying.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Where the value lands

Every step above used to be manual: chasing paper timesheets, eyeballing totals, typing numbers
into QuickBooks. PayPunch keeps the whole chain digital and auditable, and the final IIF export
is the single click that replaces hours of data entry.

## Next step

Now see [who can do what](/get-started/roles-and-permissions) at each level of the hierarchy.