How Do I Import Employee Records Into Lightning Payroll?

To save time and reduce manual data entry, we strongly recommend using Lightning Payroll's built-in employee export feature when transferring employees between database files or setting up a new company.

The export tool creates a CSV file in the exact format expected by the import process, including personal details, leave balances, superannuation information and year-to-date (YTD) figures for the selected financial year. This ensures the smoothest and most reliable import experience.

Employees are imported under Employees >> Actions >> Import Employees From CSV (in the desktop app) or Employees >> Import From CSV (in the online app).

If you are building the file yourself rather than exporting it, the column headings do not have to match our example exactly. Lightning Payroll ignores capitals, spaces, hyphens and underscores when matching a heading, so First Name, first_name and firstname are all recognised. The one column your file must contain is the employee's first name - without it the whole file is rejected and nothing is imported.

For guidance on creating an export file for this purpose, please see:

How Do I Export Employees Or Merge Lightning Payroll Databases?

If you are not transferring from another Lightning Payroll database, you can also manually prepare a CSV file. Please see our example spreadsheet here or refer to the field reference below for supported columns and formats.

All fields are optional, however we recommend completing as much information as possible. All employee details, including shifts, allowances and other pay items, can be edited in the employee profile after the import is complete.

AU Employee CSV Field Reference

The table below covers every column the importer recognises. Columns you do not need can be left blank or omitted from the file entirely.

Personal Details

• first_name - Employee's first name. Required.
• last_name - Employee's surname. Required.
• number - Your own employee number or staff ID.
• date_of_birth - Date of birth. Accepted formats include 15/04/1990 and 1990-04-15. Required for AU tax calculations.
• gender - MALE, FEMALE, INDETERMINATE, or UNKNOWN.
• email_address - Employee's email address.
• phone_home - Home or mobile phone number.
• address1, address2, city, state, postcode, country - Residential address fields.
• position - Job title or position.

Tax and Employment

• tax_file_number - The employee's TFN. Leave blank if the employee has not provided one.
• is_foreign_resident - true or false. Defaults to false.
• is_closely_held - true or false. Set to true for closely held payees such as family members of a closely held business.
• has_claimed_tax_free_threshold - true or false.
• has_help_liability - true or false. Set to true if the employee has a HELP, VSL, SSL, ABSTUDY SSL, or TSL debt.
• has_sfss_liability - true or false. Set to true if the employee has a Student Financial Supplement Scheme debt.
• employment_status - Full-time, Part-time, Casual, or Labour Hire.
• start_date - Employment start date. Accepted formats include 15/04/2024 and 2024-04-15. Required.
• pay_period - Pay frequency: Weekly, Fortnightly, or Monthly. Required.
• pay_rate_per_hour - Base hourly rate, e.g. 32.50.
• leave_loading - Leave loading percentage, e.g. 17.5 for 17.5%.
• primary_department - Department name. Must match an existing department in the company.

Leave Opening Balances

• annual_leave_hours - Opening annual leave balance in hours.
• personal_leave_hours - Opening personal/sick leave balance in hours.
• lsl_leave_hours - Opening long service leave balance in hours.
• rdo_days - Opening rostered day off (RDO) balance in days.

Bank Details

• primary_bank_bsb - BSB for the primary bank account, e.g. 062-000.
• primary_bank_account_number - Account number for the primary bank account.
• primary_bank_account_name - Account name for the primary bank account.
• secondary_bank_bsb, secondary_bank_account_number, secondary_bank_account_name - Secondary bank account details.
• secondary_bank_amount_per_period - Fixed dollar amount to pay into the secondary account each period.
• secondary_bank_reference - Reference text for the secondary account payment.

Superannuation

• default_employee_fund_usi - The Unique Superannuation Identifier (USI) of the employee's chosen super fund.
• default_employee_fund_member_number - The employee's member number with that fund.

Year-to-Date Figures

Year-to-date (YTD) figures let you carry an employee's earnings and deductions forward from a previous payroll system. Enter the date the figures are accurate as at in ytd_as_at_date, then populate the relevant YTD columns.

• ytd_as_at_date - The date your YTD figures are accurate as at, e.g. 2025-07-01.
• ytd_ordinary_time - YTD ordinary time earnings.
• ytd_overtime - YTD overtime earnings.
• ytd_bonus_commission_non_directors_fees - YTD bonuses and commissions (excluding directors' fees).
• ytd_directors_fees - YTD directors' fees.
• ytd_tax - YTD PAYG withholding tax deducted (includes STSL).
• ytd_stsl - YTD study and training support loan repayments (HELP, SFSS, etc.).
• ytd_super_compulsory - YTD compulsory super guarantee contributions.
• ytd_super_resc - YTD reportable employer super contributions (RESC).
• ytd_super_post_tax - YTD post-tax voluntary super contributions.
• ytd_salary_sacrifice_super - YTD salary sacrificed to superannuation.
• ytd_salary_sacrifice_other - YTD salary sacrificed to other items.

Allowance columns follow the pattern ytd_allowance_<type>. Supported types are: award_transport, cents_per_km, travel, laundry, other_allowance, meals_overtime, qualifications, tasks, and tools.

Leave payment columns follow the pattern ytd_leave_<type>. Supported types are: holiday, sick, long_service, other, paid_parental, employer_funded_paid_parental, workers_comp, compassionate, ancillary, paid_public_holiday, and annual_leave_loading.

Deduction columns follow the pattern ytd_deduction_<type>. Supported types are: normal, union_fees, charity, child_support_garnishee, and child_support_deduction.

After the Import

Lightning Payroll imports all rows it can read and reports any rows that could not be processed. Review the import summary and correct any flagged rows, then re-import if needed.

Some employee settings cannot be imported from CSV and require manual setup after the import is complete. These include:

• Allowances and salary sacrifice arrangements assigned to an employee
• Deductions
• Additional pay rates beyond the base hourly rate
• Pay items belonging to collections or custom configurations

Open each imported employee to review and complete their details before running a pay.