The Payroll Reconciliation feature lets you import your monthly payroll figures and compare them with your budgeted staffing costs. The import file is matched to staff records in the Staffing section, so you can run variance analysis and add notes to explain any differences.
⚠️Important: For Payroll Reconciliation to work, your payroll file must contain a unique staff or contract reference that matches what you use in the Staffing section. At least one of Staff Profile Reference or Contract Reference, plus Salary and Start Row, must be set up correctly in Payroll Import Settings before you can use the Reconcile page.
Set Up Payroll Import Settings
If you go to the Payroll Reconciliation tab before completing setup, the system will redirect you to the settings page.
Click the Academy/School menu, then click Settings.
Click Other Settings.
At the bottom of the page, find the Payroll Import Settings section.
You now need to tell the system how to read your payroll spreadsheet by entering the relevant row and column references.
Staff / Contract reference settings
These fields identify each employee or contract and must match your staffing data.
Staff Profile Reference.
Contract Reference.
You must complete at least one of these fields:
In your payroll spreadsheet, identify the column that contains the unique staff or contract reference (for example, employee number or contract number).
Enter the column reference for that field into either Staff Profile Reference or Contract Reference (or both, if you use both).
📌Note:The reference in your payroll file must match the Staff Profile or Contract reference in the Staffing section of Education Budgeting. If they do not match, those staff will not be compared in the reconciliation.
Salary, NI and Pension columns
Next, tell the system which columns contain cost values:
Salary (mandatory).
NI.
Pension.
For each:
Enter the column reference from your payroll spreadsheet where that cost appears.
If the cost is split across multiple columns, click in the field and use the on-screen popup to add multiple columns.
These settings let the system add up the correct figures for each staff member.
Start row and end row
Start Row (mandatory):
Enter the row number where your actual payroll data begins.
This is often the first row below titles, headers, or logos that do not contain useful data.
End Row (optional but recommended):
Enter the row number where your actual payroll data ends.
This lets you exclude totals, notes, or other non-data rows at the bottom of the sheet.
Tab name (optional)
Tab Name:
Enter the name of the worksheet/tab in your payroll file that contains the data you want to import.
If you leave this blank, the software will use the first tab in the spreadsheet.
Ignore row text (optional)
Ignore Row Text:
Use this to ignore rows that contain specific words or phrases you do not want to import.
For example, enter:
Total First Aid.Any row containing Total or First Aid will be ignored during import.
You do not need commas or separators; just a space between each word/phrase.
Test and Save Your Payroll Import Settings
Once the mandatory fields are filled in:
In the Payroll Import Settings section, click Browse (or Choose File) and select your payroll spreadsheet.
If the file is password protected, enter the password in the relevant field.
Click Test Import at the bottom of the page.
A preview window shows the first 10 lines of the data that will be imported, based on your settings.
Check that:
The correct tab has been used.
The right rows are included.
The staff/contract references, Salary, NI, and Pension figures appear under the correct columns.
If everything looks correct, click Save to store your settings.
📌 Note: Every time you change any of the Payroll Import Settings, you must:
Click Test Import again to preview the data, and
Click Save to apply the changes.
Run Payroll Reconciliation for a Month
Once setup is complete, you can use the Reconcile page.
Open your chosen scenario.
Click the Scenario menu.
In the pop-out menu, click Payroll Reconciliation (a new section on the right-hand side).
You will see:
A file browser and month selector at the top.
A list of months greyed out at the bottom (not yet imported).
Import a monthly payroll file
In the month drop-down next to the import button, select the month you are importing (for example, April, May, etc.).
Click Browse and select your payroll file for that month.
If the file is password protected, enter the password.
Click Import.
After the import:
A summary appears showing:
Total costs from your import file for the selected month.
Total budgeted costs from your scenario for that month.
The variance between the two.
The summary also warns you if:
Staff are present in the scenario but not in the import file.
Staff references are in the import file but not in the scenario.
If the summary looks correct, click Save.
The month button now:
Changes from grey to white, and
Shows a tick, indicating a successful import.
Review monthly reconciliation details
Click the month button you have just imported.
The page displays a line-by-line comparison of:
Budgeted values from your staffing section, and
Actual values from your payroll spreadsheet.
The breakdown can be viewed as:
Salary including allowances.
NI Cost.
Pension Cost.
Or a single total figure (depending on your view/options).
You can:
Attach notes to each line to record explanations for any variances or known discrepancies between the budgeted and actual costs.
Export Payroll Reconciliation
You can export the reconciliation for further analysis or reporting.
On the Reconcile page, click Export All (on the left-hand side of the month buttons).
The export:
Is based on the Staff Monthly Profile Report (from the Reporting section), but with actual salaries already filled in.
Is broken down month by month:
Each worksheet/tab in the export represents a different month.
On the left of each worksheet, you see the figures for the current month.
On the right, you see a Cumulative section that updates as you move through the months.