Activity History
Activity History is currently in beta. To give us feedback, click the BETA label in the Activity History pop-up.
Activity History shows you who changed a record, what they changed, and when. Each change lists the old and new values, so you can trace how a record got to its current state – for example, to check whether a change was authorised.
Activity History is being rolled out one type of record at a time. It's currently available for the records listed below.
👉 How-To Guides¶
How to view a record's activity history¶
- Go to the screen for the relevant type of record (see below), and click the record.
- Click History at the bottom of the screen.
- (Optional) If there are more changes than the pop-up can show at once, click Load More at the bottom of the pop-up.
📌 Quick References¶
Where Activity History is available¶
| Record | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Custom employee fields | Go to Settings > Advanced > Custom Employee Fields, and click the custom employee field. |
| Job grades | Go to Settings > Job Grades, and click the job grade. |
| Pay points | Go to Settings > Pay Points, and click the pay point. For an inactive pay point, click Inactive first. |
Information shown¶
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Date | Date and time of change |
| User | Name of user who made change |
| Field | Field that was changed |
| Old Value | Value before change |
| New Value | Value after change |
Changes are listed from newest to oldest. If one save changed several fields, each field appears on its own row, with the date and user shown on the first row only. When a field is changed from or to a blank value, that value shows as null, which doesn't mean zero.
When a record was created, the entry shows a Created label and the number of fields that were set (e.g. "3 fields"). Click the number of fields to see the value each one was created with.
If a record existed before Activity History started tracking its changes, a note at the bottom of the pop-up says from when changes are available, e.g. "Changes made before September 21, 2026 14:33 are not available in this history." If there are more changes to load, the note appears once you've clicked Load More to reach the oldest ones.
📚 Explanation¶
Activity History vs Recent Activity¶
SimplePay has two ways of showing changes: Activity History and Recent Activity.
Activity History is a detailed, field-by-field record of every change to a single record, such as a pay point. It opens in a pop-up from the record's own screen.
Recent Activity is a short summary of the latest changes. You'll find it in the following places:
- On an employee's profile, on the Payroll tab, below the Regular Inputs card. This shows the latest changes to the employee's information and payslips, one sentence per change. Each sentence states what was changed and how, followed by when the change was made and by whom. If there are more changes than can be shown, click More.
- On Self-Service requests, where employees can check on the status of their requests, and approvers and Admin users with full access can see the history of a request while actioning it. Each entry shows the date and time, the name of the person who made it, and the update or comment.
- On the Bulk Finalisation screen, where the Show recent activity toggle adds a Recent Activity column with the latest changes for each employee. Hover over the information icon next to a change to see when and by whom it was made. See the Bulk Finalise and Review Payslips help page.
| Change made | Activity History | Recent Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Records listed under Where Activity History is available | Yes | No |
| Employee information and payslips | No | Yes |
| Self-Service requests and approvals | No | Yes |
For a consolidated view of changes to employee profiles over a date range, see the Employee Changes help page.
Record changes vs employee changes
Activity History shows changes to the record itself, such as a pay point's name or a custom employee field's input type. Changes to an employee, such as moving them to a different pay point or job grade, or updating their value for a custom employee field, are employee information changes, so they appear under Recent Activity on the employee's profile.
🔍 FAQs¶
Why can't I see Activity History for a record?
Activity History is being added one type of record at a time, so it isn't available yet for records that aren't listed above. You can still see changes to employee information and payslips under Recent Activity on the employee's profile.