This system map is part of the timesheet correction approvals guide, which covers what to inventory before a payroll platform change. Here the job is narrower: a staffing payroll advisor can use it to describe where each record sits, which key carries it to the next system, and who owns it, without handling any record.
Two sides of every correction
A staffing correction crosses an organizational line, which is why it is hard to rebuild:
- Client side. The vendor management system (VMS) run by the client or its managed service provider. It holds the worker's submission, the client approver's decision, any revised timesheet and the consolidated invoice. SAP's support notes for Fieldglass show the pattern: a timesheet approved but not yet invoiced can follow a revise or reject path, while one already invoiced is fixed through a revised timesheet and a credit and debit memo rather than by editing the original.
- Firm side. The front-office or applicant tracking system with the placement record, the payroll platform that paid the worker, and accounting, where invoices and memos post and are reconciled.
SAPNeither side has the whole story. The client knows what it approved; the firm knows what it paid. A correction is the moment the two disagreed and were brought back together.
System, record, linking key and owner
| System | Record | Linking key it should carry | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client VMS | Worker submission and client approval | Timesheet ID, work order number | Client program; firm billing sees its own |
| Client VMS | Revised timesheet | Original timesheet ID, revision number | Billing lead |
| Front office | Placement record | Placement ID, client work order number | Branch or client services lead |
| Payroll | Pay line and adjustment | Employee ID, pay period, ideally timesheet ID | Payroll operations head |
| Payroll setup | Week boundary setting | Effective date | Payroll operations head |
| Accounting | Invoice | Invoice number listing timesheet IDs | Accounts receivable lead |
| Accounting or VMS | Credit and debit memo | Memo number, original invoice and timesheet ID | Accounts receivable lead |
| Email or notes | Correction reason and evidence | Worker, date, sometimes timesheet ID | Branch supervisor |
The week-boundary row matters more than it looks. Federal recordkeeping rules for covered employers require daily and weekly hour totals, so payroll must have fixed a boundary. If payroll and a client program drew the line at different points, or one of them moved it, fixes will bunch up around that date for reasons unrelated to anyone's mistake. Note the effective date of every change.
One fully joined case (Illustrative)
Fictional data for a fictional 210-person industrial staffing firm. No real client, worker or program.
A forklift operator placed at a client warehouse submits 40 hours for a week. The client approves it, the firm pays it and the client is invoiced. Two weeks later the site supervisor reports that the operator stayed 2.5 hours late on Wednesday to finish a trailer, confirmed by the gate log.
| Step | System | Record | Key that joins it to the next |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Client VMS | Timesheet TS-55120, 40 hours, approved | Work order WO-3381 |
| 2 | Front office | Placement PL-0742 for WO-3381 | Placement ID to employee E-20915 |
| 3 | Payroll | Week 37 pay line, 40 hours | Employee E-20915, pay period 37 |
| 4 | Accounting | Invoice INV-11803 lists TS-55120 | Invoice number |
| 5 | Supervisor note citing the gate log | Worker, date, TS-55120 in subject | |
| 6 | Client VMS | Revised timesheet TS-55120-R1, 42.5 hours, approved | Original timesheet ID |
| 7 | Accounting | Credit memo and debit memo against INV-11803 | Memo numbers reference INV-11803 and TS-55120 |
| 8 | Payroll | Adjustment of 2.5 hours in week 39, reason "late approval" | Employee E-20915, reference to TS-55120 |
The arithmetic holds: 40 plus 2.5 is 42.5 hours, and the revised timesheet, memo pair and payroll adjustment all carry the same 2.5 hours. The extra 2.5 hours were worked in week 37 but paid in week 39, so week 37's true total is 42.5 hours; whether that changes the worker's pay depends on how hours above 40 are treated, and matching the hours to the right week is exactly why the boundary setting has to be known. Every step names the original timesheet, so the case reads from submission to settled correction.
Where the joins usually break
Work order to placement. The mapping often lives in a billing spreadsheet. If that spreadsheet was overwritten each quarter, older corrections cannot be matched to the right worker.
Payroll to timesheet. Many payroll platforms key only on employee and period. Step 8 above is the exception, not the rule. Ask whether adjustment lines carry a reference field and whether payroll staff used it.
Correction to reason. The supervisor's note in step 5 is the evidence. If it sat in a branch inbox that was not kept, the revised timesheet shows a change with no stated cause.
Memo to original. A memo that references only the worker, not the timesheet or invoice, breaks the chain. So does settling a correction as a manual line on next month's invoice.
The same request, approval and exception pattern appears in purchasing; how to assess procurement approvals and exception workflows compares the two. Firms that also keep narrative time entries can compare time entry narratives, and the worked night-shift case shows a correction that crosses the weekly cutoff.
Qualification and what stays unknown
The map describes records and owners. It does not decide rights. VMS records sit under each client's program terms, and payroll holds personal pay data, so why data rights matter applies twice here. The who can say yes decision tree covers whom to introduce. Owners preparing for a sale often meet the same mapping question; see selling a staffing company.
The introduced firm needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors and placed associates on assignment excluded), plus a documented operating history, rights to license and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting; the first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application. Never request timesheets, registers or invoices. Buyer interest, the rights outcome on client VMS data, de-identification and any offer stay unknown until SourceX reviews the opportunity.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
If the map shows a staffing firm whose memos and payroll adjustments still point back to the original timesheet, register as a partner, check the firm against who qualifies, and read the program terms before introducing its leadership.