DEPayroll accounting via API
German payroll as a REST interface: real-time calculations, trial payroll runs, employer costs – in development since 2023, testable today.
Working hours and personnel data already live in software at most companies – only the path to a finished payroll result still runs through exports, emails or retyping, and the results take the same detour back. A payroll API shortens that path to a single call: your software sends the data and receives the finished result in a structured form – in milliseconds instead of days.
Lohnica has been building this API since 2023. The calculation engine covers German payroll in full: income tax according to the official calculation schedules, fund-specific social security contributions, minijob and the transitional area, company pensions, company cars and more than 100 wage types. Every calculation runs in real time – fast enough to power interactive scenarios right inside your UI.
Two APIs, one calculation engine
Depending on your use case, start anonymously with pure calculations – or with full payroll including master data.
Gross-to-Net API
Anonymous calculations without personal data – ideal for salary calculators, workforce planning and forecasts.
- Gross ↔ net and employer costs in milliseconds
- GDPR-friendly because no personal data is needed
- In production use today
Payroll API
Complete payroll accounting with master data, historisation and PDF export – available today as trial payroll runs.
- Full payroll run with all wage types
- Historisation and automatic corrections
- Electronic notifications follow in 2027
Built for real payroll work
Historisation with valid-from dates
Every master and transaction record carries a “valid from” date. Data may arrive in any order, including retroactively – calculations always use the values that applied in the month in question.
Automatic corrections
If data for previous months changes, simply send the new state. Lohnica determines the necessary corrections and the differences in additions and deductions automatically.
All common employee groups
Employees and managing directors, minijob and the transitional area, pensioners, apprentices, interns and working students – with the matching contribution groups.
More than 100 wage types
Hourly and monthly wages, one-off payments including the March clause, night/Sunday/holiday bonuses, benefits in kind and flat-rate taxation. Custom wage types can be added.
API, in-house build or outsourcing?
| Criterion | Lohnica API | In-house payroll build | External provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to market | days to weeks | years | immediate, but not integrated |
| Calculation rules & year-end changes | maintained by Lohnica | your team, permanently | at the provider |
| Data inside your product | yes | yes | media break |
| Real-time calculations | milliseconds | depends on your build | days via back-and-forth |
| Costs | per use | development + upkeep | per payslip, higher |
In short: data and user experience stay inside your product while Lohnica maintains the calculation rules and their yearly updates – a combination neither building in-house nor outsourcing offers on its own.
Frequently asked questions
A programmable interface through which your software triggers wage and salary calculations and receives the results in a structured form – without its own payroll program and without transferring data manually.
Let’s talk about your integration
Whether salary calculator, HR software or full payroll inside your product – we will show you the shortest path to integration.