Click: Payroll admin → Export → Payroll export with period control
1. Introduction
BitaBIZ can export registrations to all payroll systems. We call this feature Payroll export with period control.
Purpose:
Payroll export ensures that hours, leave, mileage, and payroll items are imported correctly into your payroll system.
And most importantly: BitaBIZ keeps track of which registrations have been settled in your payroll system.
Payroll export to payroll system is not the same as:
BitaBIZ API – used for exporting raw data and integrations. The API should not be used for payroll system export.
Report library – contains ready-made HR reports. Exporting from the report library should not be used for payroll system export.
👉 For both, export via API or Report library does not archive settled registrations. Therefore, always use Payroll export with period control for payroll system export, where registrations are imported directly in a format your payroll system understands and settled registrations are archived as payroll processed.
2. How payroll export with period control works
When a registration is exported to the payroll system:
The registration is locked in the employee's calendar.
Employee, manager, and Payroll Admin can see that the registration has been payroll processed.
The registration can then only be deleted by Payroll Admin via calendar access.
All payroll processed registrations are archived in the "Payroll processed" Archive:
Archived registrations can always be found and exported to Excel.
Archived registrations are not included in future payroll exports.
If a registration needs to be exported again, it can be released by deleting the archive entry in Archive (Payroll processed).
3. When is a registration not included in the export?
A registration will not be included in the payroll export if:
The registration is awaiting approval.
The employee has not been assigned a payroll number in BitaBIZ.
💡 Best practice: If you follow the recommended process for payroll export, all registrations will always be included. If not this month – then next. And a registration is always only included once, even if the same period is imported multiple times.
Registrations awaiting approval
Registrations that are awaiting approval are not included in the payroll export.
If you as payroll admin need an overview of these registrations, you can find them via:
Payroll admin → Logs → Awaiting approval
Here you get a complete list of all registrations that have not yet been approved.
This is the recommended way to follow up on missing approvals before a payroll run.
How do I check why a registration type is missing from the payroll export?
If a registration type is not included in the payroll export, you first need to find out which type of registration was used in BitaBIZ.
Start by opening the employee's calendar and click on the registration that is missing from the payroll export. This will show which registration type was used.
Then check:
Which registration type was used?
See if the registration was created as, for example, Sick, Other leave (e.g. types of leave), Custom registration type (e.g. sick hourly employees, on-call shift, working from home, Supplementary balance (e.g. other vacation), Time registration - without hour bank (payroll hours, rates) or another type.Is the registration approved?
Registrations that are awaiting approval are not included in the payroll export.
Go to Payroll Admin → Logs → Awaiting approval.Does the employee have a payroll number?
The employee must have a payroll number in BitaBIZ before registrations can be included in the payroll export.Is the employee on the correct policy?
Some payroll codes are set on the employee's policy. This applies, for example, to sick leave.Is the payroll code set on the same type as the employee has registered?
The payroll code must be set on the type that is actually registered in the calendar.Is the type set up for payroll export?
For custom registration types, other leave, time registration - without hour bank, job codes for overtime, Add to payroll export must be activated, and the correct code must be entered in the ID number field.Is the registration already payroll processed?
A registration is only included in the payroll export once. If it has already been payroll processed, it is found in Archive / Payroll processed and will not be included again.Are the period and policy included in the export?
Check that the registration date is within the selected export period, and that the employee's policy/personnel group is selected in the export.
4. Terminated and inactive employees
Registrations from terminated or inactive employees are included in the payroll export.
Future planned registrations (e.g. vacation or time off) must therefore be deleted manually when an employee's calendar is closed due to termination.
Otherwise, the registrations will be included in future payroll exports.
Payroll Admin deletes these registrations via calendar access for a terminated employee.
5. How to create an export
Select from and to dates
To date = last day in the payroll period you want to export.
From date = several months back (e.g. 3 months), so you also include:
Hours that were registered late in previous payroll periods and not marked as payroll processed.
Hours and leave that were approved after the last payroll run.
Select personnel groups (policies) to include in the export:
Click Show result
If an employee is missing a payroll number, this will be shown and the registrations will not be included.
If a previously exported registration has been deleted, this will be shown.
If you run the payroll export for the same period again, only registrations that have not previously been exported, as well as new or late registrations in the period, will be included.
Already exported registrations are shown, but will not be included again.
Click Export
Data is sent to your payroll system (via file or electronic integration).
The export is archived as payroll run.
Registrations are locked in the employee's calendar and marked as payroll processed.
Red markings in payroll export
When you click Show result, you may see red markings in the columns.
Red cross in "Payroll number"
The employee is missing a payroll number and therefore cannot be included in the export.
If an employee is missing a payroll number during payroll export, they will not be exported. Once the payroll number is added, you can run the same period again, and the employee's registrations will automatically be included.
You can find and update these employees under Payroll Admin → Employees → Edit payroll no. etc..
Search for “missing” to get a complete overview of employees without a payroll number.
Red cross in "Payroll run"
The registration was previously exported to the payroll system, but has since been deleted in BitaBIZ.
This means:
The registration has already been sent to the payroll system
But no longer exists in BitaBIZ
There will therefore be a discrepancy between BitaBIZ and the payroll system
These registrations cannot be recreated via export or found in a separate log.
It is therefore necessary for Payroll Admin to handle this manually in the payroll system.
6. Payroll file format
⚠️ Important: Do not open the payroll file in Excel before importing it into your payroll system.
Excel can change data in the file (e.g. date formats or numbers).
Therefore, download the payroll file directly and import it without opening it first.
FAQ
Can previous payroll periods be locked to prevent further registrations?
Can previous payroll periods be locked to prevent further registrations?
No, BitaBIZ does not lock entire periods or calendar years.
BitaBIZ is designed to be flexible and support different needs across registration types. Therefore, the system uses rules for each registration type instead of locking entire periods.
When you perform a payroll export, the exported registrations are marked as payroll processed, so they are not included in a later export. This prevents double payment, but it does not necessarily prevent new registrations from being created afterwards.
How are registrations back in time handled?
The rules depend on the registration type:
Registration type | Registration back in time |
Absence (e.g. vacation, leave, other vacation) | Employees generally cannot register absence back in time. Absence must be registered on the day or planned for the future. |
Sick leave (sick day, child sick) | A setting determines whether sick leave can be registered retroactively. |
Time registration | The company can decide how far back employees are allowed to register hours. |
Mileage | Currently, there is no limit to how far back employees can register mileage. |
Where do you set the limit for time registration?
If you want to limit how far back employees can register work hours, you can set it here:
Setup Admin → Modules → Notifications & Rules → Time registration
Here you can specify how many weeks back employees are allowed to register or edit hours.
Where do you set the limit for Sick leave?
Setup Admin → Modules → Notifications & Rules → Sick leave
Here you can specify whether employees can register a sick leave period back and forth in time or only register sick as of today.
Why doesn't BitaBIZ lock periods?
A general period lock can make the system less flexible in daily operations. Many companies need to be able to correct or register certain types of data afterwards, while other registration types should be restricted.
Therefore, restrictions in BitaBIZ are mainly handled via rules for each registration type rather than by locking entire periods.
How do I set up integration with our payroll system?
How do I set up integration with our payroll system?
Before you can start exporting to your payroll system, your payroll system integration must be set up. 📑 Read this guide
Can I use the API for payroll export?
Can I use the API for payroll export?
No. The API delivers raw data for integrations and reports, but it does not archive payroll processed registrations. Always use Payroll export with period management for payroll system export.
Why is a registration missing from the export?
Why is a registration missing from the export?
Typically because:
The registration is not approved.
The employee does not have a payroll number in BitaBIZ.
Why is an employee not included in the payroll export?
Why is an employee not included in the payroll export?
An employee, or more specifically an employee's registrations, are typically not included in the payroll export if one of these things is the case:
The employee is missing a payroll number in BitaBIZ.
The registration is awaiting approval.
The registration has already been payroll processed and therefore will not be included again.
The registration is outside the selected export period.
The employee's policy or staff group is not selected in the export.
You can check this here:
Go to Payroll Admin → Employees → Edit payroll no. etc. and search for missing to find employees without a payroll number.
Add a payroll number if the employee is missing one.
Go to Payroll Admin → Logs → Awaiting approval to see registrations that are not yet approved.
Check the export period, policy, and staff group in the payroll export.
Run the payroll export again for the same period once the error is fixed.
Once the error is fixed, the employee or registration will automatically be included in the payroll export if it meets the export's filters and rules.
The payroll file cannot be imported, even though the setup has not changed
The payroll file cannot be imported, even though the setup has not changed
If the payroll file could previously be imported correctly and the setup has not changed since the last payroll export, the problem is often with the file handling itself.
Do this:
Download the payroll file again from BitaBIZ.
Do not open the payroll file in Excel.
Import the file directly into the payroll system from the download folder or wherever the file is saved.
If the file has already been opened in Excel, export the period again from BitaBIZ.
Go to the archive for payroll processed exports.
Find the relevant export.
Click the delete icon to remove the archiving of the export.
Then export the same period again.
Import the new file directly into the payroll system without opening it first.
Important: When a payroll file is opened in Excel, Excel can change the file's format, dates, numbers, or punctuation. The file may therefore look different and in some cases can no longer be imported correctly into the payroll system.
Removing the archiving allows you to export the period again. This does not mean that employees' registrations are deleted from the calendar.
Is absence included in the payroll export?
Is absence included in the payroll export?
Absence such as vacation and sickness is included in the payroll export on days that are treated as workdays in the system.
This means that:
Absence on weekends and public holidays is not included
Absence on days marked as days off is not included
Absence on days with standard hours 0 (zero days) is still included if the day is not marked as a day off
For a day to be treated as a day off, it must be created via a custom registration type marked as a day off. It is not enough to set the standard hours to 0.
Solution:
If a day is actually a fixed day off, it should be created as a recurring registration via custom registration types. Otherwise, the day will be treated as a workday, and absence may be included in the payroll export.
Why are sick hours included in the payroll export on days when the employee was not supposed to work?
Why are sick hours included in the payroll export on days when the employee was not supposed to work?
If an employee is registered as sick over a period, the system will by default distribute the sick leave across all days in the period that are considered workdays.
If there are days without planned work hours (e.g. standard hours 0), but the day is not marked as a day off, the system will still treat the day as a potential workday.
In these cases, a daily average of the employee's weekly standard hours is assigned to the day. These hours will therefore be included in the payroll export as sick hours.
No sick hours are registered on days that are not workdays such as weekends and public holidays. The same applies to days that are created as days off.
Solution:
To avoid this, a fixed day off should be created on the relevant days. When the day is marked as a day off, it is treated as a non-workday – just like weekends and public holidays – and no sick hours will be assigned or exported for that day.
Why are hourly paid employees' hours not included in the export to the payroll system?
Why are hourly paid employees' hours not included in the export to the payroll system?
If hourly paid employees' work hours are not included in the export to the payroll system, it is typically because their time registrations are not linked to job codes.
Hourly paid employees, who are paid based on the hours they have worked (and therefore do not have an hour bank), must register their time on job codes with pay rates.
If an employee is not linked to a job code, their work hours will not be exported to the payroll system. In these cases, the export will often only include registrations such as vacation and sick leave, which can give the impression that work hours are missing.
To ensure that hourly paid employees' hours are correctly included in the export, you should:
Create relevant job codes with pay rates
Ensure that hourly paid employees register their work hours on these job codes
You can find a step-by-step guide here:
Create job codes with pay rates for payroll
Why can't I export the same registrations again?
Why can't I export the same registrations again?
When a registration is exported, it is archived as “payroll processed” and will not be included in future exports. If you want to export it again, you need to remove the archiving in Payroll processed.
The payroll file cannot be imported into our payroll system
The payroll file cannot be imported into our payroll system
Never open the payroll file in Excel before importing it into the payroll system. Excel can change formats (e.g. dates and numbers). Download the file directly and import it without opening it first.
What are Payroll export, Calendar access, and the Report library used for?
What are Payroll export, Calendar access, and the Report library used for?
Payroll export is used to export approved registrations to the payroll system and to keep track of which registrations have been processed for payroll.
Calendar access is used for reconciliation and checking balances per employee, and balances can be adjusted manually here.
Report library is used for follow-up and overview across employees, periods, and registration types.
Together, they cover the entire process from follow-up and reconciliation to payroll processing and analysis.
Are notes from vacation and other vacation included in the payroll export?
Are notes from vacation and other vacation included in the payroll export?
No, notes are never included in the payroll export – neither from vacation nor other vacation.
If you need an export that includes employees' notes, you should instead go to Payroll admin and select Create report. Here you can create a report where the notes are included – read more about it here.
Can payroll processed hours be edited or deleted?
Can payroll processed hours be edited or deleted?
Payroll processed registrations are locked for employees and approvers.
However, payroll processed registrations can be edited or deleted by payroll admin if necessary.
Can I export the red markings in the payroll export to Excel?
Can I export the red markings in the payroll export to Excel?
It depends on what the marking is due to:
If the marking is due to a missing payroll number, you can find the employees via Payroll Admin → Employees → Edit payroll number, etc. and update them.
When filtered by "missing", the list can be exported to Excel.
If the marking is because a registration was previously exported and then deleted, there is no log or Excel report for these.
These are only shown in the payroll export result view and must be handled manually in the payroll system.
Why aren't sick hours for our students included in the payroll file?
Why aren't sick hours for our students included in the payroll file?
If sick leave for students is not included in the payroll file, it is typically because of:
Check which registration method the employee uses to register sick hours:
Standard sick leave enabled on the policy
Custom registration type created as "Sick hours"
Time registration - without hour bank -> job code created as "Sick hours"
Check that the correct payroll code is set for sick leave.
Check that the specific registration in the employee's calendar is actually created.
Check that the registration is approved, that the employee has a payroll number, and that the date is within the export period.
Why aren't our leave types included in the payroll file?
Why aren't our leave types included in the payroll file?
If leave is not included in the payroll file, it is typically because of:
Check which registration method the employee uses to register leave:
Custom registration type created as "leave type"
Other leave is used to create "leave type" (recommended)
Check that the correct leave code is set for the leave type. And that the type is marked with "Add to payroll file".
Check that the specific registration in the employee's calendar is actually created.
Check that the registration is approved, that the employee has a payroll number, and that the date is within the export period.
Can I lock registrations without sending them to the payroll system?
Can I lock registrations without sending them to the payroll system?
Yes.
Registrations in BitaBIZ are locked when they are payroll processed via payroll export with period control – regardless of which format is exported to.
This means:
You can choose not to send certain registration types to your payroll system
And still have them locked in BitaBIZ by including them in a separate export
How to do it:
Remove the registration type from your payroll system export
Create a separate export (e.g. Excel)
If Excel does not appear on the list of your payroll systems, you need to add it first.
See how here.Include only the registrations that need to be locked
Run the export
When the export is completed:
the registrations are marked as payroll processed
they are locked in the calendar
and will not be included in future exports
Can we choose the payroll period ourselves when exporting to our payroll system?
Can we choose the payroll period ourselves when exporting to our payroll system?
Yes. When exporting payroll from BitaBIZ, you choose the period to be exported.
Go to Payroll Admin > Export > Payroll export with period control and select the relevant from-date and to-date for the export.
We recommend that the from-date is a few months back in time. This way, any registrations that were not previously exported will be included.
Where can I see where hours in a payroll export come from?
Where can I see where hours in a payroll export come from?
If you are unsure where some hours in a payroll run come from, you can check if they come from BitaBIZ in two places:
Go to Payroll Archive
Open the individual payroll export period archives you want to check.
In a period archive, you can see the registrations that have been included in a payroll export from BitaBIZ. You can search for a specific employee to see the registrations included in the payroll export period.Open the employee's calendar
In the employee's calendar, you can click on the individual registrations. Here you can see if the registration has been included in a payroll export.
If you cannot find the hours in the payroll archive or on the employee's registrations in the calendar, then the registrations (hours, mileage, vacation, etc.) do not come from the BitaBIZ export. In that case, you should check the payroll system and any manual entries there.