Set up pay periods

Set up one or more named pay schedules before preparing regular payroll. Each schedule produces service periods and a close-by deadline. The deadline tells the owner when to finalise; it is not a payment or statutory calculation date. Open Payroll → Schedules to manage them.

What this is

The setup supports multiple schedules with weekly, fortnightly, semi-monthly, or monthly recurrence. Each schedule has a name, cadence anchor, time zone, close-by rule, effective version, and assigned employees. The preview shows selectable past, current, and future occurrences with service start/end and close-by dates.

When to use it

Use this during onboarding, when the Setup Action Center names Payroll period, or before creating a regular payroll run for a new or changed organisation.

Before you begin

• Confirm the organisation, employee groups, and first service periods.
• Decide each schedule’s cadence and how non-working days affect its close-by deadline.
• Confirm the statutory pack covers the service-period end, which is the regular and off-cycle statutory effective date.

Product navigation

Open Payroll → Schedules. Select New schedule to create one. Existing schedule row actions include Assign employees, View schedule details, adding an effective-dated rule version, renaming and retiring a schedule. Calendar provides period context.

Steps

1. Define the schedule

   Set the schedule frequency, anchor, effective date, time zone, and close-by rule. Review the service-period and close-by preview, including short months and non-working days.

2. Choose initial employees

   Optionally select employees for the initial assignment. Its effective date defaults to the later of the organisation’s business date and the schedule rule’s effective date, and you can edit it. Review the assignment-impact preview, including submitted payroll and finalised coverage. An empty selection is valid when you want to create the schedule first and assign employees later.

3. Name and save the schedule

   Review or edit the contextual schedule name. The form preserves the name you entered when you adjust other settings. Save to create the schedule and selected initial assignments together; the schedule is saved even if the employee selection is empty. Occurrence materialization and later payroll setup are separate actions.

After creation, assignment management opens with the current roster for the runtime business date and shows each assignment’s effective range. New standalone assignments default to that date and can be overridden. To correct an existing assignment, use Edit dates on its roster row; review the impact preview and save the existing assignment with Save dates. For transfers and corrections, affected editable drafts require explicit refresh/recalculation, submitted payroll that cannot be refreshed blocks conflicting changes, and finalised payroll coverage stays immutable.

Confirm the service-period-end statutory effective date and compatible active pack when preparing a run; the close-by date remains a separate operational deadline.

The Zimbabwe v3 RC2 statutory pack generates semi-monthly occurrences, but its PAYE tables are not certified for semi-monthly service periods. Readiness therefore blocks calculation and finalisation for that frequency under that pack. Check the selected pack’s readiness before relying on a frequency for payroll.

What to check

Each occurrence has the intended service dates and close-by deadline. Occurrences of one schedule do not overlap, although different schedules can cover the same calendar dates for different employees. A regular run can include an employee for unambiguous assigned service dates within employment. Employed scheduled dates with no primary assignment are unresolved; dates assigned to another schedule are handled through that schedule. Assignment changes never imply a silent draft refresh; affected editable drafts require explicit refresh and recalculation, while a submitted payroll that cannot be reopened blocks the transfer. Assignments are unambiguous and the statutory pack covers the service-period end.

Important boundaries

Schedule periods influence employee inclusion, calendar events, and payroll evidence. A close-by date is a reminder, not automatic finalisation, employee payment, or statutory filing approval.

Common problems

Related guides

Related guideCreate your organisationRelated guideReview organisation settingsRelated guideAdd a pay schedule rule versionRelated guideRetire a pay scheduleRelated guideStart a payroll run