The Raw Text Exporter is an AccountLinx export that is designed to export your time data into a CSV file for general use and is not designed for any specific payroll application. As the raw text exporter can be flexible in its use, it is possible that it could be used for any payroll application that accepts file imports or can be used to review general time data in Excel.
If you have any questions or concerns during setup and/or use, you can contact us with the "Request Support" link at the top of the page and we will try to assist as best as possible. Keep in mind, however, that we may have limited knowledge of the payroll system that you are trying to use the raw text exporter with. We will try to assist you as much as we are able, but we will also be reliant on your knowledge of your payroll application.
Selecting Raw Text as your Exporter
- Go to Tools and click Exporter Settings....
- The Exporter Settings window should open. Click Select Exporter....
- A window with a list of available exporters should open. Select "Raw Text" and click OK.
AccountLinx Settings Unique to Raw Text
The Raw Text export for AccountLinx offers limited settings when exporting your time data as it will export a variety of time data by default. These settings are unique to AccountLinx and will not affect ExakTime Connect or Mobile.
- Go to Tools and click Exporter Settings....
- The Exporter Settings window should open. Click Configure....
- The Configuration window should open. You should see the following options.
- Text Qualifier - Select if a " or ' should be placed around data to signify that the text in between the text qualifier is one set of data.
- The text qualifier can be crucial for data that contains commas, such as location names, employee names, etc. If there is no text qualifier, applications such as Excel could use the comma as an indicator that there is a new set of data.
- Add header row to output file.
- Export Error Options - Mappings Required - If any of the below options are enabled, it will require the entity to be mapped or the export will result in an error.
- Employee
- Cost Code
- Location mapping required
- Click OK on the Configuration window and click OK on the Exporter Settings window to return to the main page of AccountLinx.
- Text Qualifier - Select if a " or ' should be placed around data to signify that the text in between the text qualifier is one set of data.
General Use of AccountLinx
- For more information about mapping your entities in AccountLinx, you can refer to the following article.
- For steps about exporting time data AccountLinx, you can refer to the following article.
Example of Export
An example of the export has been provided below in Excel and Notepad. Notepad will show the text qualifiers " around the data to ensure that the text between the " is recognized as one set of data.
If you use an application like Excel, you can manipulate the columns/rows as needed so you can import the file into your payroll application. For example, you could delete an unneeded column or move a column into a different position.
When manipulating the rows/columns in Excel, keep in mind that Excel can autoformat data resulting in invalid data when saved. For more information about what Excel is doing, you can refer to the following dedicated article.
Things to Look Out For
When importing the data into the payroll application, you may receive warnings about data not being recognizable. There are a couple of things that could result in your payroll application rejecting the data.
Incorrect Information
Open the CSV file in Excel and make sure that data such as the employee number/ID or site/location number are correct. If the data is incorrect, double-check that your mappings are correct.
It is not uncommon for a payroll application to reject an entire data import if even a single employee number/ID is incorrect.
No Text Qualifier
As a CSV file is being used for exporting/importing data, it is possible that a comma is pushing the data into the incorrect column. If there is a comma within a set of data, such as separating an employee's last and first name, then the comma will force the application to interpret the name as two sets of data, instead of a single set.
- In the example below, the text qualifier has been disabled and forcing the data to be skewed by a column.
- In the example below, a text qualifier has been used so the data is interpreted as expected.