Upload an Infotech import template

Who does this: Payroll Lead · Platform Admin When: Onboarding a new payroll client, or when the client's Infotech tenant publishes a new workbook layout you need to mirror Result: The client has at least one active UPLOAD template — the workbook layout the platform uses when generating exports for this client.

Each payroll client uses a specific Infotech import workbook layout — column order, header names, sheet names, the lot. The platform stores that layout as a template and uses it as the canvas every month when it materialises the cycle's export. No active UPLOAD template ⇒ Generate export is greyed out and the cycle stalls at READY_FOR_EXPORT.

You usually upload the template once per client during onboarding. You only come back to this runbook when:

• The client's Infotech tenant rolls out a new column or renames a sheet.
• A different client is being onboarded with a non-default layout.
• You're correcting a template that was uploaded against the wrong client.

Before you start

• [ ] You have the .xlsx workbook the client (or their Infotech consultant) handed over. It must be the empty layout — header rows only, no employee data.
• [ ] The client record exists in the staff dashboard.
• [ ] You're a Payroll Lead or Platform Admin (Payroll Executive cannot manage templates).

WARNING

Templates are tied to a specific client. Uploading the wrong workbook against the wrong client will produce broken exports next cycle — Infotech will reject the import. Double-check the client name in the page header before clicking Upload.

Steps

1. Open Clients in the staff dashboard sidebar.
2. Click into the target client.
3. Open the Templates tab.
4. Click Upload template in the top right of the tab.
5. In the dialog:
   • Template kind: UPLOAD (this is the layout the platform writes to when generating the Infotech import workbook). Other kinds — OUTPUT parser configs, APPROVAL_REPORT styling — exist for future use.
   • File: drag your .xlsx workbook in, or click the file picker.
   • Set as active: leave ticked. The previous active version is automatically deactivated as part of the same save.
6. Click Upload.

The dialog closes with a success toast. The Templates table now shows a new row, kind UPLOAD, version v{N+1}, marked Active. The previous version (if any) flips to Inactive but stays in the list.

How to know it worked

• The Templates table on the client detail page shows your new version with an Active badge.
• The Activity log records a template.uploaded event with the version number, attributed to you.
• The client detail's Setup health panel turns green for the Active export template row, if it was red before.
• The next time anyone clicks Generate export on a cycle for this client, the export workbook is built against this template.

Versioning behaviour

Action	Effect on existing versions
Upload a new template, Set as active ticked	Previous active version flips to inactive. Both versions remain in the list.
Upload a new template, Set as active unticked	Previous active stays active. New version sits inactive — useful for staging a future Infotech rollout.
Click Activate on an inactive version	That version becomes active; the previously active version flips to inactive.
Click Deactivate on the active version	The client now has no active template. Generate export will refuse on the next cycle until you re-activate one.

NOTE

A cycle in flight uses whichever template was active at the moment the export was generated, not the one active when the cycle was started. If you swap templates between READY_FOR_EXPORT and clicking Generate export, the new template wins. If the cycle has already exported and you swap, the cycle stays on the old version — you'd need to re-export to pick up the new layout.

Common situations

If you see…	It means…	What to do
Upload fails with "Not a valid .xlsx workbook"	The file is .xls (legacy), .csv, or corrupted	Re-export from Infotech as .xlsx; re-upload
Upload fails with "Template kind required"	The dialog hasn't picked a kind	Select UPLOAD and retry
Templates tab shows two UPLOAD rows both marked Active	A race between two staff users hitting Upload at the same time	Click Deactivate on the older row — only one Active per kind is intended
Generate export still greyed out after upload	Setup health red elsewhere (no contacts, no document rules, no auth policy)	Open client detail and look at the Setup health panel — fix the red row
Client says "the columns don't match what Infotech expects"	Wrong template version active	Check Templates tab, Activate the correct version, regenerate export

Related runbooks

• Generate the Infotech export — uses this template
• Upload the Infotech output — the round-trip after Infotech processes the export
• The Generate Export button is greyed out
• Create a new payroll client — onboarding flow this fits into
• Payroll SOP — section on Infotech export conventions