Payroll Run
A Payroll Run is the monthly process that calculates net pay for every active staff member, allows for adjustments, and produces a final locked record. Each run goes through a defined lifecycle: Draft → Locked → Paid.
Who can manage payroll runs
Section titled “Who can manage payroll runs”| Action | Required permission |
|---|---|
| View payroll runs and entries | payroll:view |
| Start a new payroll run | payroll:manage |
| Edit a payroll entry | payroll:manage |
| Confirm all entries | payroll:manage |
| Lock the run | payroll:manage |
| Mark an entry as paid | payroll:manage |
| Reopen a locked run | payroll:manage |
| Delete a draft run | payroll:manage |
Prerequisites before starting a run
Section titled “Prerequisites before starting a run”Before starting a payroll run for a given month, all of the following must be true:
- All active staff have salary assignments (see Salary & Components).
- The payroll-attendance month is locked for every active staff member (see Payroll Attendance).
- No locked run already exists for that month (only one locked run per month is allowed).
- No existing draft run exists for that month (delete the draft first if you need to restart).
Payroll run lifecycle
Section titled “Payroll run lifecycle”| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Draft | Run has been started; entries are editable and can be confirmed individually or all at once |
| Locked | All entries are confirmed and the run is finalised; no further edits are allowed |
Within a run, each staff entry also has a paid flag that is set independently after locking.
Start a payroll run
Section titled “Start a payroll run”-
Open Payroll Run
Section titled “Open Payroll Run”Navigate to your school and click Payroll Run in the sidebar.
-
Click Start Payroll Run
Section titled “Click Start Payroll Run”The button appears in the top-right corner of the page.
-
Select the month and year
Section titled “Select the month and year”Choose the month you are processing. The system will validate that all prerequisites are met.
-
Confirm
Section titled “Confirm”Click Start Run. The system creates one entry per active staff member, pre-populated with their salary package amounts and LOP deductions derived from the locked attendance.
Review a run
Section titled “Review a run”Click the run row (or the View icon) to open the run detail page. The table shows every staff member with their computed pay breakdown:
- Gross Pay — sum of all earning components.
- LOP Deduction — salary deducted based on absent/half-day working days.
- Other Deductions — sum of deduction components.
- Net Pay — Gross − LOP − Other Deductions.
- Status — Pending, Confirmed, or Paid.
Edit an entry
Section titled “Edit an entry”While a run is in Draft status:
- On the run detail page, click Edit in a staff member’s row.
- Adjust the component amounts or add a note.
- Click Save.
Edited entries are marked as modified to distinguish them from system-calculated values.
Confirm entries
Section titled “Confirm entries”Confirming an entry signals that its figures have been reviewed and are approved.
- To confirm a single entry: click Confirm in the row.
- To confirm all entries at once: click Confirm All at the top of the run.
Lock the run
Section titled “Lock the run”Once all entries are confirmed, lock the run to prevent further changes:
- On the run detail page, click Lock Run.
- Confirm the action.
- The run status changes to Locked and all edit controls are disabled.
Mark staff as paid
Section titled “Mark staff as paid”After salaries are disbursed, record payment against each entry:
- Click Mark Paid on individual rows, or
- Use Mark All Paid to confirm payment for the entire run at once.
Paid entries are flagged in the run and excluded from outstanding-payment reports.
Reopen a locked run
Section titled “Reopen a locked run”If corrections are needed after locking:
- On the run list page, click Reopen for the locked run.
- Confirm the action. The run returns to Draft status.
- Make the required edits.
- Re-confirm and re-lock.
Delete a draft run
Section titled “Delete a draft run”A draft run can be deleted if it was started in error:
- On the run list page, click Delete for the draft run.
- Confirm the action. The run and all its entries are permanently removed.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting””A locked payroll run already exists for this month”
Section titled “”A locked payroll run already exists for this month””You cannot have two locked runs for the same month. If you need to make changes, reopen the existing locked run, make corrections, and re-lock it.
”A draft run already exists for this month”
Section titled “”A draft run already exists for this month””Delete the existing draft before starting a new one for the same month.
”Payroll attendance is not locked for all staff”
Section titled “”Payroll attendance is not locked for all staff””Go to Payroll Attendance, select the relevant month, compute the LOP summary, and lock the month. Then retry starting the run.
Net pay shows a negative value for a staff member
Section titled “Net pay shows a negative value for a staff member”LOP deductions or other deductions exceed the gross pay for that month. Edit the entry to correct the component amounts, or review whether the attendance data is correct.