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Create Word templates and mail merges for employees

Payroll or HR specialists use Word templates to create standardized documents such as salary confirmations, employment contracts, or circulars and fill them automatically with employee data. SwissSalary supports language-dependent templates and can store the generated document directly in the employee dossier—after defining document types, before the first mail merge run, and for new standard letters.

Prerequisites

  • Microsoft Word is available (to create and edit templates).
  • The required Document Types are defined in Document Setup.
  • A No. Series is assigned to the document types if documents should be numbered automatically.

Set up a template

  1. Open the Employee Template Setup page.
  2. Create a new entry.
Field Description
Code Unique code of the template.
Description Descriptive name of the template.
Mail Merge Code The code for the mail merge function.
Attachment (Word) Indicates whether a Word file is stored. This field can't be edited directly.
Document Type The document type under which generated documents are stored in the dossier.
Document Nos. The number series for the automatic assignment of document numbers.
  1. Use the actions in the Attachment (Word) area to manage the template.
Action Description
Create Creates a new Word template with the available mail merge fields.
Open Opens the stored template in Word for editing.
Import Imports an existing Word file as a template.
Export Exports the stored template as a file.
Remove Removes the stored template after confirmation.
Hinweis

When you create a new template, SwissSalary automatically inserts the available mail merge fields. If you import an existing template, it must be in .doc or .docx format.

Maintain language-dependent templates

  1. Choose the Languages action on the template.
  2. The Employee Dossier Template Language page opens.
  3. Enter one line per language.
Field Description
Language The language code for this variant.
Mail Merge Code The mail merge code for the language-specific template.
Attachment (Word) Indicates whether a language-specific template is stored.
  1. Use the same actions (Create, Open, Import, Export, Remove) as for the main template.

SwissSalary uses the template that matches the employee's language code when it generates a mail merge. If no language-specific template exists, SwissSalary uses the default template.

Generate a mail merge

  1. Open the employee card.
  2. Open the Employee Dossier.
  3. Choose the Mail Merge action.

SwissSalary fills the mail merge fields with the current employee data and generates the document. The result is stored as a dossier entry under the configured document type.

Wichtig

If no template is set up, SwissSalary asks whether you want to open the template setup now. Set up at least one template before you generate mail merges.

Define mail merge fields

The Mail Merge Code determines which fields SwissSalary makes available in the Word template. You can map fields from the following data sources:

  • employee master data
  • company information
  • users

SwissSalary adds one multiline address field each for employees and company information. For linked fields, the mail merge function can also use the value from the referenced table. Referenced tables with more than one field in the primary key aren't supported.

Good to know

  • If you start Mail Merge without a template, no letter is created—contracts and notices don't reach employees.
  • If the language variant is missing, the default template is used and employees receive documents in the wrong language.
  • If you don't import templates as .doc/.docx, the import fails and mail merge remains blocked.
  • If you expect fields from tables with a composite key, placeholders remain empty—amounts and addresses are missing from the letter.
  • If you omit Document Type and the number series on the template, filing in the dossier is incomplete and not audit-proof.

See also