Enter a once-off transaction in the current payroll draft when the value belongs to one employee and one pay run. Recurring employee inputs belong on the employee record; pack-generated statutory lines are calculated results.

Before you begin

Open a regular or off-cycle draft at the regular payroll preparation wizard or the off-cycle payroll preparation wizard. Confirm the employee is included, the transaction definition is available for the payroll date, and the one-time amount, units, rate, percentage, currency, and source evidence are correct.

Steps

  1. In Step 1, “Hours & Earnings”, locate and include the employee.
  2. Open the employee row actions and select “Add transaction”. If the row is filtered out, search by employee name or code first.
  3. Select an available earning, deduction, reimbursement, or other permitted pay-run item. Follow the controlled catalogue’s “Enter in pay run” action when the item is pack-managed. See Transactions available in a pay run for item purposes and required inputs.
  4. Enter the fields required by the definition, such as amount, units and rate, percentage and basis, currency, custom fields, external reference, or note. Do not edit a generated statutory line.
  5. Select Add transaction or Save transaction, then Save progress in the draft. While it remains editable, use the transaction’s actions to change its details or remove a one-time custom or controlled entry. Employee-master rows are read-only here; edit those on the employee profile.
  6. Select “Continue” to “Review & Finalise” and run “Preview payroll”. Confirm the employee result and total changed as intended.

What to check

The employee’s transaction list and the payroll review’s “Transactions in this payroll” section should show the source, transaction code, entry context, and amount. The backend preview should show the resulting gross, deductions, employer costs, and net pay.

Important boundaries

A once-off entry is part of the draft’s pay-run inputs; it does not change the custom definition or the controlled pack. If the value is recurring, assign it through the employee recurring transaction workspace instead. Official statutory submission remains outside the desktop.

Common problems

Add transaction is unavailable

No permitted pay-run definitions are loaded for the date; check Transactions and the action center.

Amount, units, rate, or basis validation fails

The error belongs to the selected definition’s value model.

A transaction value appears twice

Inspect recurring employee inputs and the draft’s pay-run entry before changing either.

Related guidePayroll transactionsRelated guideStart a payroll runRelated guideReview payrollRelated guideTransactions available in a pay runRelated guideEnter a net target for a pay-run earning