Import a payroll export
A payroll export is the spreadsheet your payroll system downloads: Xero's Payroll Activity Summary, a MYOB or KeyPay pay run detail, an employee list, a timesheet export. Upload one on the Payslip compliance upload bar and this page shows what FairCheck read from it before anything is saved. Nothing is imported until you click "Import N payslips".
The file is kept for an hour while you look at this page. After that, upload it again.
Sheets
Every sheet (tab) in the workbook is listed with what it was read as. Sheets are recognised by their column headings, not their names, so "Summary 11-03-2026", "Pay Run 3" and "Sheet1" can all be read the same way. The heading row doesn't have to be the first row; a title block above it is fine, and a "Totals" row is skipped.
| Read as | What the sheet has | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Pay run summary | One row per person per pay run, with a gross and dollar columns (ordinary, overtime, penalties, allowances, PAYG, super, net). Hours columns are used when present. | The payslip itself. A title such as "Pay period 01/03/2026 to 14/03/2026 \ |
| Pay items | One row per pay item (Ordinary Hours, Overtime 1.5x, Saturday 1.25x, PAYG Withholding, Superannuation…), with units, rate and amount. The person can be printed once and left blank on the rows below. | The most detail: hours and rate for every line, so weekend, overtime and public holiday pay are each checked per hour. |
| Employee register | One row per person: employment type, classification, base rate, super fund. | Employment type and classification, suggested in the next step. |
| Timesheet | One row per shift: date, start, finish, break minutes. | When the hours were worked (see Timesheet). |
| Not used | Anything else — a notes sheet, a chart's data. | Nothing. |
The same pay run can appear on several sheets. Each figure is taken from the most detailed sheet that has it: pay items first, then a summary. If two sheets give different figures for the same person and pay date, the payslip is marked "Figures don't agree" and both are named. Neither figure is picked for you.
Columns FairCheck doesn't recognise are listed under "Columns not used". If a sheet's headings aren't recognised at all, their meaning may be suggested for you. A suggested sheet shows each heading and the field it was read as, and a "Use these columns" tick. Untick it and click "Update preview" to leave the sheet out. Only the sheet's headings are used for the suggestion, never the people or figures in it.
What this file cannot check
A file without a particular kind of sheet can still be imported. This panel says what that costs:
- No pay figures — nothing can be checked as a payslip.
- No pay-item detail — weekend, overtime and public holiday pay are checked as dollar totals, not per hour. A combined "Sat/Sun" or "Penalty" column is imported as "Weekend penalties" and isn't priced as either day.
- No employee register — you choose employment type and classification in the next step without a suggestion.
- No timesheet — pay is checked against what was paid, not against the hours actually worked.
Rows with no pay date or pay period are left out, and the panel says how many. If a pay date has no period on any sheet, the payslip is imported without one, and timesheet hours can't be matched to it.
People and payslips
One row per person in the file, with every pay date found for them. People are matched to your records by payroll ref first, then by name, the same way uploaded payslips are. A name written "Surname, First" is read as "First Surname".
| On file | What it means |
|---|---|
| A name (a link) | Already on your records. The payslips are added to them. |
| New | Not on your records. They're added on import, under the employer named in the file's title. No seat is used until their first payslip is checked. |
| Ambiguous | More than one person on your records has this name, and the file has no payroll ref. The payslips are imported and you pick who they belong to in the next step. Their timesheet shifts aren't saved. |
Each payslip shows its pay period, gross, and how much the file itemised: "line items", "hours and totals" or "totals only".
Timesheet
Shifts from a timesheet sheet are saved to each person's record as dated shifts, the same as Import a timesheet. They're used when that person's payslips for those dates are checked. Rows that can't be read are listed by line. Importing the same dates again replaces the shifts saved for them.
Tick "These are approved hours" when the file records the hours actually worked. Approved hours can report a shortfall in dollars. Unticked, they are estimates: checked the same way, flagged only.
Import
"Import N payslips" creates the payslips and takes you to Confirm payslip details. Nothing is checked until you confirm each person's award and classification there, exactly as for an uploaded PDF. An award the file names is offered there as printed.
A payslip already imported for the same person, employer, pay date and gross is not imported again. The message after import says how many were already on file. "Start again" goes back to Payslip compliance.