Reopening a payroll period or timesheet

How to fix things after submission or posting, the compliant way.

Fixing mistakes is normal. What matters for DCAA is that corrections leave a trace, and WiseCost handles that automatically. What you need to reopen depends on the timesheet's status.

If the timesheet is Approved

If labor distribution hasn't been run for that period yet, you can reopen it directly. The employee edits their entries and resubmits, and the original submission and the changes remain in the Audit Trail.

If the timesheet is Locked

This means labor distribution was already run for that period, so you'll need to reopen the payroll period first:

1. Reopen the payroll period. WiseCost gives you two options for the journal entries that were posted: create a reversal entry (recommended) or delete the original. Both actions are recorded in the Audit Trail. We generally recommend the reversal: the full history (original, reversal, corrected) stays visible in QuickBooks, which is what DCAA auditors expect to see.
2. Reopen the specific timesheet. With the period reopened, reopen the timesheet that needs changes. The employee edits and resubmits.
3. Re-run labor distribution. Once the corrected timesheet is approved again, run the distribution and the new entries post to QuickBooks.

You never need to touch a journal entry manually in QuickBooks.