Import employee data and earnings

Special considerations

Departments
(if you use payroll departments for your client)
Locations
(if you're importing multiple locations or location names that are different from the default Business location)
Banks
(if you're importing direct deposit information)
Bank accounts
(if you're importing earnings information)
Payroll items
(if you're importing earnings information)
Accruable benefit items
(if you're importing benefit hours)

Requirements for Excel spreadsheet formatting

The employee information that you import needs to match the information that exists for the client. For example, if the spreadsheet includes a payroll item for an employee, and that item doesn't exist for the client in Accounting CS, the application won't import that employee record into the client record.
The spreadsheet needs to contain an Employee ID column as the 1st column. The employee ID can't be longer than 11 characters and can only have capital letters and numbers.
The spreadsheet needs to have an Employee Last Name column.
If there's a Social Security Number column, format the numbers with the dashes:
XXX-XX-XXXX
.
There can't be any blank rows between employee records in the spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet can have extra rows and columns of information to ignore during the import process in the Spreadsheet Import wizard.

Select the source file

Select
File
,
Import
, then
Spreadsheet
.
In the
Source Data
screen, select the client from the
Client name
field.
Select
Employees
from the dropdown in the
Data type
field.
In the Import File section, select
Browse
to go to the file, or enter the path and file name of the spreadsheet file to import.
Select the worksheet in the spreadsheet file to import.
Select the year you're importing data for.
Select
Next
.

Map spreadsheet columns

Select a template. If you saved mapping information from a prior import as a mapping template, you'll find that template in the
Template
dropdown.
If the spreadsheet includes column headings or other rows of data you don't want to import, mark the checkbox in the Omit row column. The application won't validate or import data in that row.
For each column, select the column heading in the grid, then select a mapping item from the dropdown in the
Column <x>
field earlier the grid. Refer to the following table for more information on certain mapping items:
Mapping item	Additional info	Additional info 2	Additional info 3	Required?
Employee ID	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes
Last Name	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes
Phone	Business Fax Car Home Mobile Pager Other	N/A	N/A	No
Direct Deposit Allocation	Routing Number Account Number Account Type Amount Percent Status	N/A	N/A	Yes if Direct Deposit Allocation Yes if Direct Deposit Allocation Yes if Direct Deposit Allocation No No No
State Allowance	<State> or <Territory>	Additional Amount Dependents Filing Status	N/A	No No No
Accruable Benefits	N/A	Beginning Balance Allowance Carryover Maximum Available Limit Annual Limit Per Check Per Month Used Accrued	N/A	No No No No No No No No No No
Pay Item Setup	<Item> (includes all pay items set up for the client)	Amount Regular Hours OT Amount OT Hours DT Amount DT Hours Rate GL Expense	<Month> <Month> <Month> <Month> <Month> <Month>	No No No No No No No No
Deduction Item Setup	<Item> (includes all deduction items set up for the client)	Deduction Amount Rate GL Liability	<Month>	No No No
Employer Contribution Item Setup	<Item> (includes all employer contribution items set up for the client)	Amount Rate GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	No No No No
FICS-SS	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	N/A	No No No
FICA-MED	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	N/A	No No No
EFRICA-SS	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	N/A	No No No
ERFIA-MED	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	N/A	No No No
FIT	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	N/A	No No No
ERFUTA	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	N/A	No No No
Withholding State	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes, if importing earnings and taxes
SIT	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	N/A	No No No
Employee State Tax	<State Tax> (includes all state taxes, based on the client/employee addresses	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	No No No
Employer State Tax	<Employer State Tax> (includes all employer state taxes, based on the client/employee addresses)	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	No No No
Local Tax (Resident)	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	N/A	No No No
Local Tax (Workplace)	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	N/A	No No No
Ohio School District	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	N/A	No No No
Employer Local Tax	<Employer Local Tax> (includes all employer local taxes, based on the client/employee addresses)	Tax Amount GL Liability GL Expense	<Month>	No No No
note
To import state-specific W-4 information, map a column in your spreadsheet labeled with the name of the checkbox. For example, for Massachusetts, if you want to mark checkboxes for items like Full-time student or Head of household, you need to map a column for each checkbox. Entering information in this column for an employee (such as an X, Yes, or True) will mark the checkbox for that employee in the Payroll Taxes tab of the Setup > Employees screen. However, entering False, 0, No, or leaving that field blank, won't mark the checkbox for the employee.
For Independent Contractor employees, the
State allowances > Additional Amount
value will import as a
Fixed Amount
.
After you've mapped all the columns you need, select
Next
.
The application validates the spreadsheet data. If it finds any issues, it highlights the invalid items. If necessary, correct the data then select
Next
.

Column headings available for mapping

Employee Information:
Employee ID
First Name
Middle Name
Last Name
Suffix
SSN/EIN
Type
Address Line 1
Address Line 2
City
State
Zip
County
School District
Municipality
Phone
Email
Payroll Schedule (Primary)
Payroll Schedule (Alternate)
Hire Date
Last Raise Date
Inactive Date
Birth Date
Job Title
Gender
Marital Status
Race
Direct Deposit Allocation
W-4 Form Year
note
To import W-4 data, you need to first map the W-4 Form Year.
If the year is 2019 or earlier, the corresponding columns are Federal Filing Status and Federal Allowances.
If the year is 2020 or later, the corresponding columns are Federal Filing Status, Federal Two Jobs Total, Federal Claim dependents, Federal Income, and Federal Deductions.
The W-4 Form Year also validates the entry for Filing Status. For example, Head of Household is only valid for 2020 and later.
Fed Filing Status
Federal Two Jobs Total
Federal Claim dependents
Federal Other income
Federal Deductions
Fed Allowances
State Allowances
Accruable Benefits
Pay and Deduction items:
Pay Item Setup
Deduction Item Setup
Employer Contribution Item Setup
Taxes:
FICA-SS
FICA-MED
ERFICA-SS
ERFICA-MED
FIT
ERFUTA
Withholding State
SIT
Employee State Tax
Employer State Tax
Local Tax (Resident)
Local Tax (Workplace)
Ohio School District
Ohio Local Tax

Verify address information

In the
Lookup
field, enter a city and state combination, separated by a comma, or enter a ZIP Code. The application looks up the information and enters valid information in the address fields. If multiple valid entries are available, the application populates the dropdown in the fields you need to select a valid entry for.
Examples:
If you enter
Dexter, MI
in the
Lookup
field, the application enters 48130 in the
ZIP
field because that's the only valid ZIP Code for Dexter.
If you enter
Ann Arbor, MI
in the
Lookup
field, the application finds all ZIP Codes that apply to Ann Arbor — 48103, 48104, 48105, 48106, 48107, 48108, 48109, and 48113 — and lists those in the dropdown for the
ZIP
field.
If you enter
48130
in the
Lookup
field, the application finds all cities that use that ZIP Code — Dexter, Dover, Hudson Mills, Scio, and Webster — and lists those in the dropdown for the
City
field.
Complete the remaining fields then select
Update
. If all address information for the selected employee is valid, the application marks the checkbox in the Valid column and moves to the next employee record.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you've validated all employee records.
Select
Next
to continue with the import.

Select import options

Bank account.
Select the bank account to use when writing checks to the client's employees. The dropdown includes only active bank accounts set up in the
Setup
then
Bank Accounts
screen.
Journal.
Select the journal to use when posting transactions for the client. The dropdown includes all journals set up for the client in the
Setup
then
Journals
screen.

Review import diagnostics

Sample spreadsheet file

Basic:
example for importing basic employee information
Multiple location:
example for importing multiple locations for each employee
Detailed:
example for adding detailed payroll items for each employee
Training:
  example used for our training classes