Table of Contents

Process retroactive and future changes with TimeMachine

With TimeMachine, payroll professionals record changes to employee fields with a Valid From date. Open entries are automatically processed and added to the history in the next applicable payroll run for the validity period. This approach lets you handle retroactive corrections, current adjustments, and planned master data changes consistently.

Prerequisites

  • The employee master data is set up.
  • The fields that you want to change support TimeMachine (not all fields support dated changes).

How it works

TimeMachine stores a time series of values for each field and employee. Each entry contains:

Field Description
Valid From The date from which the new value applies.
Field Value The new field value (text, date, or Boolean value, depending on the field type).
* Technical delay marker; it doesn't reliably identify all open entries.
Payroll No. The number of the payroll run that processed the entry; this field is blank for open entries.
Hinweis

In the next payroll run, SwissSalary processes all open TimeMachine changes whose validity date falls within the payroll month.

Record a change

  1. Open TimeMachine from the action or FactBox on the Employee Card.
  2. Select the required field from the field list.
  3. Enter a new line in the list with Valid From and the new Field Value.

SwissSalary distinguishes between three time variants:

Variant Valid From Processing
Retroactive Before the current payroll period Processed as a correction in the next payroll run
Current Within the current period Included in the current payroll run
Future After the current period Remains open until the period is reached
Wichtig

Retroactive changes can trigger difference calculations in the payroll run. Check the result especially carefully if the change dates back several months.

Certain fields are related. For example, if you change the Employment Date for Payroll, SwissSalary also adjusts the Calculation Date BVG and IT Calculation Date after you confirm. The TimeMachine Related Fields page shows these dependencies.

Process open entries in the payroll run

You can identify open entries by the blank Payroll No. They are processed automatically when:

  • a payroll run starts whose payroll period includes the Valid From date;
  • the employee is included in the payroll run.

After processing, you can track the entry by its related Payroll No.

Review the history

The TimeMachine Entries page shows the processed entries with the related payroll run number. This page lets you track when each change took effect.

The Open TimeMachine page provides an overview of TimeMachine lines that haven't been posted yet.

Wichtig

When you use TimeMachine, don't change the value on the Employee Card. SwissSalary updates it automatically with the next payroll run after the open TimeMachine entries are processed.

Good to know

  • If you make a dated change to a field that TimeMachine doesn't support, the correction doesn't take effect—the payroll run continues to calculate with the old value.
  • If you check only the * marker instead of the blank Payroll No., you overlook open entries and retroactive payments aren't made.
  • If you release retroactive changes across several months without checking the differences, you risk incorrect additional payments or recoveries for employees.
  • If you ignore related fields (for example, Employment Date for Payroll with the BVG/IT date), insurance and withholding tax are calculated incorrectly.
  • If you don't include the employee in the payroll run for the validity period, the entry remains open and the correction doesn't take effect.

See also