Importing Employees into Buddy for Migration or Bulk Update

Migrating Employees

One of the first steps after setting Company Settings is to add your employees to Buddy. Although you can add each employee individually (see Adding a New Employee for instructions), the most time-efficient method is to upload employee data using Buddy's spreadsheet template.

In addition, Buddy supports the importation of FPS data, which will update tax details and total earning data for employees, amongst other things. FPS uploads still require employees to already exist on Buddy.

Importing Employees by Mapping Original Export

One of the options is to use your original export file and map these onto Buddy

Using this method, you can map your original export into Buddy Fields. You can also process multiple sheets, e.g. first sheet contains the basic employee details, and then upload salary information, tax information, etc. in other uploads.

Uploading your Sheet

1. Go to People
2. Click Import Employees
3. Upload your sheet
4. Select Employee Details (Any Excel/CSV) for initial import, or the type of subset (e.g. Salary Details) if re-importing/updating data.
5. If you have previously configured a template, select that template, or otherwise use Auto-AI
6. Click Verify Field Mapping

While mapping details, you will see 4 columns:

• Header
  This is the column title within your original file
• Mapping
  The assigned Buddy value. This may be automated where expected names match, but you may need to individually map items
• Sample
  Shows the values of the first 5 rows to better understand your Headers
• Status
  Informs the current status and validity of the current mapping

For items that are multi-choice, like Legal Gender, you will be requested to map values (e.g. F -> Female, M -> Male)

After reviewing the details, click Save Template to store changes in case you require to import using the same template.

Then, click Import Employees.

Templates will be saved across a bureau, so you would be able to utilise the same mapping across other clients.

Re-Importing to Amend Employee Data

When importing data to update existing employees, you will require to map an Employee field.

This can be matched by:

• Full Name
• Employee Reference
• NI Number
• Payroll ID

Ensure that each employee is mapped to avoid creating duplicating employees.

Importing Employees using Buddy Templates

Another option would be to use Buddy's templates and fill in the data as per the below instructions.

Using Buddy Downloading the Template

First, make sure you have updated the Company Settings with any custom Overtime Rates or Allowances. The template will reflect these custom options.

Then:

1. Go to People
2. Click Import Employees
3. Download the Excel Template
4. Open the template in your preferred spreadsheet editor

Uploading Your Data

Once you have the data completed and saved in the template (see below on how to fill the data), you can then re-open the same modal:

1. Click Import Employees
2. Click Upload File
3. Select the spreadsheet saved on your local drive
4. Confirm Buddy Format
5. Tick whether you want to overwrite existing employees
6. Confirm by clicking the Import button
7. If there are any errors, download the error report (or view the errors in the modal), correct the data, and repeat from Step 1

How to Fill in the Spreadsheet Template

Below, find a list of the required fields, as well as information on how to fill in each section of the import template.

Required Fields

The following fields are required:

• Given Name
• Family Name
• Date Of Birth
• Date Of Employment
• Salary Amount
• Salary Frequency
• Employment Type
• Tax Code

Note: When inserting dates, double-check and confirm that you are using a consistent date format, as this can lead to incorrect inputs.

Section 1: Personal Details

The first section includes details of personal information, including legal names, NI numbers, Date of Birth, and other details.

Address Details

Buddy supports additional address details for more accurate information. If you usually only collect Address Lines, this is the general structure:

• Line 1 -> Building
• Line 2 -> Street
• Line 3 -> City
• Line 4 -> County

Items like sub-building, locality and country are not often included, but can be imported accordingly.

Section 2: Role Details

The second section features vital information on the employee's engagement, role, and department. As you may notice in the below screenshot, some fields (like Role and Department) are completely optional.

Section 3: Salary Details

Salary Details and Schedule

The first portion of the salary details will determine how much the employee is paid and impact calculations, such as annual leave entitlement

• Pay Schedule determines the pay period the employee will be paid
• Salary Amount is the rate of basic pay, based on the frequency
• The Salary Frequency determines the period for which the basic pay is set, i.e. if the rate inserted is hourly, weekly, monthly, yearly, or other.
• Salary Type determines if the basic (and allowance included) are to be calculated at Gross or Net rates
• Variable Hours should be inserted as Yes if the employee does not have any fixed hours
• Weekly Hours and Working Days need to be included for all the employees on fixed-hour contracts. This will impact have an impact on pro-rata calculations, where applicable

Recurring Pay Items and Eligible Overtime Rates

The second part of the Salary Details includes pay items and overtime/special rates that are created in the Company's Settings

• For recurring pay items, insert the amount paid each pay period. This means if your payroll is monthly, include the monthly amount.
• For hourly or multiplicative allowances, insert the rate at which these will be paid per hour or instance.
• For overtime rates, simply input Yes or No, depending on whether the employee is eligible for that overtime rate.
  
  

Section 4: Pension Groups & Contributions

The pension section includes details such as pension group, enrolment and opt out dates, as well as custom contributions.

If employees are on a custom contributions, include the rate or amount contribution in the allocated fields, as per the above example.

Should the contribution be in fixed amount, select "No" in the Percentage column.

Section 5: Tax and NIC Details

The Tax section includes NIC Types and Statuses, Tax Codes, and other details.

Refer to Employee Tax Details for a better understanding of each option.

Section 6: Previous Earnings

Previous Earnings section is divided into two:

• Grey: Previous Earnings from previous employments
• Orange: Totals to Date, with current company

In particular, the Total Earnings to Date will be used to influence elements like the Totals to Date section in payslip, to reflect a continuation. This is only required when migrating mid-tax year.

Most of its elements can be uploaded by FPS .xml upload. We still recommend filling in Employer Pension and Salary Sacrifice, as these are not included in FPS data.

See how to upload the FPS and EPS XML Files: Import FPS and EPS XML Data onto Buddy

Section 7: Bank Details

If you'd like to store employee's bank details, or issue payments through BACS files or direct payment integrations, then fill in the Payment Method and Bank Account details.