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Import salary and one-time compensations

This article explains how to import salary and one-time compensation data. Once you configure departments and workplaces and import your employee data, you can import your salary data. You can assign salaries to current and past employees in Personio using an Excel bulk import. 

Before you start

  • To import salary and one-time compensation data, you need edit permissions for the relevant salary import type in Configurations > Imports. You also need edit permissions for Salary information for the employees you want to import salary data for. You can find the Salary information permission in the People data section. Learn more about import permissions.
  • Prorated salary calculation: before importing salaries, you need to configure how the system calculates prorated salaries.

Prepare your import files

Once you configure your prorated salary calculations, start preparing the different import files. We offer four different ones:

  • Salary
  • Recurring compensations
  • Variable Bonus
  • One-time compensations 
  • Additional pay

To prepare your import files, follow these steps: 

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. In the Organization section, click Imports.
  3. Click the Upload Type dropdown menu and select the template for the salary component you want to import.
  4. Download the salary Excel template. Use the V2 salary template for 13th and 14th month payments, and Additional pay. It supports fixed and hourly salaries if needed. Note that you must enter 100% amounts.
  5. Open the Excel template and fill it out for each employee, starting from their email address. Consider the specific instructions for each import file below.
  6. Save the completed Excel file.

Important notes for salary imports

  • Weekly hours must be imported with the employee data import before you can import fixed salaries.
  • To import 13th and 14th month salaries type, you must use the V2 salary import template.
  • The salary for part-time employees must be stated in the amount they actually receive, the effective salary. For example, part-time employees' effective salary is lower than their full-time salary based on weekly working hours.
  • Exclude any employees whose salaries you don't need to import.
  • When formatting the cells in the Excel file, make sure that salaries do not have more than two decimals.
  • The language of the import file must match the language of your Personio account. Otherwise, the import will not work. Learn how to change the account language.
  • Format all dates in your import file as YYYY-MM-DD (for example, 2025-05-01). Other date formats cause import errors.
  • Columns that contain numbers should always be formatted as text to be correctly imported in Personio.

 

Salary 

To fill in your import file, follow the steps explained under Prepare your import files, and add the following:

  1. Fill in either the Fixed salary column or the Hourly Salary column with the currently effective salary and add the correct Currency. If you have added a fixed salary, specify the payment frequency (Monthly or Yearly) in the Interval column.
  2. Add the date from which the current salary is valid. This is usually the hire date or the last salary increase date.
  3. If you want to add your employees' salary history and track salary changes, add another row with the same email address for each entry. Fill in the entries for the employee and set the corresponding date in the past in the Valid from column.

 

Recurring compensations

You can enter additional recurring salary components for each employee (for example, public transportation subsidy, meal allowances, gym subsidy, internet flat rate, etc.). Upload these using the same method that you used before for the salaries. Before importing them, you'll need to create recurring compensation types.

To fill in your import file, follow the steps explained under Prepare your import files and add the following:

  1. Create a column for every recurring compensation type that is relevant to you.
  2. Name each column the following way: Salary / description of the recurring compensation type. Every recurring compensation type that you want to import needs to be already created within Personio.
  3. Enter the respective amount for each compensation type. To handle deductions, such as pension contributions, you can use negative amounts. Place a minus before the amount (for example, -700,00).
  4. In the Interval column, set the payout interval to either monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly.
  5. In Valid from, enter the starting date from which the compensation has been paid out.
  6. Optional: under Valid until, enter the date on which the compensation ends. After this date, the corresponding compensation goes back to zero.
  7. If you want to add your employees' salary history and track salary changes, add another row with the same email address for each entry. Fill in the entries for the employee and set the corresponding date in the past in the Valid from column.

 

Variable Bonus

You can also import variable bonuses. Before importing them, you'll need to create variable bonuses.

To fill in your import file, follow the steps explained under Prepare your import files and add the following:

  1. Under Variable Bonus, enter the respective amount.
  2. Enter in Valid from the starting date from which the compensation has been paid out.

 

One-time compensations

You can also assign one-time compensations. Before importing them, you'll need to create one-time compensation types.

To fill in your import file, follow the steps explained under Prepare your import files and add the following:

  1. Enter the One-time compensation Payment type and Amount.
  2. Optional: add a Comment.
  3. Add the Month and Year of the payment.

 

Additional pay

You can also assign additional pay. Before importing them, you'll need to create additional pay.

To fill in your import file, follow the steps explained under Prepare your import files and add the following:

  1. Enter the Additional pay payment type.
  2. Enter the Effective from date. 
  3. Optional: Add the Effective until date.

Import salary data

To import salary data and other compensation types into Personio, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. In the Organization section, click Imports.
    • For salaries, recurring compensations, additional pay and variable bonuses, select the Upload file type Salary.
    • For the import of one-time compensations, choose One-time compensation.
  3. Choose and upload your file, and move to the next step.
  4. If the columns of your Excel file do not match the attributes in Personio, correct them manually. Move to the next step.
  5. Review your import data in the preview of the import. If you notice any errors, cancel the import to correct the errors in the Excel sheet and start again from step 1. If the data is correct, import it.

Tip:
If you get errors during the import, check our troubleshooting steps for importing salary data. 
 

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