Reasons to use a Payroll Import Template:
1) Avoid keying in payroll data
2) Move data between pay statement types (i.e. Gross Up > Manual)
3) Importing historical pay data
4) Correcting prior payroll data that has been previously exported from the system
Import Template Types:
The system has two different template formats for importing pay data into payroll:
1) Columnar: This report has a one line per EE per Pay Statement with separate columns for earnings, deductions, and taxes
2) Regular: This report has multiple rows per earning, deduction and tax (most commonly used if importing from a different system that uses this format)
You can locate the file template in the system by navigating to Company Settings > Imports > Overview
With these templates you can import into one or multiple payrolls at the same time. This might be ideal if you have a multi EIN client with multiple payrolls to process.
Alternatively, you can extract these templates within the add/edit batch of any payroll process 
. This alternative is designed for importing directly into the payroll Batch and has slightly fewer required columns, because you can only import into one specific payroll.
Preparing the Import File (Columnar type)
Like all import templates, there is an instructions tab at the bottom that lists out which fields are required. If using the External Payroll Data Upload Template, there will be a few more required fields so that the system knows which payrolls to import into. The below is the example of the batch import template (columnar).
Once the required fields have been determined, next determine which column header names will be needed to import your desired Earnings/Deductions/Taxes. Keep in mind that employer and employee amounts must be listed in separate columns. You only need column headers for actual data you will be importing.
Notice the naming convention: E = "Earning", D = "Deduction", T = "Tax". Here is an example for a Bonus Earning = E Bonus Amount
Also take note that you can use either the E/D/T Name, Code or External ID.
Lastly, there is a setting for Mode, to either Add or Set an earning, deduction, or tax. By default the system will use Add if nothing is set, which is the most common.
Importing your Payroll Data
Once you have completed the import template then you can go to the payroll batch to import it. Alternatively, if using the External Payroll Data import template, you would import that under Company Settings > Imports > Payroll > Employee Payroll Data (Columnar)
If the Batch Process is not turned on in the Business Process Steps, then you will need to turn that on before importing into the payroll batch. This is done on the Company Admin level and can be set so that only System Admins will see this step.
Navigate to the payroll batch and click the then choose your file and format type and click "OK". If there are no errors, then the batch records will process. If there are errors, review and make appropriate corrections and then reattempt the import.
For Bonus batch imports, I've attached a sample import template for convenience. Click this link: import template
