Running Payroll

The cycle

1. Open the period — Payroll → New run, choose frequency and period.
2. Snapshot — the system copies each employee's current salary, hours, rates, tax settings and banking into the run.
3. Capture inputs — overtime, commission, unpaid leave, once-off deductions, new starters, terminations.
4. Calculate — PAYE, UIF, SDL and ETI are computed for every employee.
5. Review — use the variance report to compare against last period and investigate outliers.
6. Approve — send for approval where an approval workflow is enabled.
7. Finalise — the run becomes immutable; year-to-date figures update.
8. Pay — export the bank file and generate payslips.
9. File — EMP201 totals are ready under Filings.

Draft versus finalised

While a run is in draft you can recalculate as often as you like. Once finalised, corrections are made by reversing or by processing an adjustment in the next period — never by silently editing history.

Multiple runs in one period

A period can contain a main run plus additional runs: a bonus run, a commission run, a retro run or a correction run. Each produces its own payslip but PAYE is calculated on the combined period remuneration so the employee is not over- or under-taxed.

The capture grid

Inside a run, the input grid lists every employee with columns for the variable items you have attached. It behaves like a spreadsheet: tab across, paste a column from Excel, and totals update live.

Overtime

Capture hours; the rate comes from the employee's Hours & Rates tab and the applicable multiplier (1.5×, 2.0× or a custom value). If timesheets are enabled, overtime hours flow in automatically and the grid shows them as pre-filled but editable.

Unpaid leave

Capture days or hours. The system reduces basic pay using the employee's daily or hourly rate and shows the reduction as a separate line so the payslip explains itself.

Once-off items

Add an ad-hoc earning or deduction to a single employee for a single run without touching their recurring setup.

Import inputs

For large workforces, download the input template, complete it offline and upload it back into the run.

Always review before finalising

Two minutes here prevents a month of corrections.

Variance report

Compares this run against the previous period per employee and per item, highlighting anything that moved by more than your chosen threshold. New starters, terminations and genuine increases explain most variances; anything unexplained is worth opening.

Exception checks

The run flags: employees with zero net pay, negative net pay, missing bank details, missing tax numbers, PAYE of zero on a taxable salary, and employees who appear in the period but were terminated before it.

Approval workflow

Where enabled, the preparer submits the run for approval. The approver sees the totals, the variance report and the exception list, then approves or returns the run with comments. Approvals are recorded in the audit trail with user, timestamp and IP.

Finalising

Finalising locks the run, updates year-to-date figures, releases payslips and makes the period available for EMP201 and bank file export.

Bank file export

After finalising, export a payment file from the run. Supported formats include the major South African bank layouts and generic CSV.

Standard Bank Business Online

A dedicated Standard Bank BOL layout is available with the exact column order and header requirements that BOL expects.

Custom bank layouts

Where your bank requires a specific format, use the custom layout builder: map each column to a payroll field, set delimiters, fixed widths, header and trailer rows, and save it as a reusable layout for future runs.

Splits and exclusions

Employees paid in cash, or whose payment is being held, can be excluded from the file. Split payments (part to one account, part to another) are supported where captured on the employee.

Reconciliation

The payment summary shows the file total, the number of employees included and any excluded, so you can tie the bank file back to the payroll register before releasing payment.

Generating

From the run or the Payslips screen, generate payslips for the whole run or a selection. Large batches are processed as background jobs — you can leave the screen and come back; progress is shown and you are notified when the batch completes.

Preview

The Preview payslip action opens the actual generated PDF, not a mock-up. What you preview is byte-for-byte what the employee receives.

Distribution

• Email — attaches the PDF or sends a secure link.
• WhatsApp — delivers a secure link through the WhatsApp integration.
• SMS — bulk SMS delivery of a secure link for employees without smartphones.
• Self-service — always available in the employee portal.
• Print — bulk download as a single merged PDF.

Bulk actions

Select multiple payslips to download, re-send, or regenerate. Re-sending never changes the document — it only re-delivers the existing one.

Security

Every payslip link is tokenised and tied to the specific payslip. Links can be revoked, and every download is logged.