Definitions of the core concepts used throughout these docs. Hover over any underlined term anywhere in the docs to see its definition - click it to jump here.
Tenant
The top-level container for one or more companies (sometimes called an Organization). Roles and access rights are managed here.
Payroll
A company within a tenant, with its own regulations, employees and payroll periods (sometimes called an Organization Unit).
Regulations
The country-specific payroll ruleset (e.g. Swissdec) a payroll follows - also referred to as Payroll Logic. Kept up to date automatically as laws change.
Case
A named data-entry template, e.g. 'Employee New Entry' or 'Company Onboarding'. A case is made up of Case Fields; you report one by submitting a Case Change with values for those fields.
Case Field
A single input field within a Case, e.g. an employee's first name or entry date.
Read more about Report new Case Changes →Moment
A Case Field time type for variable data tied to a single point in time, e.g. hours worked on a day, or a one-off bonus. Reported with matching start and end dates. Multiple values within the same payrun period are summed - e.g. a CHF 500 bonus on May 2 and a CHF 380 bonus on May 16 both count toward the May payrun period, totaling CHF 880.
Read more about Report new Case Changes →Period
A Case Field time type for master data that stays valid from a start date until superseded, e.g. an address or IBAN. Reported with an open-ended start date.
Read more about Report new Case Changes →Case Change
Any change in a company or employee situation - hire, salary change, bonus, sickness, termination, etc. Also called an event. You report what happened; Ason applies the correct payroll logic.
Company Case Change
A case change reported at company level, e.g. onboarding data, insurance policies, bank details.
Employee Case Change
A case change reported at employee level, e.g. entry, salary, personal details.
Tasks
Automatically created from case changes. Guide users through what to do next - missing data, checks, approvals.
Results
Always up to date. Changes, retro calculations and corrections are calculated immediately - there is no separate payroll run.
Payouts
Can be triggered at any time within a period - advance payments, corrections and final payments.
Outputs
Payslips, payroll journal, posting documents, Swissdec declarations and more - generated automatically.
ESS
Employee Self Service - the portal where employees access their own payroll data (payslips, personal data, etc.).
System User
A service account for backend-to-backend calls: a Zitadel machine-to-machine (client_credentials) token, not a human login. Used by your backend to call the Ason API without a user session.
Read more about Authenticating from a Backend →Swissdec
The Swiss standard for certified payroll software. Ason is fully Swissdec-certified, so its calculations and declarations are pre-verified and accepted directly by authorities and insurers.
Read more about swissdec.ch →ELM
Einheitliches Lohnmeldeverfahren - Swissdec's uniform standard for transmitting payroll declarations (OASI, withholding tax, family allowances, etc.) directly to authorities and insurers.
Read more about swissdec.ch →