Sage Payroll Data Import (Micropay)

Written by Pimbrook Support on 31st July 2018.

Data Import

You can use the data import option in Sage Payroll (Micropay) to:

Add information from other software.
Add or amend information on batches of records, without having to edit each individual record.

Note: Please be aware that data import is a complex process. If you have any queries, please contact support@pimbrook.ie we can perform the data import for you, as a chargeable service. For more information about this, please call us on 051-395900.

The following steps contain everything you need to help you perform a data import in Sage Payroll (Micropay).

1. Create an IMP file

The *.IMP file contains the database files and payroll fields you want to import in to your payroll. You can create the *.IMP file using either Notepad or Wordpad.

Note: To view the full listing of all your Sage Payroll (Micropay) database fields > log in to a payroll in Sage Payroll (Micropay) > Help > System Information > click the Program Directory link > locate and right-click the file, MICW.DDL > Open with > select Excel or Notepad.

The following is an example of a *.IMP file using just one table, although more than one table can be used.

[tables]
table1=Employee
[Employee]
record=EMPLMAST
key=EMPLOYEE
field1=employee
field2=name
field3=first
field4=addr1
field5=addr2
field6=addr3
field7=addr4
data=C:\EXAMPLE.CSV
create=yes
blank=yes
decimals=yes
audit=Yes
verbose=Yes

Data import example – Fields explained

[tables] Must appear on the first line.
table1=Employee Specifies the file you want to update.
[Employee] The Database file to be updated.
record=EMPLMAST The record to be updated.
key=EMPLOYEE The tag key of the file.
A tag key determines the ordering that the records in a data file should be presented in. The information that this ordering is based upon is called an index key (*.cdx file), and this file defines the index key for each record. This key is assigned to the tag key, “employee” in the above example. In the case of the Employee Master file, the search key is simply the “employee”.

The import module reads the search key from the index key, records are searched linearly using the defined key in the import file, and if a record is not found in such a search, it is either created or ignored.

field1=employee The employee number.
field2=name The employee surname.
field3=first The employee first name.
field4=addr1
field5=addr2
field6=addr3
field7=addr4 The employee address lines 1, 2, 3 and 4.
data=C:\EXAMPLE.CSV The location of the .CSV file.
create=yes An entry of No/Yes/Only.

A create condition:

• No – Only existing records are updated, new records will not be created.
• Yes – All records are updated, whether they exist or not.
• Only – Only records that did not previously exist are updated.
blank=yes An entry of No/Yes.
A blank condition:

• No – If a blank condition has been inserted into the .CSV file for a particular field, the value for this field in the database (.DBF) file remains the same, the field is not updated.
• Yes – If a blank condition has been inserted into the .CSV file for a particular field, the value for this field in the database (.DBF) file will be updated with a blank/null value.
decimals=yes An entry of No/Yes.
A decimal condition:

• No – The values that you are importing into numeric fields are displayed in cent in the *.CSV file (i.e. 110 instead of 1.10).
• Yes – The values that you are importing into numeric fields are displayed as decimals figures.

audit=Yes Will record import info on an audit file.
verbose=Yes Should be set to Yes to ensure any errors are recorded.

2. Create a CSV file

The *.CSV file contains the data you want to import in to your payroll. It’s fields correspond to those detailed in the .imp file you created earlier.
Note: The name of the *.CSV file must match the *.IMP file exactly. For example, NewStarters.csv and NewStarters.imp. If the names are different, the import won’t work.

The following is an example of the contents of a typical CSV file:

001,Smith,Sam,Waterstone House,Moycullen,Galway,
002,Jones,Bill,Citywest,Tallaght,Co Dublin,

The above CSV file content must match the fields on the corresponding *.IMP file:

field1=employee
field2=name
field3=first
field4=addr1
field5=addr2
field6=addr3

3. How do I import data?

1. Open Sage Payroll (Micropay) and log in to the payroll as normal.
Note: Before you proceed, you must take a backup of your payroll data.

2. On the menu bar, click Miscellaneous, then Data Import then Data Import.
3. Browse to and select the *IMP file you want to import, then click Open.
4. When prompted to view the import log, click Yes.
5. Check the details of the data import are correct..

Note: You should view the import log after every data import process.