Before you get started

This sheet explains how to configure a payroll export on Timmi Absences using the single export module.

This article covers the following points:

• Activate the single export module
• Create a configuration for a payroll export
• Setting a payroll export configuration
  • General settings
  • Sections and accounts
  • Files and structures
• Initialize the generation of the payroll export

or find out if you have selected the right export module to use, see the dedicated file.

Activate the new payroll export module

In the Setup > Preferences > Settings page of Timmi Absences, a new setting is accessible to Lucca Admin only: Which payroll export module to display?

This setting has the following three options:

• Old module (default value): displays the payroll export "history" module.
• New module: displays the new payroll export module, i.e. the module that interests us here. The new module appears in the menu followed by a "Beta" tag.
• Both, my captain!: displays both modules. Set up mainly to facilitate the setup process and manual migration, we do not recommend that you give your customers access to both modules.

Depending on your choice, and after reloading your page, the selected module will appear in the Export menu.

If only the single export module is activated:

If both modules are activated:

Add a new payroll export configuration

A "configuration" is the name given to a specific export configuration, which makes it possible to generate files containing absences to be transmitted to the client's payroll tool.

This configuration includes:

• General settings
• The sections used a correspondence table between the Timmi Absences accounts and the client's target tool
• The files to be generated and their necessary structure so that the client's target tool can integrate them

On the home page of the module, the "Create an export configuration" button opens the creation modal window:

You get a choice between 3 options:

• Add a configuration from a template: the configuration will be pre-configured. You will be asked to select the template you want from those available off the shelf:
  • Generic template (equivalent to CSV export)
  • Bodet
  • Cegid
  • Sage
  • … Preferred option if the expected configuration is close to or identical to one of the off-the-shelf templates (you can always adjust the settings later if necessary).
• Add configuration without any templates: the configuration will arrive empty and you will have to configure everything by yourself. Preferred option when dealing with a very specific format.
• Add a format from a configuration code: the configuration created will be an identical copy of a configuration configured on another database (equivalent to the json Cleemy Expenses) and will therefore arrive completely or partially configured. The configuration code is found in the general settings of the configuration to be copied. This code is not available in the old Timmi Absences export module. Preferred option in 2 main cases:
  • The configuration has been configured on the test database, and validated and tested by the customer. In this case, you will be able to duplicate it in production with 1 click.
  • A similar or identical configuration has already been configured on another customer database. In 1 click, you can duplicate the settings without the specific information in the database (absence and occupation category accounts).

In the next step, you will have to choose the observed temporality for this export configuration:

• Payroll period export: recommended for exports to the payroll software. All new data since the last export, until the end of the month entered.

The payroll period export is an export by monthly period, which you must choose when generating the export. It is the one that interests us here.

It is possible to generate an export of absences (creations, corrections, delays) with this setting. It is also possible to generate an export of absence balances.

• Full export: recommended for exports to the planning software, badge reader, etc. All new data since the last export, with no time limit.

An export of absences (creations, corrections, delays) can be generated with these settings. An export of absence balances cannot be generated (feature to be added in the future).

The next and last step involves selecting the establishment(s) concerned by this export configuration.

Setting up a payroll export format

The setup process then breaks down into 3 main steps:

• Configuration of the general settings
• Creation of the sections and distribution of accounts
• Creation of the files and configuration of their structure

General settings

The general settings tab contains the information on the format's export modalities.

• the format name: identifies the configurations on the main page, e.g. if you have created one per establishment
• the basic template of the format: cannot be modified, if you want to use another model, you will have to create a new configuration
• the observed temporality: cannot be modified, if you want to observe another temporality, you will have to create a new configuration
• the relevant establishments: all the employees of these establishments will be affected by the export
• the option to generate one file per establishment: does your customer want a global file or a file per establishment?
• the definition of a specific constant for each establishment: equivalent to the company code, you can use it in the file structure
• emailing export files: when generating the export, you can decide to send an email to employees via their work address entered in their employee file or to addresses entered manually (separated by ";" in the case of multiple addresses). In this way, you can, for example, automatically send an email to your customer's administrators and to their payroll provider.
• uploading files to FTP server: obviously an FTP server must exist on the database. Important: a file with an identical name will overwrite the previous file uploaded to the FTP, so add, for example, the export date if you want to keep the different files
• the configuration code: copies a code that contains all the information configured in this configuration. This code can be used to duplicate the configuration on any database

Payroll sections

The sections are used as a correspondence table between the Timmi Absences accounts and the customer's target payroll tool. It will therefore be a question here of:

• creating and configuring the payroll sections
• linking the accounts to the sections

To create a payroll section, from the Sections tab, just click on the "Add a section" button

Depending on the template used, the section will have a certain number of settings. These will include the code (required setting) that will be used as the name of the section and identifies the type of absences.

If the settings needed for your format are not present (e.g. delay code, correction code, label, etc.), you will be able to add them by clicking on the cogwheel button

The settings added in this way will be applied to all the sections of this format.

You can then configure all the settings by assigning the expected values to them. You can also assign different values to the settings according to the population concerned via the occupation category.

To do this, simply activate the "Define by occupation category" switch and add as many values as you want. Please note that the default value will be applied to all occupation categories that are not explicitly selected.

By default, absences are exported in the account unit. On the other hand, it is possible to implement a conversion of absences into hours using the radio button on the interface.

You then have several options to choose from:

• General conversion: in this case 1 day will always be equal to a fixed number of hours to enter

• Conversion according to the employee's work cycle: the conversion calculation will take into account the work cycle. You will then have to specify how many hours are equivalent to 1 day for the cycles in days and how many hours represent a day not worked for the cycles in hours.

• Conversion according to the employee's occupation category: you can also define different conversion rules according to the occupation category of the employees.

All that remains then is to link one or more accounts to the section created using the selector which lists all the accounts that are not yet linked to a section. If you can't find what you're looking for in the list, your account is probably linked to an existing section!

In the case of absence accounts in calendar days or working days, there is an option to export only business days.

Finally, if you do not wish to export certain types of absence, you must exclude the accounts from the export by linking them to the default "Do not export" section.

You can also link all remaining accounts to "Do not export" in one click, so keep this mind!

In the end, all the absence accounts must be linked to a section or explicitly excluded.

A final tip on the quickest way to configure a set of sections with advanced settings.

It is possible to duplicate the settings of a section by clicking on the button below

Start by configuring a section until the end and use the duplicate button to quickly create the following sections!

Files and their structure

Come on, one more push! You're nearly there! [Editor's note: and me too!]

You now have to configure the files that you want to export and especially their structure.

You can add as many files as you want. To do this, just click on the "Add a file" button and choose the type of file that interests you.

There are 2 types of files:

• Absence files (initial absences, delays and corrections)
• Balance files (balances, accruals and transfers)

Specific features of absence files

These files are used to export the absences, delays and corrections of employees to payroll.

The 2 main settings are here: 

• contains: determines the types of absences that will be uploaded to the file. You can choose between:
• absences: absences of the current period; 
• delays: absences over a past period entered since the last export
• corrections: absences canceled since the last export

• splitting: indicates how absences will be presented in the file:

• A line per period: Allows you to generate a single line for the entire absence period (e.g. a single line for an absence from 1 to 5 January).
• One line per half-day: for generating a line for each half-day that makes up the absence
• One line per day of absence: for generating a line for each day or half-day that makes up the absence
• One line per request (half-days on additional lines): Allows you to generate one line per absence accompanied by additional lines if the absence begins or ends with half-days

Specific features of the balance files

These files are used to export the following indicators for the sections of your choice: 

• Balance at the start of the exported period
• Accrued entitlement during the exported period
• Days taken during the exported period
• Transfers during the exported period (corresponds to TIMESAVINGS, TRANSFER and BALANCE journal codes)
• Balance at the end of the exported period 

And Balance at the end of the period = Balance at the beginning of the period + Accrued entitlements during the period - Days taken during the period - Transfers during the period

When creating a balance file, these 5 indicators are automatically configured in the file structure. Of course, you can delete those that are not of interest to your customer.

The "Sections" setting is for selecting the sections on which you want to calculate the indicators. If several accounts are linked to a section, the total will appear in the file.

Finally, it should be noted that the values are calculated at the time of the export and that delays are not taken into account.

Common settings

The name of the file will allow the customer to easily find what their file contains, so remember to put an unambiguous name.

It will be possible to complete the name with the following settings:

• the date of export: add {EXPORT_DATE:yyyyMMddhhmmss} in your file name. The date can be described in any of the required formats
• the start date of the export period: add {PERIOD_START_DATE:yyyyMMddhhmmss} in your file name. The date can be described in any of the required formats
• the name of the establishment: add {ESTABLISHMENT_NAME} in your file name
• the constant of the establishment: add {ESTABLISHMENT_NAME} in your file name

The file extension is related to the selected type:

• CSV type ⇒ the extension will necessarily be .csv
• Excel type ⇒ the extension will necessarily be .xlsx
• Text type ⇒ the extension is free

If your format is based on a separator, place the switch on Yes and select the separator in question. All the characters can be entered as well as spaces and tabs.

Otherwise, it is the position of the elements in the file which will define their utility. Place the switch to No and you will define the position of the elements in the structure.

As its name suggests, the decimal separator is used to determine whether you want to use a comma or a period.

Finally, the encoding is used to choose between a "local" character encoding (iso-8859-1 also called latin1) and an "international" encoding (UTF-8). In most cases, choose UTF-8.

The file structure

[Editor's note: We are aware of the user experience issues of this page which is to change over time according to your feedback) 

Each file created will offer a specific structure (if all your files are going to offer the same structure, consider duplicating them to save time!)

The file structure is equivalent to theformatting information to be 
exported.

The structure is split into 3 parts: 

• Header: the upper part of the file
• Body: the body of the file where the absences will be reported
• Footer: the lower part of the file

Page header and footer

The page header and footer will display information that is not repeated. They can have several rows composed of several columns.

To add a cell (= an indicator), you must first add a row and then click the Add a cell button. 

You can add as many rows as you want.

Body

Only one row can be configured in the body. All the absences of the period will be displayed on this structure, so the row will be repeated as many times as necessary (according to the selected split).

To add an indicator, click the (+) button. You can also move the cell or delete it.

This will open a side panel where you can configure the indicator you want.

Many indicators related to absences, users or the organization are available for configuration, you can find the complete list here:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sTxoFqAkqHD_8wWO52eB2-9Eo8Asun8tueZJ3h-eLkY/edit?usp=sharing

To start, you have to look for the indicator you want to set using the selector.

Depending on the indicators, different settings may need to be filled in.

For example, a very frequent case (although not a very clear one currently) for displaying the code of the section in your file, choose the Code section indicator and choose Code in the selectors of the "day" and "half-day" lines.

Note: The different off-the-shelf templates offer a basic structure for the different files created that you can find in this help sheet (COMING SOON).

There is a preview of the file at the bottom of the page to view the result of your settings and download it. Keep an eye on it!

Export initialization

The final step is to initialize the configured format. 

To do this, go to the export page and enter the date, from which the absences should be exported, and what period this represents.

• If you are carrying out a rollout for a new client: please specify the date that is the day before the rollout.
• If you are carrying out a migration from the old module to the new one: please specify the date of the last payroll export completed in the previous format.

In the second field, indicate the period in which the last export was carried out.

That's it, your export format is ready, congratulations! Your client will now be able to export their absences for payroll from the new Timmi Absences module!

Generating the export

To generate a leave and absences export file that can then be imported to your payroll software, go to Exports.

Go to the export configuration created to export to payroll.

Before generating the export, it is essential to process any unvalidated absences for the selected export period. These absences awaiting validation will be listed on your export generation page, where you will also find a link taking you directly to the approval module:

Then click on the Export the period button.

The files generated will then appear in the History tab:

You have imported the file into your payroll software and you have absences that were entered/validated/modified after the last export?

You have two options :

• You can generate the export again by selecting the same payroll period and then clicking on the Export new data button. This new export will contain only the month’s events that have taken place since the last export was generated for the same period.

• You can export the next period by selecting the next period and clicking on the Export the period button again. Any late changes will appear in this new export.

If you have already imported the import file into your payroll software, do not delete the last export, as this could result in discrepancies and duplicate absences in your target software. The Cancel the export button in the History tab is only useful if you have not imported the last export to payroll yet.

The daily upload to the FTP server is only available for “complete” exports, not for “payroll period” exports.