Payroll · Setup & configuration · 10 min read

Rule packages, elements and rules

Build a versioned set of pay elements and rules, get it approved by another person, and release a new version.

Before you begin

• You hold payroll.configure. A different person holds payroll.rules_approve; the author cannot approve: 'A rule package is approved by somebody other than its author.'
• You have the ledger account codes for earnings, deductions, employer costs, their liabilities and net pay, and the legal source for the rules.

Steps

Create the package

1. Go to Payroll > Configuration > Rule packages and click New package.
2. Enter Code (up to 30 characters). A code that already exists becomes the next version.
3. Enter Name, Effective from, the Legal source reference and the Net pay ledger account.
4. Choose Part-month basis: Calendar days of the period, or Fixed number of days with Days in the basis (for example 30).
5. Create the draft. The record lists "Before it can be approved" items.

Add pay elements

1. Click Add element.
2. Enter Code (for example FOOD), Name and Type: Earning, Deduction or Employer cost.
3. Enter the Ledger account. Employer cost elements also need the Liability account.
4. Tick prorate if the amount is multiplied by the part-month factor. The taxable and contributory flags are labels only today.
5. Save.

Add rules

1. Click Add rule.
2. Choose the Element code, which must already be in the package.
3. Choose the Calculation: Fixed amount, Percent of another element, Percent of gross so far, or Approved hours x multiplier. Nothing else is supported; there is no free-form formula.
4. Enter the Order. A rule that is a percent of another element must come after the rule that produces its base.
5. Enter the parameters: Amount, Percent, Base element, Multiplier, Hours per month (divisor), and optional Cap and Floor.
6. Save.

Approve

1. A person with payroll.rules_approve, other than the author, opens the package and clicks Approve package.
2. The package is frozen and its content hash is recorded.

What happens next

• A run uses the approved version in force on the period's last day. If the content no longer matches its hash, the system refuses to use it.
• Worked example (DEMO package): BASIC 10,000, HOUSING 4,000 and TRANSPORT 1,000 give gross 15,000.00. A rule of 2 % of gross with a cap of 500 gives 300.00. Net is 14,700.00. An employer cost of 3 % gives 450.00, shown separately and not subtracted from net. Overtime: hourly rate 10,000 / 240 = 41.666667, times 10 hours times 1.5 gives 625.00.
• Amounts are rounded half up to 2 places unless the package says otherwise.

Changing an approved package

1. Click New version. A draft copy is made, effective from today if the old version has no end date.
2. Edit, then ask another person to approve.
3. Approval is refused while the old version still covers the dates: 'Version 1 is still in force over these dates. Close its end date first.' Closing the end date is not available on the screen; ask your implementation team.

Good to know

• Approval checks are listed before you approve and again in the refusal 'The package cannot be approved yet.' They include: an element without a ledger account, an employer cost without a liability account, a negative percent, a floor above its cap, a divisor or multiplier of zero, a rule that refers to itself, or order that is not acyclic.
• An approved package cannot change: 'An approved package is immutable. Create a new version to change it.'
• Rounding, variance limit, country and Arabic name exist on the package but are not editable on the screen after creation.
• The variance limit (default 10 %) is the net-pay movement against the prior posted run that raises a review exception.
• Install DEMO package creates a labelled test package with 17 elements and 5 rules, for test companies only.