A payroll cycle is a recurring payroll setup that defines how and when a selected group of people is paid. It brings together the rules PeopleForce needs to organize payroll processing for that group, including who belongs to the cycle, how often payroll is processed, when each payroll period starts, when changes must be submitted, and when employees are paid.
Payroll cycles also define how certain payroll calculations should be handled. Depending on your setup, you can configure proration for incomplete payroll periods, annual leave compensation rules, the base payroll currency and exchange rates, and the processing mode. This allows you to maintain different payroll schedules for different groups of people. For example, one payroll cycle may be used for employees paid monthly, while another can be configured for employees paid weekly, bi-weekly, or semi-monthly.
Once a payroll cycle is created, PeopleForce uses its settings to generate payroll runs for individual payroll periods. The payroll cycle therefore acts as the recurring framework for payroll processing, while each payroll run represents a specific period processed according to that framework.
Access payroll cycle configuration
Go to Payroll > Payroll cycles.
Click + Regular cycle.
The cycle configuration consists of six steps: Details → Frequency → Pay rules → FX → Mode → Review. Complete each step and click Next to continue.
Configure the Details step
In the Details step, define the payroll cycle name and specify who should be included in it:
Enter the cycle name in the corresponding field.
Under People, choose who should be included in the payroll cycle:
Specific people - include only people who match the conditions you define.
Everyone - include all people.
If you select Specific people, add the conditions that determine who should belong to the cycle. You can use employee-related criteria to build the required group. PeopleForce displays how many people currently match the selected conditions, so you can check the scope before continuing.
Click Next to proceed to the next step.
Configure the Frequency step
In the Frequency step, define when the payroll cycle begins, how often employees are paid, and the dates that control each payroll period:
Select the Cycle start date that is the calendar date on which the first payroll period opens. The cycle start date is set when the cycle is created and cannot be changed afterwards.
Select how often employees should be paid:
Weekly - 52 times per year.
Bi-weekly - 26 times per year.
Semi-monthly - 24 times per year.
Monthly - 12 times per year.
Configure the payroll schedule. The available fields depend on the selected frequency.
For Weekly and Bi-weekly cycles:
Period start date - select the recurring weekday on which each earning period opens. Attendance, working hours, and compensation are counted from this day. For a bi-weekly cycle, for example, this is the day on which each new two-week earning period begins.
Cutoff day - define the deadline for changes, approvals, or submissions that must be included in the corresponding payroll run.
Pay day - define when employees receive their pay in relation to the start of the cycle.
Non-working pay day handling - choose how the pay date should be adjusted when it falls on a weekend or public holiday, for example, by moving it to the first working day before the scheduled date.
Compensation pay occurrence - choose the occurrence within the payroll period on which recurring and variable compensation should be paid.
Annual compensation pay month - select the month in which yearly additional recurring compensation should be paid. The Annual compensation pay month applies only to additional recurring compensation with the Yearly frequency. It tells PeopleForce which payroll run should include that yearly compensation. For example, if an annual bonus for 2026 should be paid in February 2027, select February as the annual compensation pay month.
For a Semi-monthly cycle, configure two earning periods and two payment dates within each month:
1st period start - define when the first earning period begins. It can start on the first day of the month or immediately after the second period's payment, depending on the selected configuration.
1st period end - define when the first earning period finishes.
1st pay day - set the payment date for the first period.
2nd pay day - set the payment date for the second period.
P1 cutoff day - define how many days before the first pay day changes, approvals, or submissions must be completed.
P2 cutoff day - define the corresponding deadline for the second pay day.
Non-working pay day handling - choose how pay dates should be adjusted when they fall on a weekend or public holiday.
Annual compensation pay month - define when yearly additional recurring compensation should be included in payroll.
For a Monthly cycle:
Set the Pay day as the day of the month on which employees should be paid.
Under Month, choose whether the payment should be made in the Current month or Following month.
Set the Cutoff day as the number of days before the pay day by which changes, approvals, or submissions must be completed.
Configure Non-working pay day handling to determine how the payment date should be adjusted if it falls on a weekend or public holiday.
Select the Annual compensation pay month if the cycle includes additional recurring compensation with the Yearly frequency.
Check the Schedule Preview on the right. The calendar updates as you configure the cycle and helps you check how your settings affect upcoming payroll dates. Depending on the configuration, the preview marks:
Pay date
Payroll cutoff
Monthly comp
Quarterly comp
Half-yearly comp
Yearly comp
Use the preview to verify that payment dates, payroll cutoffs, and compensation occurrences fall on the expected dates.
Click Next to proceed to the Pay rules step.
Configure the Pay rules step
In the Pay rules step, define how PeopleForce calculates pay for incomplete payroll periods and how annual leave compensation is calculated.
Under Proration, select the method used to calculate pay when an employee is eligible for only part of a payroll period.
💡Proration can apply, for example, when an employee:
joins during a payroll period;
leaves during a payroll period;
has a salary change in the middle of a payroll period.
Choose one of the following methods:
Calendar days - calculates the payable proportion using all calendar days in the payroll period. For example, if April contains 30 calendar days and the employee is eligible for 20 days, the employee receives 20 ÷ 30 = 66.7% of the relevant pay.
Working days - calculates the payable proportion using working days instead of all calendar days. For example, if the month contains 22 working days and the employee is eligible for 15 of them, the employee receives 15 ÷ 22 = 68.2% of the relevant pay.
💡 When Working days is selected, PeopleForce also takes into account the employee's actual working-day setup. The system first determines the working days in the relevant month. Public holidays can reduce this number when a holiday policy is assigned to the employee's location.
PeopleForce then takes the employee's work pattern into account, including the weekdays the employee works and the number of hours assigned to those days.
For example, if an employee's work pattern contains only Mondays with 8 working hours, PeopleForce checks how many Mondays fall within the relevant month and takes those scheduled hours into account when determining the employee's expected working time.
Under Annual leave, choose the method used to determine the daily rate for annual leave compensation:
Working day rate - uses the employee's current rate per day without averaging previous earnings.
Average of earnings period - calculates a daily rate using eligible earnings and working days from a selected historical period.
If you select Average of earnings period, configure the additional calculation settings:
Look-back period - select the period used to calculate the average, such as 3, 6, or 12 months.
Base compensation - choose how the employee's base compensation should be included:
Current rate - uses the employee's current rate, even if it was different during the look-back period.
Average rate - uses the rate applicable on each day of the look-back period and therefore reflects changes that occurred during that period.
Additional compensation - choose whether additional compensation should participate in the average:
Excluded - only base compensation counts. Additional compensation is ignored.
Included - selected additional compensation items are added to the average.
If you select Included, choose the required components under Additional compensation included. The components you select determine which additional earnings participate in the average calculation.
Click Next to proceed to the FX step.
Configure the FX step
In the FX step, you need to define the main currency of the payroll cycle and how exchange rates should be provided when compensation uses other currencies.
Under Base payroll currency, select the main currency for the payroll cycle.
Under FX rate source, choose how exchange rates should be provided. For now, only Manual source is available.
Add the currencies required for the payroll cycle using the + button.
For each additional currency, enter its exchange rate against the selected base payroll currency. Manually entered FX rates continue to apply to future payroll runs until they are manually changed.
Click Next to proceed to the next step.
Configure the Mode step
In the Mode step, you should choose how payments within the payroll cycle should be processed.
Select one of the available modes:
Payroll - standard payroll processing with an approval workflow.
Invoicing - invoice-based payroll for contractors and agencies.
If you select Payroll, continue to the next step.
If you select Invoicing, configure the Cycle completion settings to determine whether all invoices must be received and approved before the cycle can be completed:
Require all invoices before completing - the cycle cannot be marked as Completed until all contractor invoices have been received and approved.
Allow completion without all invoices - the cycle can be marked as Completed even if some invoices are still pending or missing. Outstanding invoices are flagged but do not prevent the cycle from closing.
Choose the Invoice management method:
Self-Service Submission - employees or managers submit invoices directly through PeopleForce. When this method is selected, configure:
Pay summary email template
Invoice submission deadline
Submission reminder
AI check
Auto-generated Invoice - PeopleForce automatically generates invoices based on contract terms. When this method is selected, configure:
Invoice confirmation email template
Invoice confirmation deadline
Confirmation reminder
Approval options
AI check
Under Approval options, choose the required confirmation method:
Simple signature
Advanced e-signature
No signature required
Manual Upload - the finance team uploads invoice files manually on behalf of contractors for each payroll cycle.
Click Next to proceed to the Review step.
Review your created cycle
The Review step summarizes the settings configured throughout the previous steps so you can check the complete payroll setup before creating the cycle.
Review the configured:
cycle details and included people;
payroll frequency and schedule;
pay rules;
FX settings;
processing mode.
If something needs to be changed, return to the relevant configuration step and update it.
When everything is correct, click Save.
After the payroll cycle is created, PeopleForce automatically creates payroll runs based on its schedule:
one payroll run is created with the In progress status;
between one and four upcoming payroll runs are created in advance with the Draft status.
The number of Draft runs created in advance depends on the selected payroll frequency.
View and manage payroll cycles
You can check all your payroll cycles in the Payroll > Payroll cycles tab. At the top of the page, you can see:
Active cycles: the number of active payroll cycles.
Archived cycles: the number of archived payroll cycles.
Unassigned people: the number of people who are not currently included in a payroll cycle.
To manage an existing payroll cycle, click the ••• menu next to it and choose one of the available actions:
Edit - open the payroll cycle and update its configuration.
Make a copy - create a copy of the existing cycle that you can use as the basis for another payroll cycle.
Archive - move the payroll cycle from the active cycles list to the archive.
Use the Active and Archived tabs to switch between the corresponding cycles.
You can also use search and filters, configure the displayed columns with View settings, and export the data using Export to.
