Completing and Formatting the Employee Census

Completing and Formatting the Employee Census

Use the BerniePortal census template to add employees (and optional spouses or dependents) in bulk. Download the template from the import flow, keep the existing column headers and formatting, then fill each row before you upload. For the upload steps, see Adding Employees via Census Upload.

Who this is for

Employers can open the import from the Employees list. Feature Admins with Onboarding access can open the same import from their Employees list.

Before you fill the template

  • Do not include the person who signed the MSA. Their account was created when they signed the MSA.
  • On the Employees list, select Import employees, then select Download to get the current template. Blank and sample files are also attached to this article.
  • Do not rename, reorder, or delete template columns.
Required fields for every row
  • Relationship — Enter only Employee, Spouse, or Dependent. List each Spouse or Dependent on the rows immediately below the matching Employee.
  • Employee SSN — Nine digits. You can enter 111111111 or 111-11-1111.
  • First Name and Last Name
  • SSN — Nine digits (111111111 or 111-11-1111). For an Employee row, Employee SSN and SSN must match.
  • Birth Date (mm/dd/yyyy) — Use mm/dd/yyyy.
  • Gender — Enter Male, Female, M, or F (or use the dropdown).
Additional required fields for Employee rows
  • Street — Required for employees. Avoid special characters such as . and #; the import strips unsupported characters.
  • Hire Date (mm/dd/yyyy) — Use mm/dd/yyyy.
  • Salary — Numbers only. Remove commas and dollar signs.
  • Salary Type — Select Per Year or Per Hour.
  • Hire Type — Select W-2, 1099, or K-1.
  • Job Title
  • Time Zone — Select an option from the dropdown.
Optional fields
  • Middle Initial and Preferred Name
  • City, State, and Zip — Complete these on employee rows when available. State can be the two-letter code or full name (for example TN or Tennessee). If you enter Zip, use five digits.
  • Email — Optional. If you do not have emails for every employee, leave Email blank for all employees so login instructions stay consistent. See Login Instructions - Administrator Help.
  • Language — Select English or Spanish. If Language is blank, employees default to English.
  • Employee ID — The employer’s established employee ID, when used.
  • Phone Number: xxx-xxx-xxxx — If entered, use the xxx-xxx-xxxx format.
Spouse and Dependent rows

For Spouse and Dependent rows, complete Relationship, Employee SSN (the related employee’s SSN), First Name, Last Name, SSN, Birth Date (mm/dd/yyyy), and Gender. You can leave employee-only fields blank on those rows. An employee can have only one Spouse.

Reference Code columns

Use the reference-code columns to assign feature subgroups on upload (for example Reference Code for benefits, PTO, payroll, compliance, Benefits Eligibility, Billing Primary/secondary/Tertiary, Time, 1094, and Performance). Find each employer’s codes in Subgroups.

  • Enter the exact reference code that already exists in BerniePortal for that feature.
  • Leave a reference-code cell blank when the employee should use the feature’s default / not-assigned subgroup.
  • If the employer uses BernieBill, make sure billing subgroup reference codes match the employer’s BernieBill billing classes.
Off-renewal benefit columns

If you fill off-renewal benefit columns for a benefit type, complete that benefit’s plan name, coverage tier, and per-pay-period deduction. If there is no per-pay-period cost, enter 0. See Off-Renewal Implementations.

After upload

After the census uploads, move the MSA signer into the correct subgroups. See Changing Employee Subgroups.

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