A payroll run represents payroll processing for a specific period. It is generated from a payroll cycle and uses the rules configured for that cycle, such as its participants, payroll frequency, pay rules, base currency, and processing mode.
While a payroll cycle defines the recurring payroll setup, a payroll run brings together the actual employee and compensation data for one payroll period. Use it to review who is included in payroll, understand how base pay, premium hours, and additional compensation contribute to the result, add once-off payments or corrections, check currency conversions, and verify the final gross amounts before payroll is approved.
When a payroll cycle is created, PeopleForce automatically creates:
one payroll run with the In progress status;
between one and four upcoming payroll runs with the Draft status, depending on the cycle frequency.
This gives you the current payroll period to work with while also preparing upcoming periods in advance.
Before you start
To view and process payroll runs, you need to be an administrator or have a role with the Manage payroll permission. It covers syncing, approving, and completing runs.
To add once-off entries to a run, your role also needs edit rights on other people's compensation.
📌 For details, see Create a role for a payroll manager.
View payroll runs
Go to Payroll > Payroll runs. The page shows payroll runs for the selected date range. Use the period selector at the top to move between payroll periods.
For each run, the table shows:
Cycle name: the payroll cycle that generated the run. The run ID is displayed under the cycle name.
Type: the payroll run type — Regular or Off-cycle (coming soon).
Mode: the processing mode inherited from the payroll cycle, such as Payroll or Invoicing.
Frequency: how often payroll is processed for the cycle.
Currency: the base payroll currency.
Start and End: the period covered by the payroll run.
Status: the current stage of payroll processing.
People: the number of people included in the payroll run.
Total: the total gross amount of the run in the base payroll currency. It is shown once the run's figures are calculated, for example, for a run In progress; upcoming Draft runs show a dash.
You can also:
use Add filter to narrow down the list;
use Search to find a specific run;
customize the displayed columns using View settings;
export the list using Export to.
Payroll run statuses
Status | What it means |
Draft | An upcoming run, prepared in advance from the cycle's schedule. |
In progress | The current run you are working on. You can sync it and add entries. |
Approved | Figures are locked, but entries can still be added and the run recalculated. In Invoicing mode, invoices can now be issued. |
Completed | The run is permanently locked and cannot be reopened. |
Review a payroll run
Click a payroll run to open it and review its calculations. To move to the previous or next run without going back to the list, use the arrows next to the run counter in the header.
The payroll run is divided into five tabs:
People
Base comp.
Premium hours
Additional comp.
Adjustments
Together, these tabs let you move from the overall payroll result to the individual components that form it. Every tab ends with a total row.
The People tab provides the high-level payroll summary for everyone included in the run. Use this tab as your starting point. It helps you identify the employees and amounts that may require closer review before you approve payroll.
For each person, you can review:
Base comp. — base compensation calculated for the payroll period.
Additional comp. — additional compensation included in the run.
Adjustments — adjustments applied to the employee's payroll result.
Total Gross — the resulting gross amount for the period.
Vs Prior — comparison with the prior payroll result when comparison data is available.
If you need to understand how a particular amount was formed, continue to the corresponding tab.
Review base compensation
Open the Base comp. tab to understand how each employee's base compensation was calculated for the payroll period. The tab combines the employee's compensation rate with the working-time information relevant to payroll.
Depending on the available data and table view, you can review the following fields:
Period — the dates the employee actually worked within the run. It can differ from the run period: a new joiner or a person who leaves during the period doesn't cover the full run. In that case, the other values, such as expected hours and recurring fixed additional compensation, are prorated using the proration method set in the payroll cycle.
Rate — the amount and currency of the employee's base compensation. Additional compensation isn't included here.
Frequency — how that rate is defined, for example, monthly, yearly, weekly, hourly, or daily.
Hourly Equiv. — the rate converted to an hourly amount:
for an hourly rate, the hourly equivalent equals the rate;
for a daily rate, the rate divided by the expected daily hours;
for a monthly rate, the rate divided by the expected monthly hours, and so on.
Expected Hrs — the working hours expected for the employee during the period, based on their work pattern. For example, if a person works only on Mondays, PeopleForce counts the Mondays in the month and multiplies them by the hours expected on a Monday.
Worked Hrs — the employee's worked hours:
if your company uses PeopleForce Time, these are the recorded and approved hours. Hours still waiting for approval are shown as 0;
if your company doesn't use Time, worked hours equal expected hours minus unpaid leave and public holidays.
Paid Leave — paid leave taken in the period.
Unpaid Leave — unpaid leave taken in the period.
Public Holidays — the public-holiday hours the employee is eligible for, based on the holiday policy assigned to the location they belong to.
Total Base Comp. — the final base compensation included in the payroll run.
💡 Only approved leave is shown. Pending or rejected leave requests are ignored.
❗ How worked hours affect the gross amount:
Rate-based pay (for example, hourly): base compensation is the rate multiplied by worked hours, paid leave hours, and paid public holiday hours.
Fixed pay (for example, monthly): hours don't change the gross amount, unless the employee worked overtime or took unpaid leave.
This tab is particularly useful when an employee's base compensation differs from their regular rate or when working time, leave, public holidays, proration, or the configured payroll rules affect the amount.
For example, the employee may have a monthly or annual compensation rate, but the payroll run also calculates an hourly equivalent and combines it with the expected and worked time for the period. This makes it possible to see the data behind the final base compensation rather than only the total amount.
All amounts in a payroll run are shown in the base payroll currency set in the payroll cycle. If a person's compensation, or part of it, is entered in another currency on their profile (People → profile → Compensation), it is converted, and an information icon appears next to the converted value. Hover over it to see the original amount and the exchange rate used for the conversion.
Review premium hours
The Premium hours tab shows overtime and special hours that come from the Attendance.
ℹ️ It is relevant only if your company tracks time with PeopleForce Time.
Premium hours are set up in your attendance policies, where each type of overtime or special hours (for example, night shifts) gets a multiplier and is mapped to a compensation component. In the payroll run:
Each type of premium hours has its own column, showing the number of hours each person worked.
Hover over a column header to see its code and multiplier, for example, OT ×1.5.
Total premium hours shows the sum for each person.
💡 Special hours are always included in payroll. Overtime is included only when the attendance policy compensates it with pay; overtime compensated as time off isn't sent to payroll.
💡 In PeopleForce Time, special hours are also counted in Worked Hrs. To make sure these hours aren't paid twice, PeopleForce pays them at the base rate as worked hours and adds only the premium part on the Premium hours tab. For example, if a person always works weekends at 1.5 times their regular rate, the weekend hours appear in both columns: worked hours are paid at ×1, and premium hours add the remaining ×0.5.
⚠️ If a person has no hourly base-pay rate, their premium hours are marked and not valued until base compensation is set.
Review additional compensation and adjustments
Use the Additional comp. and Adjustments tabs to review the corresponding payroll amounts for each employee:
Additional comp. shows the Total Additional Compensation included in the payroll run for each employee.
Adjustments shows the total adjustments included in the payroll run for each employee.
Add once-off entries to a run
You can add a once-off additional compensation (for example, a one-time bonus) or an adjustment (an addition or a deduction) directly in a payroll run. Recurring fixed and recurring variable compensation, and base compensation, can't be added or changed here - manage them in the employee's profile.
Open the payroll run and click + Entry.
💡 The + Entry button is shown only to users whose role has Edit access to compensation.
Choose who the entry is for:
Specific person in this run;
Everyone in this run;
Specific people: people in this run who match the conditions you set.
Select the Compensation component. Only once-off additional compensation and adjustment components are available.
Set the Effective date. For adjustments, also set the Earning period.
Choose how to set the amounts:
Same amount and currency for everyone selected;
Different amount or currency per person - enter each person's amount and currency in the list.
Click Save.
💡 If someone already has the same component in this payroll period, PeopleForce warns you about a possible duplicate. Check that it isn't entered twice, then click Save anyway if it is intended.
While the run is In progress, you can edit or delete a manual entry from the person's row. Entries are added to people's profiles only after the run is approved.
Adding entries after approval
You can still add entries to an approved run until invoices are issued. In that case, the entry is added straight to the employee's profile and can only be removed from there.
Synchronize payroll data and review exchange rates
Open the ••• menu in the upper-right corner to access additional actions:
Sync - refresh the run with the latest data before approval, for example after compensation changes in employee profiles. When the sync finishes, PeopleForce tells you how many entries were added, updated, or removed. You can sync Draft and In progress runs.
View exchange rates - review the rates used for currency conversions in the run, their source and date, and whether they are locked.
Approve the payroll run
Once you have reviewed the payroll data and confirmed that the calculated amounts are correct, approve the payroll run.
⚠️ Approval locks the payroll values and disables in-app changes. The payroll run cannot be returned to the In progress status afterwards.
Issue invoices for an Invoicing run
🚧 Coming soon. Invoice issuing isn't available yet. The steps below describe how it will work once released.
For payroll runs that use the Invoicing mode, invoice processing can continue after the run has been approved:
Click Issue invoices.
Review the number of invoices that will be issued for the approved payroll run.
Click Issue invoices to confirm.
PeopleForce then issues the invoices for that approved payroll run.
Complete the payroll run
After all required payroll processing is finished, complete the run.
⚠️ Completion permanently locks the payroll run. It cannot be reopened or changed afterwards.
After completion, the run receives the Completed status and appears as completed in the Payroll runs list.