> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hr-easy.nlead.ch/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Payroll master data

> Lohnarten, Kontenplan, Versicherungen and the tenant Stammdaten the engine reads.

Payroll needs its master data in place before the first run. This is a one-time setup
per installation — plan it deliberately rather than discovering it mid-month.

## Stammdaten

Tenant-level payroll settings and master data: the employer's identifiers, the
settlement numbers, the defaults the engine falls back to. On a multi-entity
installation these are held per Rechtsträger, because they are properties of the legal
employer.

`tenant:payroll-config:view` is `HR_STAFF`+; editing is `ADMIN`+, because a change here
affects every employee's Lohnabrechnung.

## Lohnarten

The **Lohnart catalog** is the taxonomy of paycheck items — every earning, deduction
and base the engine can produce. Around 150 system rows ship with the platform, and
you can add tenant-specific ones.

Each Lohnart carries flags that decide how it behaves:

| Flag family             | Decides                                                               |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Base membership         | Whether the amount counts towards the AHV, ALV, UVG, KTG or BVG base. |
| Quellensteuer relevance | Whether it is subject to withholding tax, and periodic vs. one-off.   |
| Lohnausweis mapping     | Which field of the year-end salary certificate it lands in.           |
| Accounting mapping      | Which Kontenplan account it books to.                                 |

<Warning>
  A wrong flag on a Lohnart is wrong on *every* employee's payslip and on the year-end declaration.
  This is why editing the catalog is `ADMIN`-only and why seeding the system catalog is restricted
  to the platform operator (`SUPERADMIN`).
</Warning>

## Kontenplan

The chart of accounts that drives the transfer into financial accounting. Each Lohnart
maps to a debit and credit account; the mapping is what turns a payroll run into
journal entries.

Same permission split as Lohnarten: `HR_STAFF`+ to view, `ADMIN`+ to edit, seeding the
standard plan reserved to `SUPERADMIN`.

## Versicherungen

The insurance catalog covers the six Swiss social-insurance contract types plus the
**Lohndatenempfänger** registry — the recipients of electronic payroll declarations.

Per contract you record the insurer, the contract and sub-contract numbers, the
applicable rates split employer/employee, and the validity period. The engine reads
these to compute deductions; the ELM declarations read them to address the right
recipient.

The Lohndatenempfänger registry is a **global Swissdec registry**. Reading it is
`HR_STAFF`+ so the dropdowns populate; curating it is `ADMIN`+ in this single-tenant
deployment, so a customer administrator can maintain their own list without involving
the platform operator.

## Quellensteuer tariffs

Cantonal withholding-tax tariffs are imported as reference data. Tariff entries carry
up to four decimal places, which is one of the reasons the engine is
[decimal end to end](/guides/payroll/overview#money-is-never-a-float).

Importing tariffs is `SUPERADMIN`-only — it is platform reference data, not customer
configuration.

## Per-employee payroll attributes

Master data is only half the picture. Each employee needs:

* A **bank account** for the payment batch.
* A **Quellensteuer profile** where they are taxed at source — canton, tariff code,
  and the marriage/partner and cross-border records where those apply.
* **Children** and marital status, for family allowances and the QST tariff.
* The **AHV number**, validated on entry.

The [employee data check](/guides/lifecycle/overview#data-quality-checks)
flags what is missing before a run rather than during one.

## Setup order

<Steps>
  <Step title="Seed the system catalogs">
    Lohnarten and Kontenplan, seeded by the platform operator.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Record the Stammdaten">
    Employer identifiers and settlement numbers, per legal entity.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure insurances">
    All six contract types with rates and validity, plus the Lohndatenempfänger.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Adjust the catalogs">Add tenant-specific Lohnarten and map them to accounts.</Step>
  <Step title="Complete employee data">Clear the data-check list before the first run.</Step>

  <Step title="Run a parallel month">
    Compute a month you have already paid elsewhere and reconcile line by line before going live.
  </Step>
</Steps>