Import employees for payroll

To import employees, open Settings → Import data, choose Excel or Google Sheets, download the employees template, fill one row per person and upload it. SimpleERP checks every row, shows the problems, and creates the employees when you click Import. Only first name and joining date are required.

Which columns can the employee file have?

The employee file can have about 20 columns, but only two are required. The ID, bank code and address columns are named after your country, as the table shows. Leave a column out or leave a cell blank when you do not have the detail; you can add it later on the employee's profile.

Dates can be written as YYYY-MM-DD, D-MMM-YY or YYYYMMDD, or with slashes in your country's order: day first in most countries, month first in the US. Excel dates are read as dates. Spaces around values are trimmed.

What does the check look for?

The check applies the same rules as the employee form, so anything it accepts would also save on screen. Each problem names the row and column.

In India, the template carries pan, aadhaar and ifsc columns instead, each checked for its format, and the PIN code must be 6 digits.

How are existing employees matched?

Each row is matched to people already in SimpleERP by employee code first, then phone, then email. A matched row is skipped, never overwritten, so the details you have already corrected on screen stay as they are.

• Code matches: skipped.
• No code, but the phone matches: skipped.
• No code or phone match, but the email matches: skipped.
• No match: created, with a new code from your numbering if the code cell is blank.

How do you import employees step by step?

1. 1

   Open Import data

   Go to Settings → Import data and pick Excel or Google Sheets as the source.

2. 2

   Download the template

   Use the employees template so the columns match on their own. Your own headers work too; check the matches the page suggests.

3. 3

   Fill and upload

   One row per person. From Google Sheets, use File → Download → CSV. Drop the file on the page.

4. 4

   Check

   Open the Employees card and click Check. Read the counts of people to create and skip, and the error table.

5. 5

   Fix and import

   Correct the rows in the file and upload again, or tick Import valid rows only. Then click Import.

What comes next after the import?

After the import, the employees are ready for the rest of the people setup. Payroll needs three more things before the first run.

1. 1

   Salary structures

   Give each employee a salary structure with basic pay, allowances and the deductions your country uses. See payroll software.

2. 2

   Attendance and leave

   Mark attendance or let employees check in, and allocate leave. See HR, attendance and leave.

3. 3

   Run payroll

   Run the month's payroll and review payslips before you post. See the salary slip format for what each payslip shows.

Who can see bank and ID details?

Bank account and ID numbers are visible only to members with the HR employee manage permission, and to the employee on their own profile. Elsewhere they show masked, with only the last four characters. Importing employees needs the same permission.

Worked example: Harbor Supply Co.

Suppose Harbor Supply Co. has 18 people on payroll; this example uses UK-style ID and bank details. The office keeps them in an Excel sheet. Three are already in SimpleERP because the owner added them while trying the app.

1. 1

   Check

   The card shows 15 to create, 3 to skip and 1 error: row 9 has a sort code of 12-34-5, one digit short.

2. 2

   Fix

   The accountant corrects it to 12-34-56 in the sheet and uploads it again. Errors drop to zero.

3. 3

   Import

   15 employees are created. Omar and Daniel get the next codes from the numbering; Aisha keeps HSF-07. Production, Dispatch and Accounts are created as departments.