# Close an hours period and download the hours

> Close a pay period once its hours are approved, which locks them, download the hours file for payroll, and set the length of a period.

Who this is for: Anyone with “Approve hours worked” (by default: Administrator, Bar Manager).
Last checked in release 2026.10.23, on 23 October 2026.
Source: https://sportsclubos.net/help/roster/close-a-period/

Hours are grouped into pay periods, a week or a fortnight long. When a period is over and its hours are approved, you close it. Closing locks its hours for everyone, staff and managers, so the hours given to payroll cannot change afterwards. The hours file can be downloaded at any time.

## Before you start

- You need to be able to approve hours worked. The Bar Manager and the Administrator can by default.
- Approve the period's hours first: [Check and approve hours worked](https://sportsclubos.net/help/roster/approve-hours/index.md).

## Set the length of a period

1. Open Club > Staff Roster > Hours and press **Periods**. The panel says "How hours are grouped for approval and for the file."
2. Choose the **Length**: **Weekly** or **Fortnightly**.
3. Under **A period starts on**, choose any date a period begins on, such as the first day of a pay fortnight. Periods repeat from there, forwards and backwards.
4. Press **Save**. A message says **Periods saved**.

Hours already closed stay closed.

> **Your club decides:** whether periods are weekly or fortnightly, and the day they start. A new club starts weekly, from a Monday.

## Download the hours file

1. Go to the period and press **Download CSV**.
2. A spreadsheet file downloads, named with the period's dates. It has a row for each approved or closed entry: **Staff name**, **Employment**, **Date**, **Start**, **Finish**, **Break minutes**, **Hours**, **Position**, **Event**, **Rostered start**, **Rostered finish**, **Approved by** and **Approved at**.

Entries still waiting for approval are left out, and a message says how many, for example **2 entries are still waiting for approval and not in the file**. The file holds hours only, with no pay rates or amounts. Each download is recorded in the club's audit log.

## Close the period

1. Go to the period. **Close period** can be pressed once the period has ended.
2. Press **Close period**. A question appears, for example **Close Fri 16 Oct – Thu 22 Oct 2026? Its approved hours are locked for everyone, staff and managers.** If any finished shifts have no hours reported, it adds that they will be left out.
3. Press **Close the period**, or **Not yet**.

A message says, for example, **Period closed: 12 entries locked**. The page then says **This period is closed. Its hours are locked and can be downloaded.**, and each entry says **Closed**. Staff see **Approved and closed** on their own page.

## Reopen a closed period

Only the period closed most recently can be reopened, for example to fix something found afterwards.

1. Go to that period. The notice at the top has **Reopen it**.
2. Press **Reopen it**. A message says **Period reopened**, and its entries go back to **Approved**.

Earlier closed periods stay closed. Close the period again when the correction is made.

## If something goes wrong

- **"3 entries are still waiting for approval up to Sun 25 Oct. Approve or delete them first."** Closing a period needs every entry up to its last day approved, including any in earlier periods still open.
- **"That period has not finished yet."** A period closes only after its last day.
- **"That period has been closed. Ask the manager about these hours."** Staff see this when they try to report hours in a closed period. Reopen the period if the hours need adding.