Guide
What fields matter most in an HR reporting file?
A practical guide to the fields that matter most in an HR reporting file and why they affect counts, charts, and follow-up outputs.
What fields do I need in my HR file?Back to Resources
Short answer
The most important fields usually include employee ID, display name, hire date, termination date, employee status, employment type, department, function, location, manager, job title, and any other fields used for chart groupings or operational follow-up. Not every output uses every field, but missing key fields can limit the workflow.
Why this matters
- Teams often have the file already, but they do not know which columns matter most for reporting.
- The same fields can affect headcount logic, chart splits, and follow-up workbooks.
- Clear field expectations reduce friction before the first upload.
What HR should check
- Which fields support deduplication and active logic.
- Which fields are needed for groupings such as department, function, location, and manager.
- Which fields are needed for operational follow-up such as work email or job title.
- Whether the same file can support all desired outputs from one setup.
Common mistakes
- Thinking only the chart labels matter.
- Leaving manager or location fields out because they do not seem central to headcount.
- Treating every column as equally important instead of focusing on the fields used by the workflow.
How KYBN helps
- KYBN highlights shared core fields that affect compare, actions, digest, daily, audit, and shared PPT logic.
- The review step makes field-level issues more visible before generation.
- Shared core field review helps teams fix the most important setup issues without guessing.
Related resources
Try the workflow
If this is the kind of HR reporting problem your team is dealing with, start with a sample workspace or review sample outputs before using a real employee file.