Restaurant Payroll CSV Template for Canada

A restaurant payroll CSV should make the week easy to audit before payroll receives it. At minimum, include the employee, regular hours, overtime hours, wage-rate context, gross estimate, and correction notes that explain why the file matches the approved week.

The CSV is not payroll by itself. It is the handoff layer between the schedule and the payroll provider, bookkeeper, or accountant. If the file cannot explain who worked, what changed, and which totals need review, payroll cleanup will move into email threads and side spreadsheets.

Use this as a practical template for Canadian restaurants, cafes, food trucks, and small hourly teams. Confirm local employment standards, public holiday treatment, deductions, and payroll-tax handling with your payroll provider or professional advisor before changing pay practices.

Payroll CSV columns to include

The safest template starts with plain columns that a bookkeeper can map into a payroll system or spreadsheet. Avoid clever formulas in the export. Keep the file readable, then let payroll apply the final statutory deduction and remittance logic.

Maxuod Shift's payroll export is built around these practical fields: employee, regular hours, overtime hours, hourly wage, regular pay, overtime pay, gross pay, and finalized-week planned or variance columns when that data is present. It is meant to make review easier before payroll, not to replace payroll.

Sample restaurant payroll CSV layout

A small cafe or restaurant can keep the file simple. Add columns only when someone will review them.

The numbers above are an example layout, not payroll advice. Your payroll provider may require employee IDs, department codes, location IDs, pay codes, job classes, public holiday codes, vacation pay handling, or import-specific column names.

What to review before sending the file

The export should be the last step after the schedule has been reviewed, not the first step after the week ends. Start with exceptions, because exceptions are where payroll mistakes usually hide.

If a correction arrives after payroll cutoff, do not quietly overwrite the original CSV. Issue a corrected file or written adjustment note, record who approved it, and keep both versions with the payroll evidence pack.

How Maxuod Shift fits

Maxuod Shift sits before payroll. It helps the manager build the weekly schedule, review employee hour totals, see overtime risk, finalize the week, and export a cleaner CSV handoff. That is useful because many payroll problems start before payroll ever opens the file.

It does not run payroll, move money, calculate statutory deductions, remit tax, issue T4s, decide employee classification, or guarantee compliance. Payroll remains with your payroll provider, accountant, or internal payroll process.

For the workflow around this template, build the week in the free scheduler, review hours in the employee hours calculator, check overtime exposure in the overtime calculator, and use the payroll cutoff checklist before sending the export.

Canadian recordkeeping notes

A CSV is only useful if the business keeps enough supporting records to explain it later. The CRA's keeping-records guidance says records should provide enough detail to determine tax obligations and entitlements, and it lists payroll among the areas covered by the guidance. CRA electronic recordkeeping guidance also says electronic records should be retained in an electronically readable format for the required period.

That means a payroll export should not live alone. Keep the approved schedule, final worked-hour review, export file, correction notes, and any payroll-provider import confirmation together. If a third party handles records, the business still needs to make sure adequate records are kept and available when required.

Sources checked on 2026-05-31: CRA keeping records, CRA electronic record keeping, and Canada Labour Program employer compliance.

Questions to answer before you export