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SFTP for Payroll

How to set up SFTP payroll integration for exporting timesheets and importing leave balances and staff

Updated over a week ago

Overview

  • Workforce.com’s SFTP services allow you to automatically send and receive files from a server.

  • Workforce.com does not host its own server so you will either need to create your own or utilize your payroll system’s server if it provides this as a service.

  • SFTP is available to use with any payroll integration in Workforce.com that has a flat-file export (e.g. a file downloads to your computer) or that would normally let you import staff or leave balances for.

  • This guide explains how integration via SFTP for exporting works and steps you through the setup process.

Step by step setup

  1. SFTP can apply to any existing flat file export. Start by setting up your normal flat-file integration in Workforce.com. This can be done via Settings > Integrations > Payroll Integrations > + New payroll integration

  2. Once you have chosen the file type, select advanced options at the bottom of the page:

  3. Fill your server details into the below fields:

  4. If you would prefer to use a public key instead of entering a password, you can enter Workforce.com’s public key against your own server to retrieve the file. This can be obtained by contacting support@workforce.com

  5. Next, ensure the directories follow the format of the grayed-out text e.g:

  6. Note that if the export accepts a staff import or leave balance import, you will be able to see the file import pathway fields for each option respectively.

  7. Tick auto-import staff and/or automatically export onboarded employees if you want staff to auto-import/export hourly (if a file is there), e.g:

  8. Leave balances will import 5 am and 5 pm daily if the file is there.

  9. When you try to save the integration with these details, Workforce.com will automatically test to see if it can connect using those details. If the details are incorrect or the server does not respond to Workforce.com then the details will not save.

  10. Export to payroll like you normally would and it will send the file to the SFTP server you entered.

Troubleshooting Issues

If you are having issues connecting your SFTP integration, here are some steps for resolving common errors:

  1. Double-check your server details to confirm that these are identical to those entered in Workforce.com (this includes the port number)

  2. Ensure that your server has not black listed Workforce.com. To prevent this you will need to whitelist the my.tanda.co domain or get in contact with our team at support@workforce.com for a list of the IP addresses we use.

  3. Check that you have specifically enabled SFTP services on the server you are using.

If you have successfully connected your integration by saving the details in Workforce.com but you are still issues with the file transfer, confirm the following details:

  1. The file you are trying to import matches the required formatting and does not have any additional characters or spacing.

  2. Your server is not using a form of at rest encryption like GPG or PGP.

Your server is not using an encryption algorithm deemed un-secure. You can find the list of encryption algorithms supported by Workforce.com here

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