Who this is for: Admin, Finance Admin
Set up your payroll settings, complete employees' mandatory data, and correctly submit payroll to your payroll provider.
This guide covers the topics from your third Kenjo implementation session.
Understand where payroll data comes from
The total hours you see in Attendance > Attendance Summary is real data: it's based on employees' actual check-ins (or on attendance entered manually on their behalf), not on a forecast.
The plan you see in Shiftplan, on the other hand, is only the scheduled time: it doesn't necessarily reflect the hours actually worked. Payroll always counts recorded attendance, not the schedule.
Payroll combines three data sources to calculate the total hours sent to your payroll provider:
The attendance hours tracked by employees.
Public holidays worked.
Paid and unpaid time off recorded in Time Off.
For this reason, before submitting payroll it's important to check that attendance, holidays, and time off are correct: any error in these sections is reflected directly in payroll.
Distinguish between termination date and contract end date
The employee profile contains two similar fields with very different effects on payroll:
Field | Effect |
Termination date (Private section) | The employee permanently stops working from that date: their profile is deactivated in Kenjo and the termination is reported to your payroll provider. Use it whenever the employment relationship has genuinely ended, whether because the contract ended or because the employee was dismissed. |
Contract end date (Business section) | This is for information only: it doesn't deactivate the employee or exclude them from payroll. Use it for fixed-term contracts that might be renewed (for example a driver hired for a few months). |
Important:
If you forget to set the termination date when an employee genuinely leaves the company, their profile stays active in Kenjo and keeps being included in payroll. Conversely, if a fixed-term contract is renewed, the contract end date doesn't block anything: the employee continues normally in attendance and payroll.
Read the payroll preview
From Payroll > Payroll Preview you see, for each employee, how the total hours for the period are calculated:
The hours worked tracked in the period.
Public holidays worked: click the value to see the holiday's name.
Paid time off (for example vacation or sick leave) and unpaid time off: these values are also clickable to see the applied policy's detail.
The total hours, meaning the sum of all the previous categories. The total doesn't necessarily match what will be paid, because it can include unpaid time off.
Always check this data before submitting payroll: if an employee shows tracked hours that are too high or too low, fix their attendance before proceeding.
Set up the mandatory fields for each employee
Every employee included in payroll must have two pieces of information filled in on their profile:
The hire date.
The employee ID (the number used by your payroll provider).
If even one of these is missing, the employee shows the status Enabled - incomplete data and the payroll submission button stays blocked.
To complete the missing data:
Click the error message flagging the employees who aren't included.
Select Go to settings: this opens the list of all employees with missing information.
Click the employee's name and complete the missing fields directly in the panel.
Click Save.
Enable or disable an employee for payroll
All employees with the status Enabled are included in the next payroll run. People without a salary (for example company owners or some admins) must be excluded manually, since they typically don't have an employee ID and shouldn't appear in payroll.
To change the status of one or more employees:
From Payroll > Payroll Preview, select the employees concerned.
Click Actions.
Choose Disable payroll or Enable payroll.
A manually disabled employee shows the status Disabled - manual. If an employee has a termination date set instead, their status automatically switches to Enabled until [date] and then to Disabled - terminated once the pay period that includes that date ends: you don't need to disable them by hand.
Add a variable pay type
If you want to record an extra payment for an employee, for example a bonus, you can add it as a variable pay type from the payroll page.
Important:
This field is for information only in Kenjo: the value you enter isn't sent to your payroll provider and doesn't affect the processed payroll. To actually pay a bonus, you need to contact your payroll provider directly (for example ADP or Deel).
Create a new employee and assign the correct ID
If you imported your employees in bulk (for example from a TSM export), the employee ID was already filled in automatically with data from your old system. For new employees created manually in Kenjo, on the other hand, you need to enter this field yourself.
To create a new employee:
Go to Employees and click Add Employee.
Fill in the mandatory fields (marked with a star) and, if available, the work email.
In the Employee ID field, enter the same number the employee has in your payroll provider's system.
Enter the hire date.
Important:
The employee ID can't be chosen freely: it must exactly match the one your payroll provider (ADP or Deel) has already assigned to that person. If you don't know it yet, you can leave the field empty and complete it later, but remember to do so before submitting payroll.
Set up your provider and pay period
In Payroll > Payroll Settings you'll find the information about your payroll provider:
Payroll provider (ADP or Deel) and Amazon ID (the company shortcode received from Amazon): set during account activation and not editable on your own afterward.
Payroll ID (for ADP) or Access token (for Deel): a code provided by your payroll provider, which you retrieve directly from your ADP account or the Deel developer center. If you can't find it, contact your provider: Kenjo can't retrieve it for you.
Pay period type: Monthly, calendar month (from the first to the last day of the month) or Monthly, starting from a specific day (for example from the 15th of the month to the 14th of the next month).
The pay period must exactly match the one agreed with your payroll provider: don't set a value of your own choosing here, but the one actually in effect under your contract. For DSPs in Italy it's almost always Monthly, calendar month.
Submit, correct, and close payroll
Submitting payroll follows three phases:
Review: check the payroll data (attendance, holidays, time off) and fix any discrepancies before proceeding.
Export & close: Kenjo automatically sends the data to your payroll provider. You don't need to download or send anything manually, unless an error appears.
Confirm: once your provider has correctly processed payroll, you confirm and permanently close the period.
If the automatic submission fails, you'll see an error message with a downloadable file containing the details. The two most common errors are:
Error | Cause and solution |
ID employee not found | The employee ID entered in Kenjo doesn't match the one registered with your payroll provider. Fix the employee ID on the profile and click submit again. |
Cut-off date surpassed | You submitted payroll after your provider's cut-off date. Download the file generated by Kenjo and send it to your payroll provider manually. |
Note:
Error messages always stay in English, regardless of your account's language.
Important:
Once confirmed and closed, payroll can no longer be reopened on your own: only Kenjo's technical team can do that, and it takes time. Only confirm the closure after your payroll provider has confirmed that everything was processed correctly. Also, the previous month's payroll must be closed before you can submit the current month's.
Frequently asked questions
Is it mandatory to enter a contract end date for fixed-term contracts?
No. If the contract might be renewed, you can leave the field empty or update it later. Always use the termination date instead when the employee genuinely stops working for you.
Can I freely choose the employee ID when I create a new employee in Kenjo?
No. The employee ID must exactly match the number already assigned by your payroll provider (ADP or Deel); it isn't an arbitrary value.
What happens if I close payroll by mistake before receiving confirmation from the provider?
A closed payroll can't be reopened on your own: you need to contact Kenjo's technical team, which takes time to step in on the back end. For this reason, only close payroll after your payroll provider has confirmed it.
Is the bonus I add as a variable pay type automatically paid to the employee?
No. It's only information saved in Kenjo: to actually pay the bonus you need to contact your payroll provider directly.
Why doesn't an employee appear in the payroll preview?
Check their status in Payroll > Payroll Settings: if it's Disabled, Disabled - manual, or Enabled - incomplete data, the employee won't be included until you fix the status or complete the missing data.