--- title: "Payroll Export" url: "https://help.capitech.no/en/article/payroll-export" language: "en" last_updated: "2026-08-10T11:20:57.194Z" --- # Payroll Export Payroll export in Capitech Flow is used to create payroll periods, generate payroll journals, and export variable pay to the payroll system. You can find payroll export under Admin - Integrations - Payroll export. ## What is payroll export? Payroll export is used to transfer approved hours, compensation, and, where applicable, absence from Capitech Flow to the payroll system. Payroll export means you do not have to enter variable pay manually in the payroll system. ## Where can you find payroll export? You can find payroll export in Capitech Flow under: **Admin - Integrations - Payroll export** ## Create a payroll period Before you can export payroll data, you must create a payroll period. Here's how to do it: 1. Go to **Admin - Integrations - Export to payroll** 2. Click the **plus icon** in the upper-left corner. 3. Enter: 4. - year - period - from-date - to-date 5. Save the payroll period The system automatically suggests values based on previous periods. This makes it quicker to create new payroll periods. ### Select what the payroll period will be used for When you create the payroll period, you select what the period will be used for. #### Export for payroll Enable this option if the payroll period will be used to export variable pay. This option is enabled by default. #### Export for absence module Enable this option if the payroll period will be used to export absence, for example to an absence module in the payroll system. This option is not enabled by default. **Note:** Fields and columns for absence export are only displayed if your organization has the absence export module. ## Payroll export and absence export statuses The payroll period has separate statuses for payroll export and absence export. ### Payroll export status The status is set to **Active** when the payroll period is created if **Export for payroll** is enabled. The status is updated automatically when you generate the payroll journal and export the file. ### Absence export status The status is set to **Active** when the payroll period is created if **Export for absence module** is enabled. The status is updated automatically when you generate the absence journal and export the file. ## Add payroll groups to the payroll period After creating the payroll period, you must add the payroll groups that will be included in the export. How to do it: 1. Click the arrow to the left of the payroll period to expand the row. 2. Click the plus icon. 3. Select the relevant payroll groups. 4. Save. **Important:** Only employees who belong to a salary group added to the payroll period are included in the payroll export. Employees who do not belong to a salary group are not included in the payroll export, even if they have approved hours. ## Generate payroll journal Once you have created the payroll period and added at least one payroll group, you can generate the payroll journal. How to do it: 1. Find the relevant payroll period. 2. Click the green **Run** button on the payroll period row. 3. Check the payroll journal that opens. When you click **Run**, the system generates a payroll journal for the period. The payroll journal shows what will be transferred to payroll when the file is exported. You can also generate the payroll journal as a **PDF** or **Excel** file if you want to check or save its contents. ## If you need to correct hours or absence If you find errors or missing information in the payroll journal, you can correct or add hours and absence before exporting the file. How to do it: 1. Correct or add the hours or absence. 2. Approve the changes. 3. Run the payroll period again to generate a new journal. When you run the period again, the previous payroll journal is replaced in full by the new journal. ## Export file to the payroll system Once the payroll journal is ready, you can export the file to the payroll system. How to do it: 1. Select the green **Open** button and check that the payroll journal is correct. 2. Click **File export** in the upper-left corner. 3. Save the file in the desired location. 4. Import the file into the payroll system. The file is used to import variable pay into the payroll system. ## Important about the export file Do not open and save the export file in Excel. Opening and saving the export file in Excel may change its format. This may make the file unreadable by the payroll system. If you want to check the file in Excel, open a copy of it. Do not use the copy as the import file in the payroll system. ## Closing date after file export When the payroll journal is exported to a file, the final day of the payroll period is automatically set as the **closing date for hours and absence**. This means that hours and absence cannot be added, changed, deleted, or corrected up to and including the closing date. ## Change the closing date If you need to allow registrations or corrections after exporting the file, you can change the closing date. How to do it: 1. Click the green **Closing date: DD.MM.YYYY** button at the top of the page. 2. Move the date back as far as necessary, for both Hours and Absence. 3. Click save. This is normally only relevant if the file has been exported but has not yet been imported or processed in the payroll system. ## Frequently Asked Questions **What is payroll export used for?** Payroll export is used to transfer approved hours, compensation, and, where applicable, absence from Capitech Flow to the payroll system. **Why is an employee not included in the payroll export?** A common reason is that the employee does not belong to a payroll group added to the payroll period. Employees without a payroll group are not included in the payroll export. Add the payroll group to the employee under Admin - Employee - Employee. **Can you run the payroll journal again?** Yes. If you correct hours or absence, you can run the payroll journal again. The new journal replaces the previous one. **Can the export file be opened in Excel?** You should not open and save the export file in Excel. Excel may change the file format so that the payroll system cannot read it. **What does closing date mean?** The closing date means that hours and absence cannot be added, changed, deleted, or corrected up to and including the specified date.