샤플 이용료 80% 지원 받기
When switching time and attendance systems, the most critical priorities are making sure no historical attendance records are lost in the transition, and confirming that every piece of migrated data matches the original. That means deciding upfront what gets migrated and what gets archived separately, clearly defining what data falls under each category, verifying how working hours are calculated in both systems, cross-checking record counts, and running a post-cutover audit of permissions and reports. Any data that can't be carried over to the new system should be exported as Excel or CSV files and retained separately in line with the record-keeping requirements that apply to your organization.
Switching time and attendance systems is far more than a software swap. Attendance records are the foundation of payroll calculations and are often subject to legal retention requirements.
Gaps in the pre-migration phase can be nearly impossible to recover from after the cutover — so getting this groundwork right matters.
Start by reviewing the retention requirements for each type of record. Then map out which data needs to be migrated to the new system and which should be archived separately — including records for long-tenured active employees as well as former employees.
Check what date ranges and file formats (Excel/CSV data files, PDF for viewing) can be exported from your current system, and confirm whether the full history can be extracted in batches if needed.
Keep in mind that once your contract with the old vendor ends, system access may be cut off or data may be deleted. Export everything you need before that happens — don't wait until the last minute.
Designate a clear migration owner, and split responsibilities between your HR team and store or branch representatives so that validation doesn't fall through the cracks.
Plan the process in this order: export the data → clean and format it → upload to the new system → validate.
If at all possible, run both systems in parallel for at least one full attendance cutoff (payroll) cycle so you can compare outputs side by side before fully cutting over.
There are three main categories of data to plan for.
The core data is daily punch-in and punch-out times, actual working hours, and breakdowns of overtime, night-shift, and holiday work.
If your old system was schedule-based, make sure to export the schedules assigned to each employee as well — without them, you won't be able to reconcile working hours calculations after the migration.
Annual leave (AL) usage, sick leave (SL), official leave, early departures, and late arrivals are all exceptions that feed directly into pay deductions and leave balance reconciliation — so none of them can be overlooked.
Correction logs and approval history are typically system-generated and may not transfer cleanly to a new platform. Check whether your current system can export this log separately. If it can't be migrated, archive it externally and manage everything from the cutover date forward in the new system.
For records tied to health information — such as sick leave (SL) — migrate only the leave type and dates. Keep any supporting documentation separate with restricted access permissions.
Attendance records only mean something when they're linked to the right employee, team, and location.
Set up basic employee info (employee ID, name, department, workplace) and your org hierarchy in the new system's format before importing any attendance data — otherwise the records won't map correctly.
If the two systems use different rules, the exact same clock-in and clock-out times can produce different working hours totals.
Before migrating, compare how each system calculates hours — mismatched rules can silently skew payroll even when the raw clock data is identical.
Compare how each system handles punch-in and punch-out times, and watch for any scenarios where actual working hours might be undercounted in the new system.
Once you've reviewed the differences, finalize your settings in the new system. For any rules that changed, run a separate verification of the calculated results before and after migration.
Confirm that the break time rules that apply to your locations — including any auto-deduction logic — are configured identically in the new system.
If break policies differ by work type or shift, review each one individually rather than assuming a single rule covers everything.
If the new system changes how long records can be modified, who can submit a correction request, or how many approval steps are required, employees will quickly run into confusion.
Before the cutover, walk your admins and on-site representatives through the new correction and approval process, and update any internal policies that need to reflect the change.
A completed data upload doesn't mean the migration is done. Without validation, bad data can quietly make its way into payroll.
Compare the number of records exported from the old system against the number registered in the new system, broken down by employee.
Even if the totals match, individual records for specific dates or employees can still be missing — so run spot-check sampling alongside the count comparison.
Put together a summary comparison sheet of migrated record counts. If any disputes come up later, you'll have documentation to back up your position.
Pick a random selection of dates and employees, then manually compare punch-in and punch-out times, working hours totals, and assigned schedules between the old and new systems.
Pay extra attention to dates with overtime or night-shift hours, and double-check all holiday work records separately.
For history that was carried over into the new system, confirm it's accessible there. For history that was archived separately, confirm you can open and read the archived file without gaps.
Exception types like early departures, off-site work, and half-day leave may be labeled differently across systems — so verify that the field-to-field mapping is accurate before signing off.
Verify that each person's viewing scope is set up exactly as intended.
If an admin who should only see their own team's records can access all employees' data, that's a privacy issue that needs to be resolved immediately.
In the first days after go-live, run test entries to confirm that employees can punch in and out normally, that record correction requests flow through correctly, and that the admin approval process works end to end.
Check that monthly and by-employee Time & Attendance Reports can be exported cleanly from the new system.
For data from the old system, it's strongly recommended to retain it as Excel/CSV data files and viewing-ready PDFs even after the vendor contract ends.
Before wrapping up, confirm that all necessary items are included in those files and that they can actually be opened and read throughout the required retention period.
Here's a quick-reference table covering the key checks and watch-outs for each of the five checkpoints.
A. Not necessarily — but any records subject to retention requirements must be preserved somewhere, even if that means keeping them outside the new system.
If the new system doesn't support your existing data format, exporting everything as Excel/CSV data files and viewing-ready PDFs is a perfectly valid approach.
Prioritize what to migrate based on how you're likely to use it: payroll recalculations, compliance audits, or employee record inquiries each call for different data.
A. Export the full history from your current system and store it somewhere secure before access is cut off.
Save exported files to an internal server or cloud storage with restricted access permissions, and use a clear file-naming convention that includes the record period and export date.
Put a policy in place so that only authorized personnel can delete those files. Retention periods and requirements vary by record type and applicable law, so check with your local labor authority or an employment law specialist to confirm what applies to your organization.
A. No — not until you've confirmed compliance with all applicable retention requirements, including labor, tax, and data privacy regulations.
Records that are still within their required retention period must be preserved regardless of whether your old vendor contract has ended. Before deleting anything, double-check that all retention obligations are met, and keep a log of what was deleted, when, and by whom.
Switching time and attendance systems isn't just about moving data — it's about making sure the records you carry over are accurate, and that you maintain consistent standards on the other side of the cutover. This is especially true for organizations running multiple stores or locations, where attendance records, schedules, and modification history need to be managed systematically and accessible when you need them.
Shopl supports attendance record management, schedule tracking, modification history, and Time & Attendance reports download — everything you need to keep operations running cleanly after a system change. If you want a reliable foundation for managing attendance data going forward, take a look at what Shopl's attendance management features can do for your team.
