Importing from CSV

People → Import loads three kinds of CSV file. Each has a downloadable template whose columns map one-to-one to fields. The column tables below are generated from the same template definitions the server uses, so they match the version you run.

How an import works

1. Download the template, fill it in a spreadsheet and save it as CSV (UTF-8, comma-separated, with the header row). At most 5 MB and 2,000 data rows.
2. Upload it. Every row is checked with the same rules as the forms: NRIC/FIN check letters, required fields, existing department names (with the closest match suggested), dates, and so on.
3. The preview lists the rows that will be created and every problem as row, column, value and how to fix it. NRIC/FIN values in the preview are masked.
4. Nothing is saved until you confirm, and the confirm button stays disabled while any row has a problem. Fix the spreadsheet and Upload a fixed file.
5. Confirming writes all rows in one transaction, or none.

Dates accept YYYY-MM-DD or DD/MM/YYYY only. Money is in dollars with up to 2 decimals (4000.00) and is stored as exact cents.

Employees

Creates employees with their first employment record and, for payroll roles, their basic pay. Each new employee gets a sign-in invitation after you confirm (see members and roles). Foreigners need a work pass valid on the hire date.

Template file crowhr-employees-template-v1.csv (version 1), 31 columns.

Column	Required	What to enter	Example
employee_number	no	Leave empty to auto-number (E0001…).
legal_name	yes	As on the NRIC, FIN card or passport.	Tan Mei Ling
preferred_name	no	The name they go by, e.g. Hafiz for Muhammad Hafiz bin Ismail. Used in greetings and the directory. Leave empty to use the legal name.	Mei Ling
id_type	yes	nric, fin or other.	nric
id_number	yes	NRIC/FIN with check letter, or passport number.	S1234567D
date_of_birth	yes	YYYY-MM-DD or DD/MM/YYYY.	12/04/1990
gender	no	female, male, other or undisclosed.	female
nationality	no	Country name.	Singaporean
residency_status	yes	citizen, pr or foreigner.	citizen
pr_start_date	no	Required for pr: SPR status date on the ICA entry permit.
race	no	chinese, malay, indian, eurasian or other (SHG fund).	chinese
religion	no	buddhism, christianity, islam, hinduism, taoism, sikhism, other, none or undisclosed.	buddhism
work_email	no	Used for the sign-in invitation.	[email protected]
personal_email	no
mobile	no	8-digit SG number or +country code.	91234567
hire_date	yes	First day of work.	2026-01-05
job_title	yes		Account Executive
department	yes	Must match an existing department name.	Sales
team	no	Existing team name.
location	no	Existing location name.
cost_centre	no	Existing cost centre code.
manager_employee_number	no	Employee number of the manager (existing, or earlier in this file).
employment_type	yes	full_time, part_time, contract or intern.	full_time
work_schedule	no	Schedule name; empty = the default schedule.
probation_end	no	YYYY-MM-DD or DD/MM/YYYY.
pay_basis	no	monthly or hourly. Needs payroll access.	monthly
basic_pay	no	Dollars, up to 2 decimals. Needs payroll access.	4000.00
pass_type	no	Foreigners: EP, S_PASS, WP, DP_LOC, LTVP_LOC, PEP, ONE, TEP or OTHER.
pass_number	no	FIN or work permit number.
pass_issued_on	no
pass_expires_on	no	Required with pass_type.

manager_employee_number can refer to an employee earlier in the same file. pay_basis and basic_pay need payroll access: an HR admin without the payroll admin role cannot import pay.

Compensation

Records basic pay changes, effective-dated. A row dated in a month whose payroll is already approved or paid needs retroactive = yes; Crow HR then flags the back pay on the next payroll run (it is not computed for you; see limitations).

Template file crowhr-compensation-template-v1.csv (version 1), 6 columns.

Column	Required	What to enter	Example
employee_number	yes	Existing employee.	E0001
effective_from	yes	YYYY-MM-DD or DD/MM/YYYY.	2027-01-01
pay_basis	yes	monthly or hourly.	monthly
basic_pay	yes	Dollars, up to 2 decimals.	4200.00
reason	no		Annual increment
retroactive	no	yes when dated in a finalised payroll month.	no

Year-to-date opening balances

Use this when you move to Crow HR during a year. CPF’s additional-wage (AW) ceiling depends on the ordinary wages already paid in the year, so payroll needs the totals from your previous system. Without them, payroll warns on every employee that months before Crow HR are missing and the AW ceiling counts only the months Crow HR knows.

Template file crowhr-ytd-opening-balances-template-v1.csv (version 1), 11 columns.

Column	Required	What to enter	Example
employee_number	yes	Existing employee.	E0001
year	yes	Calendar year, e.g. 2026.	2026
through_month	yes	Last month paid in the previous system: 1-12 or YYYY-MM.	6
ow_ytd	yes	Ordinary wages paid, dollars.	36000.00
ow_cpf_ytd	no	Ordinary wages subject to CPF (after the OW ceiling), dollars.	36000.00
aw_ytd	yes	Additional wages paid (bonus, AWS), dollars.	0.00
aw_cpf_ytd	no	Additional wages subject to CPF, dollars.	0.00
cpf_ee_ytd	yes	Employee CPF, dollars.	7200.00
cpf_er_ytd	yes	Employer CPF, dollars.	6120.00
shg_ytd	yes	SHG deductions (CDAC/ECF/MBMF/SINDA), dollars.	9.00
sdl_ytd	no	SDL paid, dollars.	54.00

One row per employee and year, covering the year up to and including through_month, the last month paid in the previous system. For example ow_ytd 36000.00 with through_month 6 stores S$36,000.00 of ordinary wages for January to June. The next Crow HR run (July) starts from these figures.

Check the figures

Opening balances drive the AW ceiling for the rest of the year. Take them from your previous system’s year-to-date CPF report and reconcile them against what you actually submitted to CPF before your first Crow HR run.