SPI Specification Sheet

Field Name

Column

Max Field Length

Field Format

Description

Client ID*

Branch/Company Number, alphanumeric

Worker ID*

Alphanumeric values only

The ID assigned to an employee or independent contractor working for the company.

The value must be unique across all employees within a company.

Org

Numeric and special character.

Overrides the Organization Unit for distributed wages for Companies without the Labor Distribution product.

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

The numbers included in the path are the number for the Organization Unit at each level along the path from left to right. Company is not included. See Example.

There is a limit of 10 levels in the import field.

Example: To override the employee wage distribution from Main Building to Bungalows, enter 1000|1100|1110|1112.

Each Organization Unit number can be a maximum of 6 characters.

Job Number

Alphanumeric

Valid Values: all active job numbers set up on the client

Used to override the Home Job set up on the employee.

This is an optional field.

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

Pay Component

Alphanumeric

Examples:

Hourly, Bonus, Salary, [Pay]

An earning or deduction set up on the company, or the value ‘[Pay]’, to create a Pay Standard check.

Payroll Checks

This is a required field.
If there is a value in the field, it must match an Earning or Deduction name that is set up on the company.

Pay Standard checks

This is a required field.
‘[Pay]’ is the value that represents the Pay Standard feature in Pay Entry and is not an actual Earning set up on the company.
‘[Pay]’ always creates a new check. It cannot be used to add rows to existing checks saved in Pay Entry.
‘[Pay]’ creates a check using the existing rates and hours, and recurring earnings and deductions that are set up for the employee.
Overrides within import are not available.

Manual (Entered Amounts) Checks

This is a conditional field.
Required if there are values for Hours, Rate, Rate Number, Units, or Amount.
Can be blank when the import is being used to update withholding amounts only.
‘[Pay]’ is not a valid value.
If there is a value in the field, it must match an Earning or Deduction name that is set up on the company.

Rate

Numeric

0 to 9999.9999

A value in the import record always overrides any value set up on the employee or company.

Payroll Checks

The value in this field is used to calculate the line item in the check.
Rate is required if there is no other rate available (see Rate Priority section).
Only one of the following is allowed per row:
- Rate
- Rate Number
- Amount
If using Rate = 0, hours will be applied as memo hours for any employee, as long as there is at least one other paid earning to create a check.
If Rate and Rate Number are blank, hours will be applied as memo hours for salaried employees, as long as salary is paid or there is at least one other paid earning to create a check.

Pay Standard Checks

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

Manual (Entered Amounts) Checks

The value in this field is used to calculate the line item in the check.
If an earning or deduction is entered in the pay component field, there must be a value for Rate, or Rate Number or Amount in the row.

Rate Number

Integer

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (Track Memo Hours)

A value in the import record always overrides any value set up on the employee or company.

Payroll Checks

This value is used to calculate the line item in the check.
Rate# is required if there is no other rate available (see Rate Priority section).
Only one of the following is allowed per row:
- Rate
- Rate Number
- Amount
If Rate and Rate Number are blank, hours will be applied as memo hours for salaried employees.

Pay Standard Checks

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

Manual (Entered Amounts) Checks

Not valid for Manual checks.

Hours

-999.99 to 999.99

A value in the import record always overrides any value set up on the employee.

Payroll Checks

This value is used to calculate the line item in the check.
Required if there is a Rate or Rate Number value.

Pay Standard Checks

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

Manual (Entered Amounts) Checks

Optional
The value in this field is memoed.

Units

-999,999 to 999,999

A value in the import record always overrides any value set up on the employee.

Payroll Checks

This value is used to calculate the line item in the check.
Required for a piecework calculation.
Rate is a required if there is a value in this field.

Pay Standard Checks

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

Manual (Entered Amounts) Checks

This value is not used to calculate the check.

Line Date

mm/dd/yyyy

The value in this field is informational only.

Amount

-9999999999.99 to 9999999999.99

This value is used as the flat rate amount on earnings and deductions for the row (not calculated based on hours or units).

Payroll Checks

This value is used to determine the line item in the check.
Amount is required if there is no other rate available (see Rate Priority section).
Rate, Rate Number and Amount cannot be used together.

Pay Standard Checks

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

Manual (Entered Amounts) Checks

This is a required field for any earning, deduction, or withholding.

Check Seq Number

1 to 99

This field is RECOMMENDED but not always required.

The Check Sequence Number defines which rows in the import file are grouped into a check for an employee.

There can be more than one check for the same employee in the file. Check types can be the same or different.
Different checks of the same type, for the same employee, must have different sequence numbers.

Payroll Checks

To create a new check using import

If there is only one check for the employee in the file, the sequence can be left blank as long as there are no checks for the employee saved in Pay Entry.
If there is more than one check for this employee in the file, use a different number for each of the checks. Do not use a number that is already saved in Pay Entry for the employee.

To add a row to a saved check using import

The check sequence number should match the check number in Pay Entry. Example: Employee 3 has two checks in Pay Entry. They are numbered 1 and 2. To add a row to the second check, place a 2 in this field.
In the example above, if you leave the check sequence number blank, the row will be added to check 1.

Pay Standard Checks

A new check is created for each [Pay] record with a unique check sequence number.
Required if additional rows will be included in the Pay Standard check during import. Place the same number in this field for the [Pay] row and any additional rows.
Required to create more than one Pay Standard check for an employee in the same import file. More than one [Pay] row with the same number, for the same employee, will generate an error. This includes blank rows.

Manual (Entered Amounts) Checks

All of the rows for a manual check must have the same sequence number. They can all be blank.

Required to create more than one manual check for the same employee. Each check must use a different sequence number.

Override State

Alphabetic

Overrides the current state set up on the employee, for State Income Tax.

This field is optional.

Valid 2 Digit State Code.

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

Override Local

Alphabetic

Overrides the current local set up on the employee, for Local Taxes.

This field is optional.

Must be one of the Local Regulation Abbreviation Names set up for the employee.

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

Override Local Jurisdiction

2 Letter State Postal Code

The state for the Local Regulation in the Override Local field.

Required if there is a value in Override Local.

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

Labor Override

Alphanumeric

Overrides the employee Labor Assignment for this earning only.

This field is optional.

Only valid for companies that use the Paychex Labor Distribution product.

Must be a Labor Assignment set up on the company.

Not valid for Pay Standard checks.

Check Template

Alphanumeric

The name of a check template set up for the company.

Check Templates are applied to regular checks in a file.

This field is optional:

Blank is a valid value. The company default template is used.
All values are case sensitive.

Not valid for Pay Standard checks or Manual checks.

Only one Check Template Name is allowed in a file (this includes a blank check template name field). If you want to import additional checks with another Check Template Name, then another Standard Payroll Import file must be created.

When a template name is included in a file, ALL regular checks in the file will have that template applied. The template name must be included in every row of all regular checks in the file.

The following values are valid for the standard Templates available in Paychex Flex ^SM.

Check Template Name as displayed in Paychex Flex	Corresponding Check Template Name to enter in the Import File
Regular Template	Regular Pay
Bonus – FICA Only	Bonus - FICA Only
Bonus – Standard Taxes Withheld	Bonus Standard Taxes Withheld
Bonus – Supplemental Taxes Withheld	Bonus - Suppl Taxes Withheld
Supplemental Pay	Supplemental Pay

For any other templates, the value in the import file must match exactly the template name as it is displayed.

Output Type

Not case sensitive

CREATE CK

YTD AMT

YTD STUB

This value tells the system that you want to create a Manual (Entered Amounts) Check using the specified output type

Valid Output Types:

CREATE CK = Create Check
YTD AMT = Update YTD Amount
YTD STUB = Update YTD Amount with Check Stub
Not valid for Payroll checks. Must be blank for a Payroll check.