Pay checks and pay rates user guide

 

This guide will walk you through the initial configuration of pay rates, contracts, and paychecks for your personnel. Follow these steps to fully test the functionality and ensure smooth payroll operations.

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🔐 Required Permissions

Before you begin configuring payroll, ensure that users have the appropriate permissions assigned to their role. The payroll system uses two distinct permission categories.

Pay Rates Permissions

Pay rates are company-wide settings. Users need these permissions in the Company Settings section.

Permission	What it allows
Access	View the Company Settings menu and navigate to pay rate settings
Read	View existing pay rates and their configurations
Create	Create new pay rates and configure overtime rules
Update	Modify existing pay rates, rate rules, and overtime settings
Delete	Delete pay rates (except default rates)

📍 Location in UI:
Account Settings → Personnel → Pay Rates

Contracts & Paychecks Permissions

Contracts and paychecks are managed per employee. Users need these permissions in the Personnel section.

Permission	What it allows
Access Personnel Contracts	View the "Contracts & Paychecks" tab in employee profiles
Read Personnel Contracts	View existing contracts and paycheck history
Create Personnel Contracts	Create new contracts and generate paychecks
Update Personnel Contracts	Modify existing contracts, rates, and compensations
Delete Personnel Contracts	Remove contracts and paychecks
Manage Personnel Contracts	Full management access (includes all above)

📍 Location in UI:
Resources → Personnel → [Employee] → Contracts and Paychecks tab

How to Assign Permissions

1. Go to Account Settings → Permissions

2. Select the role you want to modify

3. In the Permission Matrix:

   • Find the "Company Settings" row and check the boxes for Access, Read, Create, Update, Delete as needed

   • Find the "Personnel" row and check the boxes for Access Personnel Contracts, Read, Create, Update, Delete, Manage as needed

Recommended Permission Setup by Role

Role	Company Settings	Personnel Contracts
Payroll Administrator	Access, Read, Create, Update, Delete	Access, Read, Create, Update, Delete, Manage
HR Manager	Access, Read, Create, Update	Access, Read, Create, Update
Finance Reviewer	Access, Read	Access, Read
Department Manager	—	Access, Read
Employee	—	—

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1. Configure Pay Rates

Before you can generate paychecks, you need to define how your personnel are paid.

Steps to Create Pay Rates

1. Go to Account Settings → Personnel → Pay Rates

2. Click Add new in the top-right corner

3. In the modal that appears, fill in the required fields:

• • Name – The identifier for the rate

  • Currency – Select the currency this rate uses

  • Is Default – Enable if this should be applied automatically when no other rate matches (default rates ignore activity categories)

  • Activity Category – The type of activity this rate applies to (only hours under this category will use the rate)

  • Country – The country this rate applies to (hours logged under other countries will not use this rate)

  • Work Packages – (Optional) Assign specific work packages for this rate

Rate Rules

Rate rules define how a rate is applied across different times of day or week — for example, standard time vs. overtime.

Each rule includes:

• Period – Defines when the rate applies (e.g., 00:00–00:00 covers 24 hours)

• Hourly Rate – Amount paid per hour during that period

• Maximum Hours per Day/Week – Caps paid hours (any extra logged time will be unassigned)

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2. Configure Overtime Rules

Overtime rules allow you to automatically apply different pay rates when maximum hours are exceeded. This feature uses rate linking to cascade from one pay rate to another.

How Overtime Rules Work

When a pay rate's maximum hours (per day or week) are reached:

• The system automatically switches to the linked overtime rate for any excess hours

• Overtime rates can be linked to other overtime rates, creating multiple tiers (e.g., Standard → Overtime 1.5x → Double-time 2x)

• The system validates against infinite loops to prevent circular rate references

Setting Up Overtime Rules

1. When creating or editing a pay rate, scroll to the Overtime Rule section

2. Toggle Enable Overtime Rules to "Enabled"

3. Select an Overtime Rate from the dropdown

   • This dropdown shows all other pay rates in your system

   • The current rate being edited is automatically excluded to prevent self-reference

4. Click Save

Important Notes About Overtime Linking

⚠️ Infinite Loop Protection:

• The system automatically validates that your overtime rule doesn't create a circular reference

• Example of invalid setup: Rate A → Rate B → Rate A (creates infinite loop)

• If detected, you'll see an error:
  "Infinite loop detected in overtime rules"

• This validation requires Read permission in Company Settings

✅ Valid Multi-Tier Example:

Standard Rate (40 hrs/week max)
↓ (when exceeded)
Overtime 1.5x (10 hrs/week max)
↓ (when exceeded)
Double-time 2x (no max)

Overtime Calculation Behavior

When a rate rule's Maximum Hours per Day or Maximum Hours per Week cap is reached, the system:

1. Looks for the linked Overtime Rule on the current pay rate

2. Applies that overtime rate's rules for excess hours

3. Recursively follows any additional overtime rules if those caps are also exceeded

4. Treats any hours as unpaid if no applicable overtime rate exists

The system respects time-of-day rules in overtime rates (e.g., night shift overtime has different rules than day shift)

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3. Configure Contracts

Contracts define which rates and compensation rules apply to each person.

Steps to Create a Contract

1. Go to Resources → Personnel → Edit a Person

2. Select the Contracts and Paychecks tab (top right)

   • This tab only appears if you have "Access Personnel Contracts" permission

3. Click Create Contract

4. Fill in the contract details:

• • Rates – Select from previously created rates (including those with overtime rules)

  • Default Rate – Optional; overrides the globally configured default rate

  • Compensations – Optional; helps automate paycheck additions like bonuses or per diems

Notes:

• The contract's country is independent of the rates' countries — you can mix them for multi-country billing

• If a contract has its own default rate, that will always override the global default rate

• You can create multiple contracts (e.g., one per country) for flexible testing and configuration

• Overtime rules are automatically included when you add a rate to a contract — the system will follow the linked overtime rates during paycheck calculation

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4. Create a Paycheck

Once rates and contracts are set up, you can generate paychecks for individuals.

Steps to Create a Paycheck

1. Go to Resources → Personnel → Edit a Person

2. Select the Contracts and Paychecks tab

3. Click Create Paycheck

4. Fill in the details:

• • Date Range – Only time entries within this period are included

  • Contract – Select the applicable contract (rates and compensation info are snapshotted)

  • Use Fallback Rate – Apply the default rate if no other rate matches

  • Applied Rate – Review and adjust which rate is applied per time entry if needed

How Overtime is Applied in Paychecks

When generating a paycheck:

• The calculation engine processes time entries minute-by-minute

• It tracks daily and weekly hour caps for each rate rule

• When caps are exceeded, it automatically switches to the linked overtime rate

• All cascading overtime rules are resolved recursively until no more linked rates exist or hours are classified as unpaid

• You can see the rate breakdown in the paycheck details, showing exactly which hours were paid at which rate

Additions & Deductions

You can manually adjust paycheck totals:

• Positive Amount → Adds to the paycheck

• Negative Amount → Deducts from the paycheck

These adjustments appear as separate lines in the exported file.

Recalculation

Whenever you modify rates, additions, or deductions:

• Click Recalculate to refresh totals

• You can make multiple edits before recalculating — this is recommended for efficiency

• Recalculation will re-apply all overtime rules and rate linking based on current configurations

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5. Download a Paycheck

To review or share a paycheck:

1. Go to Resources → Personnel → Edit a Person → Contracts and Paychecks

2. Click the Download icon beside the desired paycheck

This exports a full .XLSX file, including:

• All time entries with their applied rates

• Overtime hours and their corresponding rates

• Rates applied (including cascaded overtime rates)

• Currency breakdowns

• Additions and deductions

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✅ Summary

Step	Purpose	Required Permission Section	Required Permission
Pay Rate Configuration	Define hourly rates, currencies, rules, and overtime linking	Company Settings	Create, Update
Overtime Rules Setup	Configure cascading overtime rates with automatic cap-based switching	Company Settings	Create, Update
Contract Setup	Assign rates (with overtime rules) and default pay rules to personnel	Personnel	Create Personnel Contracts, Update Personnel Contracts
Paycheck Creation	Generate pay based on contracts, logged time, and automatic overtime calculations	Personnel	Create Personnel Contracts
Export Paycheck	Download detailed payroll data for review or reporting	Personnel	Read Personnel Contracts

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💡 Best Practices

Recommended Setup for Standard Overtime

1. Create a base rate (e.g., "Standard Pay - Norway")

   • Set max hours per week: 40

   • Link to an overtime rate

   • Permission needed: Create in Company Settings

2. Create an overtime rate (e.g., "Overtime 1.5x - Norway")

   • Set hourly rate to 1.5x your base rate

   • Optionally set max hours per week: 8

   • Link to a double-time rate if needed

   • Permission needed: Create in Company Settings

3. Create a double-time rate (e.g., "Double Pay - Norway")

   • Set hourly rate to 2x your base rate

   • Don't set a maximum (or set a very high max)

   • Don't link to another overtime rate (this is the final tier)

   • Permission needed: Create in Company Settings

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Testing Your Configuration

• Create test time entries that exceed your defined caps

• Generate a paycheck and verify the overtime rates are applied correctly

• Check the exported XLSX file to see the detailed rate breakdown

• Adjust caps and re-calculate to fine-tune your setup

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🔒 Security & Access Notes

• Permission Separation: Company settings (pay rates) and personnel data (contracts/paychecks) use different permission categories

• Default Rate Protection: Default pay rates cannot be deleted, even with Delete permission in Company Settings

• Audit Trail: All modifications to pay rates and contracts are logged in the system audit log (requires Access permission for Audit Log to view)

• Feature Flag: The entire paycheck system is controlled by the PAYCHECK_CALCULATOR feature flag