This article describes the structure and the most important functions of the Preliminary payroll section and the payroll table.

What is the Preliminary payroll section?

The Preliminary payroll section combines all payroll-relevant data in the Personal info, Employee changes, Salary, Absence and Documents tabs. Here, you can:

• Check personal data, salaries, and absences as well as data changes since the last approval.
• See details on data changes and navigate to an employee’s profile to make adjustments.
• Approve the monthly payroll and freeze the payroll table view so you know exactly what data is considered for this payroll cycle.
• Create a preliminary payroll export at any time with the current changes highlighted in the Excel file.

Tip
To access this section, go to Payroll in the navigation bar on the left. German customers who use Personio Payroll for some of their legal entities will be able to choose between preliminary payroll and Personio payroll, depending on the legal entity. 

Functions of the Preliminary payroll section

The Preliminary payroll section is organized by payroll month and payroll group if enabled. Here, you can:

• Choose the payroll month, group, and tab: Use the drop-down menu on the top left to navigate to the desired payroll month.
• Approve Preliminary payroll: On the top right of the preliminary payroll table, an overview displays the status of your preliminary payroll for the selected month, as well as the date since when changes are marked. You can approve by clicking the Approve payroll button on the top right. An export is generated automatically.
• Generate export: You can generate more exports anytime before and after approval of the month’s preliminary payroll by clicking the respective button. Go to the Documents tab to download any exports.

It is also divided into the Personal info, Employee changes, Salary, and Absence tabs. You can find more details on each tab below. These are the main functions:

Note
Data changes are marked in the Personal info tab and its detail drawer, the Employee changes tab, and in the payroll export file. For them to be marked correctly, you must approve the payroll regularly once you finish the payroll cycle. For more details on the impact of approval upon markings, read our article on approving payroll. 

When do employees appear in the preliminary payroll table?

For an employee to appear in the preliminary payroll table, two points must be considered: employment and assignment to payroll. Only if the conditions for both aspects are met will an employee appear in the payroll table. 

1. Employment

At least one condition must be met:

Regular employment	Termination of employment
The employee is employed at least one day in the payroll period based on hire and termination date.	The employee receives any salary payment up to three payroll periods after termination date. OR There was a change in employee data up to three payroll periods after termination date.

 

2. Assignment to payroll

In addition to the conditions for employment, all conditions for the assignment to payroll must be met:

Employment Type	Legal entity (if enabled)	Payroll Group (if enabled)
The employee's employment type is internal.	The employee is assigned to a legal entity (the employee history must match the payroll period).	The employee has a value for the attribute for the payroll group (the employee history must match the payroll period).

The tabs of the payroll table

The People tab

View a table of employees organized into three preset views for each payroll period. Each view focuses on relevant attributes for a quick overview:

• All Employees: See key payroll information like gross salary (sum of salary and compensations for the payroll period) and absences taken in this period (sum of all absences tracked), and paid vacation balance (number of paid vacation days remaining in the yearfor each employee) of the chosen payroll group.
• Starters: Focus on new hires in the current payroll period and group. Ensure payroll details are correct. View hire dates, positions, and other important info.
• Leavers: Manage data for employees leaving the company in the current payroll period and group. Ensure all necessary data is entered. Review termination dates, reasons, and related details.

For each view, you can adjust the columns displayed and filter, sort and search employees according to your preference. Click on an employee's name to go to their profile for more information.

Note
This tab does not highlight changes and is not included in exports. 

The Personal info tab

View a table of employees included in the payroll for each payroll period. Each employee is displayed in a row showing their personal info and compensation attributes, and any data changes. Here, you can:

• Get an overview: Get a general overview of what employee data has changed in the payroll table.
• Review data changes: See at a glance what information has changed and make adjustments, if necessary.
• View details: Click on an employee's detail view. There, you can review data changes for this employee, see absence periods, and navigate to their profile to update any information if needed. 

Find more details on how changes are marked in the relevant section below. 

The Salary tab

View a table of employees included in the payroll for each payroll period. You can adjust the columns displayed and filter, sort and search employees according to your preference. Here, you can:

• View only compensation data: Get an overview of only compensation data and changes in the current payroll period. Each compensation is displayed in a separate row.
• Review data changes: See at a glance what information has changed and make adjustments, if necessary. Find more details on how changes are marked in the relevant section below. 
• View details: See comments for compensation types like bonuses and recurring compensations directly in the table. Access the detail view to review all data changes for an employee, see absence periods, and navigate to an employee's profile to update any information if needed. 

The Absence tab

Here, you can view a table of all the absences of employees included in the preliminary payroll for each payroll period. You can adjust the columns displayed and filter, sort and search employees according to your preference. Here you can:

• View only absence data: Get an overview of only absence data in the current payroll period. Each absence is displayed in a separate row.
• View details: See comments for absences directly in the table. Access the detail view to review all data changes for an employee, see absence periods, and navigate to an employee's profile to update any information if needed. 

The Employee changes tab

The Employee changes tab gives you a streamlined overview of all changes for which the changed on date falls within a payroll period. You can adjust the columns displayed and filter, sort and search employees according to your preference. Here, you can:

• See only changes: Only employees who have personal and compensation data changes in the current payroll period are displayed. The data includes all changes that happened since payroll was last approved. You can see one change per row for a better overview. Note: To see future scheduled changes, go to the Personal info tab. 
• Get more details: In addition to the information that a change has taken place, you can also see what the previous data was, what it was changed to, and when the change took place and is effective. This allows you to differentiate normal payroll period changes from corrections.

The Employee changes tab is not displayed in the Export file. Find more details on how changes are marked in the relevant section below.

The Documents tab

In the Documents tab, you have an overview of and can download all payroll exports created within the displayed payroll period. 

How are changes marked in Preliminary payroll?

Prerequisites for marking changes in Preliminary payroll 

For data changes to be correctly marked in Preliminary payroll, make sure to:

• Approve preliminary payroll regularly: You must approve preliminary payroll regularly. For more details about why this is important for marking changes, read our article on the topic.
• Ensure attributes are included in the payroll table: To be reflected in the preliminary payroll table, all attributes, compensations, and absences you want to track must be included in the settings.

Changes in the Personal info and Salary tabs

Data changes and new data are marked as follows:

• Data changes made in the previous month (or payroll period) appear at the top of the table. 
• New or changed employee data is highlighted in an orange color and by a dot at the beginning of the row.
• New employees are marked with a green New for the first payroll month.
• Exiting employees are marked with a red End during their last payroll month. 
• Absences are tracked according to the payroll period. This means additional exports after payroll is approved don’t impact the absences displayed.

 

Changes in the detail view drawer

For a detailed view of changes, click on the row of any employee with marked changes to open a drawer with more context. If payroll has been approved early and the table view is frozen, you can still view subsequent changes here. 

 

Tip
Click on the employee's name at the top of the drawer and navigate to their profile to update attributes, if necessary.

In the Employee changes tab

No changes are marked in the Employee changes tab, as only changes to personal and compensation data are displayed. Salary proration is not displayed in the Employee changes tab, as no change to the base salary is taking place. 

In the payroll export file

All personal and salary data changes within the payroll period are marked in the payroll export file in EXCEL format. Here, you can review changes and communicate them to your payroll accountant.

The payroll export file, which is automatically created when you approve the payroll, reflects all changes highlighted upon approval of the payroll. The tabs include:

• The personal data and salary tabs show all the information reflected in Personio and mark the changes.
• The absence tab shows all absences that have taken place.
• The delta personal data tab only shows employees with changes to personal information, and the delta salary data tab shows only employees with changes to their salary information.

Subsequent changes after approval are not highlighted in this file. To view such changes made after the approval of the payroll, create a new payroll export file. 

Tip
For more information about approving payroll and handling subsequent data changes, read our article on the topic.

Special cases

Tip
We recommend changing the attributes “legal entity” and “payroll group” on the first day of your payroll period, if necessary, to avoid the behavior explained below. You can do this by scheduling the attribute change.