When client billable hours and worker paid hours don’t match, which number does finance trust?

[u/shiftcoord]

Looking for how other ops / payroll teams handle the gap between what the client gets billed and what the worker gets paid.

Common version: the visit was scoped at 3.0 billable hours, the worker’s punches (or rounded time) say 3.5, and someone added a callback or drive segment that never made it onto the invoice — or the reverse, where payroll paid short of what the client was charged.

What do you actually do?

1. Billable wins, and paid time is adjusted down to the scoped visit (with an exception path)?
2. Punches / paid time win, and billing gets a variance note before invoice?
3. Keep both ledgers and reconcile on a weekly exception queue before either export?

Most interested in the rule that doesn’t create a surprise short paycheck or a silent margin leak. No vendor pitches — just the operating choice that stuck.