Importing Employees

Employees is a Tier 1 (Day One) data type. Importing your employee roster is one of the first steps when setting up AccuArk, as employee records are needed for scheduling, payroll, time tracking, and system access.

Before You Begin

• Prepare a CSV file with your employee data
• At minimum, include the Full Name and Username for each employee
• Decide which location these employees should be assigned to
• You do not need to include passwords — AccuArk handles initial credentials automatically for security reasons

Step-by-Step Import

1. Open the Data Exchange Center from the Business menu
2. Click Import on the Employees card
3. Select the Location where these employees will be assigned
4. Click Browse and select your CSV file
5. Click Next to proceed to column mapping
6. Review and adjust the column mappings. Ensure at minimum:
   • Full Name is mapped (required)
   • Username is mapped (required)
7. Map other fields as available in your file (email, phone, position, salary, etc.)
8. Click Next to validate
9. Review the validation results and resolve any errors
10. Click Import to run the import

Location Assignment

The employee import is location-aware. In Step 1, you select a target location from the dropdown. All employees in the import are assigned to that location. If you have employees at multiple locations, run a separate import for each location.

How Passwords Work

For security, AccuArk does not import passwords from your CSV file. Instead, every imported employee is created with a temporary password flag. The first time each employee logs in, AccuArk will prompt them to create their own password.

This approach ensures that:

• Passwords are never stored in spreadsheets or CSV files
• Each employee sets a personal password that only they know
• Your import file can be shared or stored without exposing credentials

After the import, notify your employees that their accounts are ready and they should log in to set their passwords.

How Upsert Works for Employees

Employees use Username as the match key:

• If an employee with the same username already exists, the row updates that employee's information
• If no username match is found, a new employee record is created

This means you can safely re-import an updated employee file. Existing employees are updated with the new information (such as a new phone number or position change), and new employees are added.

Available Fields

Tips

• Usernames must be unique — Each employee must have a distinct username. If your CSV contains duplicate usernames, the last row with that username determines the final values.
• Export a template first — Click Export on the Employees card to get a CSV with all the correct column headers before building your import file
• Do not include passwords — Even if your CSV has a password column, it will be ignored. AccuArk enforces the temporary password workflow for all imported employees.
• Date formatting — Hire dates should be in a standard format such as YYYY-MM-DD. AccuArk accepts most common date formats, but YYYY-MM-DD is the most reliable.
• Salary information — If you include salary data, make sure the salary type and amount are consistent (e.g., an hourly employee with an hourly rate, not an annual figure)
• Communicate with your team — After importing, let your employees know their accounts are ready and that they will need to set their own passwords on first login

Permission Required

To import employees, your account must have the IMP_EMPLOYEES permission. If you do not see the Import button on the Employees card, contact your administrator to request access.