Add Employee adds one employee to Microkeeper and sends them the login they use to finish their own details. To add many staff at once from a spreadsheet, see Import Staff.

Required plan	All plans
Required access	Settings, or Employees - Add/Edit or Employees - Add

This guide covers how to:

Add an employee, or copy another employee's settings.
Choose their pay cycle and groups.
Send their welcome letter.
Set their pay and details on their profile before their first pay run.

Before you add an employee

Set up your pay cycles and Locations first, so there are pay cycle and Location Groups to put the employee in. See ABNs and Pay Cycles and Locations.

You'll need the employee's:

Given name and surname, as on their tax file number declaration.
Email address and mobile number, for their welcome letter.
Start date, and whether they're full time, part time or casual.
Pay cycle, the Location they work at, and their pay rate and weekly ordinary hours.

Add an employee with Add Employee

Navigate to Menu > HR > Add Employee. The Onboard New Staff page opens.

Enter the Given Name, Surname, Mobile Number and Email.
Check the Username. Microkeeper suggests one from the name and checks no one else has it. To change it, click the pencil button.
Under Send Employee Welcome Letter, tick Email, SMS to Mobile Number or both. Or tick Send Later.
Set the Start Date to the day they started working for you. It shows today's date until you change it.
Leave Manually Configure chosen, and choose the Employment Type: Full Time, Part Time, Casual, Sub-Contractor or Sub-Contractor with Super.
Choose their Pay Cycle Allocation. It only shows when you have more than one pay cycle.
Under Group Allocation, choose their Location Group, for example "Melbourne Staff". You can choose more than one.
Click Add Employee.

The Onboard New Staff page, numbered to match the steps: 1 Given Name, Surname, Mobile Number and Email, 2 Username, 3 Send Employee Welcome Letter, 4 Start Date, 5 Employment Type, 6 Pay Cycle Allocation, 7 Group Allocation, 8 Add Employee.

The page shows Employee added, with the welcome letters sent and a link to the new employee's profile. The form clears, ready for the next employee.

Usernames are unique across every Microkeeper business, can only use letters, numbers and _, and can't be changed once the employee has been paid in a pay run.

Groups with Auto Add turned on are already chosen under Group Allocation. Remove any the employee doesn't belong in. For more on Groups, see Groups.

Copy another employee's settings

For an employee set up like someone you already have, such as another casual cook at the same restaurant, copy that employee's settings instead of choosing them.

Fill in the employee's details, username, welcome letter and start date as above.
Under Setup Method, choose Copy from....
Choose the employee to copy from.
Click Add Employee.

The new employee gets the other employee's Notification Config, Primary Manager, Group Allocation, Payment and Employment, Contracted Hours, Entitlements, Payslip Config, Employee Display, Employee Clocking and Super Ordinary Hours. Access Control isn't copied, so a copy of a manager starts with no manager access.

Send or resend a welcome letter

The welcome letter gives the employee their username and first password. When they log in, the Employee Console takes them through entering their tax file number declaration, bank account, super fund and contact details.

If you ticked Send Later, or the employee needs it again, send it from Onboarding Review. See Onboarding.

Set the employee's pay before their first pay run

Add Employee doesn't ask for a pay rate, position or hours. Set them on the employee's profile: click the link in the Employee added message, or navigate to Menu > Settings > Employees and click Edit next to the employee.

Under Personal Details, enter their Position.
Under Payment and Employment, enter their Default rate under Rates.
Enter their Weekly Ordinary Hours, for example "38".
For a salaried employee, choose Salary instead of Timesheet. Type the yearly salary into the Salary calculator to work out the hourly rate from their weekly ordinary hours.

Each field saves as soon as you change it. Award rates, penalties and allowances come from your pay rules: see Rate Rules.

To make the employee a manager, set their Access Control on the same profile. See Managers and Access.

Add an employee troubleshooting

Why is the Add Employee button greyed out?

It turns on once the Given Name, Surname, Start Date and a valid Username are filled in, and you've chosen an Employment Type, or an employee to copy from.

It says the username is already taken

Usernames are unique across every Microkeeper business, so common names are often taken. Click the pencil button next to Username and add a number or initial, for example "jack_smith2".

It says the email or mobile is already used by an existing employee

Someone in your business already has that email address or mobile number. If it's the same person returning, edit their existing profile instead, using the link in the message. If it's someone new, you can still click Add Employee.

Why is this employee missing from the pay run?

Check two things on their profile. Their start date must be on or before the last day of the pay period: pay runs leave out anyone who starts later. And with more than one pay cycle, they must be in that pay cycle's Group: check Pay Cycle under Payment and Employment.

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