The Run Payroll page is where you will be generating all the payslips for a given payroll. Buddy is aimed to provide you with stress-free, easy-to-use software that will make processing payroll quick. This article will explain the layout and any buttons you might need to use during payroll.
Preparing for Payroll
Before Running your Payroll, it is recommended you:
- Ensure all required Company Settings are enabled and updated
- You have updated all employees' information (in case of termination, engagement, change in salaries, eligibility for overtime etc.)
- Added/Approved Leave in Leave Management
- If Timesheets are used, Import/Add Timesheets
Run Payroll
Period Dates
At the top of the Run Payroll page, you can update:
- Payday
- Period End
- More Options
- Timesheet Cut-Off end date
- Leave Cut-Off end date
- Contractual Payday
- Third party Payday
Note: If this is the first pay period within the pay schedule, the Period Start and Payday can only be edited from the Pay Schedule Settings.
If you make any changes, make sure to edit and re-save each payslip so that the pay details can be updated accordingly.
Actions
Under the Actions drop-down, you can:
- Pay an Already Terminated Employee
- Clear Pay Elements
This clears all inputs from any pay items - Reset Ready Payslips
This will mark all payslips as unsaved. - Fetch Coding Notices from HMRC
Department and Employee View
When you click on Run Payroll, you will see a list of Departments. Clicking on a Department name will open and show you the employees within that department, as shown in the following screenshot (e.g. Publishing Department).
In the above example, we have expanded Jack Smith's details by clicking the > arrow to the left side of their name. We can see the Base Hours, Overtime and Weeks Worked on the left-hand side, whereas we can see the Taxation, Gross and Net Pay, as well as leave details on the right-hand side.
At the bottom of the department view, we are also being warned that 1 of the payslips (Jones') has not yet been locked (i.e. we still need to Calculate & Save it).
Filter and Search
Within the Run payroll page, you'll also notice:
- a filter to Show Incomplete Payslips.
Note that as soon as payslips are then saved, they will disappear from the filter - a search box
You can search by employee name, id or reference
Processing Timesheets
If you are using Timesheets, one of the early steps you can do is to Process Timesheets. This will allow you to assign any underpaid hours as worked or leave hours, and process any overtime or allowances based on set rules. More about these can be found in All You Need to Know About Timesheets.
Adding Base Hours, Overtimes and Allowances
As can be seen in the screenshot above, you may insert the Base Hours for the employee (depending on the setting. You can also input the hours for any Overtime and Pay Items that the employee is set to be eligible for.
It is not uncommon to add other allowances during payroll. This can either be done by clicking the Add Pay Item to Add a One-Time Pay Item or by Uploading Pay Items via Template.
Saving Payslips and Previewing Draft Payslips
- Once you are done updating a payslip, click the Calculate & Save button
- Clicking the Preview button will open a Draft Payslip (accessible when payslip is calculated and saved)
- Click the Edit button to unlock the payslip and be able to edit. Once done, re-save.
- Click the Unprocess Timesheets (represented as the clock icon) to unprocess timesheets for a particular employee. This will allow you to process their timesheets again.
Do note that if a Payslip is saved, any changes to salary or tax settings will not automatically update the payslip. Tax and Social Security calculations only happen when you save a payslip, and hence you will need to edit the payslip if you want to make any updates.
Concluding Payroll
Refer to Concluding Payroll and Understanding the Payroll Summary for an understanding of the process of:
- generating reports
- concluding payroll
- understanding the payroll summary