> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.yrka.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Prepare payroll handoffs and exports in Yrka

> Review payroll-prep confidence, manage export packs and vendor profiles, lock pay periods, and produce reviewed handoff files for your payroll provider.

Yrka's Payroll surface is where you move from reviewed timecards into a payroll-ready package for your external payroll provider. You review the confidence workspace, resolve export warnings, save reusable vendor profiles, take snapshots as audit evidence, and generate the handoff file. Open it by selecting **Payroll** from the admin sidebar or navigating to `/admin?tab=payroll`.

<Warning>
  Yrka handles payroll preparation, exports, estimates, and handoff files. It does not process payroll, file taxes, move money, or submit live payroll API runs. Final payroll processing happens in your payroll provider's system, not in Yrka.
</Warning>

## What Yrka payroll prep includes

* Payroll-prep confidence review with per-item checklist
* Attendance readiness signals tied to schedule and timecard evidence
* Period lock state and snapshot status
* Vendor export profiles with saved field mappings
* Export packs in multiple formats for common payroll providers
* Compact payroll quick-settings summary with a link to the full policy form

## Before you start

Resolve open issues in Timekeeping before relying on payroll readiness. The confidence workspace reflects the state of your source data — it won't be green while timecard exceptions or correction requests remain open.

Confirm these items are current before generating a handoff file:

* Employee payroll identifiers and employee numbers
* Pay rates, pay codes, and job codes
* Leave balances and holiday settings
* Employee record types and company jobs in **Types**

## Review the confidence workspace

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Admin > Payroll">
    Navigate to the Payroll surface. The confidence workspace shows the current-period readiness state.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Work through the checklist">
    Open each checklist item showing a warning, blocked, or locked state. Items include schedule-vs-actual attendance exceptions, missing identifiers, unclosed correction requests, and snapshot coverage.

    Resolve blocking items in the surface they originate from — Timekeeping for timecard issues, Personnel or Types for missing payroll fields, and Settings for pay-period or holiday configuration.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review attendance readiness">
    Confirm that schedule-vs-actual attendance exceptions are resolved or intentionally accepted: no-show, unscheduled work, missed clock-out, break review, location review, correction pending, early/late, and overtime risk items all affect payroll readiness.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm snapshot coverage">
    Save a reviewed snapshot for each active employee in the period after their data has been reviewed. Snapshots record audit evidence without storing provider files as report snapshots.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Lock the period">
    Lock or close the period only after the handoff has been reviewed and your organization accepts the review state. Locking blocks ordinary employee timecard changes for that period.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Confidence status meanings

| Status              | Meaning                                                                            |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Ready**           | No blocking review items in Yrka for the current period                            |
| **Needs review**    | One or more payroll setup, snapshot, or export warnings should be reviewed         |
| **Blocked**         | Timekeeping exceptions or required evidence gaps should be resolved before handoff |
| **Locked**          | The period is closed; ordinary employee timecard changes are blocked               |
| **Not snapshotted** | No reviewed employee payroll snapshot exists for that employee-period              |

## Export packs

Yrka provides several export pack formats for handoff to common payroll providers. Choose the pack that matches your provider's expected file structure.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Yrka detailed CSV / JSON">
    A full row-level export of reviewed timecard entries including employee, entry category, worked hours, paid non-work hours, drive time, total paid hours, and pay-code context. Use this for maximum detail and as a reference when mapping to a provider template.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Yrka employee summary CSV / JSON">
    Aggregated per-employee totals for the selected period. Useful for providers that expect a summary row per employee rather than per time entry.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="QuickBooks-oriented CSV">
    Column layout oriented toward QuickBooks payroll import requirements. Requires employee payroll IDs and job codes to be current before generating. Customer mapping is required.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Foundation CSV">
    Column layout oriented toward Foundation payroll import requirements. Review pay codes and job codes before using. Customer mapping is required.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Generic payroll CSV">
    A provider-neutral format with configurable column mapping. Use when your provider expects a custom layout that doesn't match a named pack.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Paychex, Paylocity, and ADP Workforce Now packs">
    Oriented packs for Paychex, Paylocity, and ADP Workforce Now import formats. These packs require customer mapping — verify employee numbers, pay codes, and job codes match your provider's expectations. Provider-gated live API paths are separate and require connected accounts, confirmed scopes, and provider approval before live movement.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Note>
  Export packs are reviewed handoffs. Generating a file does not submit payroll to the provider, guarantee provider acceptance, or confirm tax compliance.
</Note>

## Manage vendor profiles

Vendor profiles save a reusable combination of export pack and field mappings so you don't have to reconfigure the export every pay period.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Export mapping and vendor diagnostics">
    In Payroll, open the **Export mapping and vendor diagnostics** section. Review the export preview rows for employee, payroll ID, job, pay code, hours, and any warning columns.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a vendor profile">
    Enter a clear profile name. Choose the export pack that matches your provider's file format. Review the preview columns before saving.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save the profile">
    Select **Save profile**. The profile appears in the vendor profile list with the selected pack and mapping metadata.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use the profile for future exports">
    Apply the saved profile when the provider template and customer mapping still match. If your provider updates its template, or if pay codes, job codes, or employee identifiers change, recreate or replace the profile rather than applying a stale one.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Export readiness warnings

Warnings appear on export preview rows when required fields are missing or mapping is incomplete. Common warnings and their fixes:

* **Missing payroll ID or employee number** — update the employee's payroll fields in Personnel before exporting.
* **Missing pay code or job code** — update company jobs, payroll settings, or timecard/job context in Types or Settings.
* **Unresolved attendance reconciliation** — return to Timekeeping to resolve or intentionally accept the attendance exception.

<Warning>
  Do not manually edit exported files to fix mapping issues. Fix the source record in Yrka and generate a new export. Editing exported files makes them inconsistent with the audit trail Yrka maintains.
</Warning>

## Payroll and timekeeping settings

Full policy configuration lives in **Settings > Timekeeping and Payroll Prep**. From Payroll, you can view a compact quick-settings summary and jump to the canonical Settings destination for the full form.

Settings in this area include:

* Pay period and accrual configuration
* Leave categories and balances
* Pay rates and employer cost estimate percentages (overtime, double-time, mileage, holiday premium)
* Time entry mode (manual, clock in/out, or both)
* Location capture policy
* Kiosk timeclock settings

<Note>
  Overtime, double-time, employer cost percentages, mileage, and holiday premium values are estimates for payroll prep only. They appear in payroll summaries separately from worked and paid-hour totals. Yrka does not determine payroll compliance.
</Note>

### Kiosk timeclock

Enable kiosk clock-in from the **Kiosk** action in the Payroll header, or from **Settings > Timekeeping and Payroll Prep**. Reset an individual employee's clock code from their **Access** dialog in Personnel. Kiosk entries write to the same timecard records as self-service entries, so Timekeeping remains the review surface.

## Holiday configuration

Maintain company holidays from Schedule or from **Settings > Scheduling**. Both destinations write to the same holiday set used by schedule planning, timekeeping, and payroll-prep context. Keep holidays current so paid non-work context is consistent across all surfaces.

## Common issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Readiness is low">
    Return to Timekeeping to resolve timecard exceptions and correction requests, or go to Personnel, Types, or Settings to fix missing payroll fields, pay codes, or holiday configuration.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A provider pack is missing required columns">
    Update the vendor profile mapping and verify that employee and job payroll fields are current. Choose a different export pack if the column structure doesn't match.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A period is locked">
    Use the correction and reopen path rather than asking employees to edit locked entries. After corrections are complete, save new snapshots and generate a new handoff.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A provider portal rejects the file">
    Record the provider-visible rejection reason, fix the source mapping in Yrka, and generate a new export batch. Do not re-submit the original file with manual edits.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>