Employees and pay setup

This page covers what you set up before a pay run: employees, salaries, pay items, UAE details and your company’s payroll setup. None of that posts to your accounts. The one exception is a staff advance. When you give an employee an advance from a cash or bank account, the app posts a journal entry to Staff Advances. Pay runs are on Pay runs.

Where

Payroll › Employees & salary · Payroll › Administration & tools › Pay items · Settings › UAE payroll setup

Number

An employee code you choose, such as EMP-001. Advances get a journal number

Posts to

Nothing, except Give an advance and Cancel advance: Staff Advances and the cash or bank account

Who

Managers and admins for employees and salaries. Admins for pay items, UAE details, setup and advances

What it’s for

• Employees. Keep one record for each person you pay: name, code, joining date, department, designation and exit date.
• Salaries. Give each employee a monthly salary that starts on a date you choose. Each change is a new version. Older versions stay.
• Pay items. Make named allowances and deductions, such as a shift allowance, and put them on salaries.
• UAE profile. Keep identity, contract, bank and pension details for an employee. Only admins can open it.
• UAE payroll setup. Record your company’s labour authority, pay cycle and WPS details.
• Staff advances. See what an employee owes you, give an advance, and set how much each pay run takes back.
• Archiving. Take a person out of new pay runs without losing their history. An employee is never deleted.

An employee needs a salary in effect before a pay run can include them.

Fields

New employee

Field	What it means	What it changes
Employee code	Starts with the next free code in your style, such as EMP-010. You can type another. Capital letters, up to 30 characters	Cannot be changed later. Two employees cannot share a code
Joining date	Starts on today. It cannot be in the future	The first day a pay run can pay them. A salary cannot start before it
Full name	At least 2 characters, up to 160	Shown on pay runs and payslips
Exit date (optional)	The last day of employment, if you know it. It cannot be before the joining date	Pay runs include the employee for every month that has a day of employment. A part month is paid for the days worked
Department, Designation	Optional text, up to 120 characters each	Shown in the Role column. Searchable
Effective from	The date the first salary starts. It follows the joining date until you type your own	The first month the salary applies
Basic salary	Monthly amount, above zero, up to 2 decimals	Gross pay
Housing, Transport, Other allowance	Monthly amounts, up to 2 decimals. They start at 0	Gross pay
Recurring deduction	A fixed monthly amount taken from pay. It cannot be more than the gross salary	Net pay. See Pay items and deductions

The bank details and Emirates ID are not on this form. An admin adds them in the UAE profile afterwards.

Edit details

Field	What it means	What it changes
Full name, Joining date, Department, Designation, Exit date (optional)	The same as above	The employee record only. The salary history is not changed here
Reason for the change	Required. At least 3 characters, up to 500	Kept in the employee’s history, with the before and after

Every save needs a reason. Any approved pay run that includes this employee goes back to draft and must be approved again. Posted pay runs are not changed.

Salary

A salary is the screen New salary revision (or Add first salary for a new employee). The amounts start from the salary in effect today, so you only change what is different.

Field	What it means	What it changes
Effective from	The date the new amounts start. A first salary starts on the joining date. It cannot be before the joining date. Two salaries cannot start on the same date	A date in the future makes a scheduled revision
Basic salary, Housing, Transport, Other allowance	Monthly amounts	Gross pay
Recurring deduction	A fixed monthly deduction	Net pay
Named components	Pay items you add with Add: a pay item, then its monthly amount. Up to 12. Each pay item once. Remove takes one off	Earnings add to gross pay. Deductions lower net pay

Saving adds a version. Earlier salaries, and pay runs already made from them, are never changed. The Salary tab lists every version with its gross, total deductions and net monthly salary.

A pay run is worked out from the salary in effect during the month. If the employee joined, left or changed salary during the month, the run pays the days worked: the monthly amount divided by the calendar days, times the days worked. The run page shows the working.

UAE profile

The profile has four tabs. Every field is optional unless a rule below says otherwise.

Tab	Fields
Identity	Legal name (Arabic), Nationality, Date of birth, Emirates ID number and Emirates ID expiry, Passport number and Passport expiry, Visa number and Visa expiry, Work permit number and Work permit expiry
Employment	Contract reference, Contract start, Contract end, Employment type (Full time, Part time, Temporary, Flexible, Remote), Work location, Work emirate, Probation end, Notice period (days), Weekly rest day, Normal work hours per day, Normal working days per week, Cost centre
Beneficiary	Salary payment channel (Not recorded, Bank transfer, Cash, Cheque, Other), Account-holder name, Beneficiary IBAN
Statutory	Pension enrolment status (Not recorded, Not applicable, Enrolled), with scheme, member reference and enrolment date when enrolled. End-of-service status (Not recorded, Standard gratuity, Alternative savings enrolled), with provider, member reference and enrolment date when enrolled

• A document number and its expiry date go together. Give both or neither.
• For a bank transfer, the account-holder name and the IBAN are both required. The app stores the IBAN in capitals without spaces. It checks that it has 15 to 34 letters and digits.
• The two work-schedule fields go together.
• The Contract end date matters for pay runs when the employee has no exit date. A contract that ends during a month is paid for the days up to the end date. An active employee is left out of any month that starts after the contract end date. The run page names them.
• The UAE profile tab shows no ID, passport or bank number. It shows only whether a contract and beneficiary are recorded, any document already past its expiry date, and a history of which fields changed and when.

Pay items

A pay item is a named allowance or deduction. Some buttons and messages call it a component: it is the same thing.

Field	What it means	What it changes
Component code	Such as SHIFT_ALLOWANCE. 2 to 30 capital letters, numbers or underscores, starting with a letter	Cannot be changed later. Some codes are used by payroll itself and cannot be chosen
Type	Earning or Employee deduction	Cannot be changed later
Display name	2 to 120 characters	Shown on salaries and pay runs. You can rename it later

The list shows each item’s name over its code, its type and Active or Inactive.

UAE payroll setup

Field	What it means	What it changes
Employment authority	MoHRE mainland or Free zone	Recorded only
Free-zone authority	Shown for a free zone, such as DMCC or JAFZA	Recorded only
Main work emirate	One of the seven emirates, or Choose later	Recorded only
Payroll frequency	Monthly, Every two weeks or Weekly	Pay runs support Monthly only
Normal pay day	Shown for monthly payroll. A day from 1 to 31. Starts at 28	Recorded only
WPS applies to this company	A tick box	Recorded only. The app does not create WPS files or send WPS payments
WPS establishment number	Shown when WPS applies	Recorded only
End-of-service method	Standard gratuity or Alternative savings scheme	Recorded only. The app does not work out gratuity

Staff advance

Field	What it means	What it changes
Amount	Up to 2 decimals, above zero	What the employee owes goes up
Date given	Today or earlier. Not inside a locked period	The date of the journal entry
Paid from	An active cash or bank account. For cash, only the drawers assigned to you	The account that is credited
Monthly repayment (optional)	How much each pay run takes back. It cannot be more than the employee will owe	Empty means the next pay run takes the whole amount
Reference, Note	Optional. Up to 120 and 500 characters	Kept with the advance. No accounting effect

Buttons

Employees list

The list shows 8 employees a page. You can choose 8, 25 or 50. The columns are Employee (name over code), Role, Joined, Employee owes and Status. Search by name, code, department or role.

Button	When you see it	What happens	Accounts
New employee	Always	Opens the one-screen form: the employee and the first salary	No change
The employee’s name	Every row	Opens a read-only page for that employee	No change
⋯ › Edit details	Every row	Opens the details form. Asks for a reason	No change
⋯ › New salary revision	Every row	Opens the salary form	No change
⋯ › UAE profile	Admins only	Opens the employee page on the UAE profile tab	No change
⋯ › Archive or ⋯ › Reactivate	Every row. Last in the menu	Opens a page that says what the change does and asks for a reason	No change

One employee

The page has four tabs: Summary, Salary, Staff advances and UAE profile (admins only).

Button	When you see it	What happens	Accounts
Add first salary or New salary revision	Always	Opens the salary form. Save salary structure adds the version	No change
Add employee	On the new employee form	Saves the employee and the first salary together, or neither	No change
Add without a salary	On the new employee form	Saves the employee only. A message tells you to add the salary next	No change
Save employee changes	On Edit details	Saves the changes with your reason	No change
Archive employee or Reactivate employee	On the archive page	Changes the status with your reason	No change
View history	Always	Opens a panel with the recorded changes to this employee	No change
Edit UAE profile	UAE profile tab	Opens the four-tab editor. Save payroll profile saves it	No change
Manage components	On the salary form, admins only	Opens Pay items	No change
Give an advance	Staff advances tab, for people who may pay salaries, for an active employee	Opens the dialog. Record advance posts it	Posts
Change monthly repayment	Staff advances tab, while the employee owes money	Sets how much each pay run takes back	No change
Cancel advance	Staff advances tab, on an advance you gave here, for people who may reverse payments	Asks for a reason and removes the advance	Correcting entry

Statuses you will see: Active or Archived.

Pay items

Button	When you see it	What happens	Accounts
Add component	Always	Opens the dialog for the code, type and name	No change
⋯ › Edit name	Every row	Changes the name. Salaries and pay runs already made keep the name they were made with	No change
⋯ › Deactivate or ⋯ › Reactivate	Every row	An inactive item cannot be put on a new salary	No change
Back to payroll	Always	Returns to the employees	No change

Statuses you will see: Active or Inactive.

UAE payroll setup

Button	When you see it	What happens	Accounts
Save payroll setup	Always. Greyed out once saved, until you change something	Saves the setup. Pay runs already made are not changed	No change
Payroll setup	In the Payroll menu bar, for people who can open business settings	Opens this setup	No change

What gets posted

Adding an employee, changing a salary, adding a pay item, saving the UAE profile and saving the payroll setup post nothing. Your accounts change when a pay run is posted and paid. See Pay runs.

A staff advance is different. Giving one is a journal entry on the date you enter.

Example 1Give an advance of AED 1,000.00 from a bank accountEmployee › Staff advances › Give an advance

• Amount1000.00
• Monthly repayment250.00

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
1350Staff Advances	1,000.00		The employee owes you this amount
1020Bank Accounts (the bank account you pick)		1,000.00	Money left the bank
Total	1,000.00	1,000.00	Balanced

The advance is not an expense. The employee pays it back through the salary. The monthly repayment is only a plan: it posts nothing now.

The account on the credit side depends on Paid from:

Paid from	Account credited
A bank account	That bank account
A cash drawer assigned to you	The drawer’s own cash account

Cancel advance reverses the entry. It debits the account that was credited and credits Staff Advances. It is dated the day you cancel, not the day of the advance, and it needs a reason. After it, the employee owes nothing for that advance.

How pay runs take the advance back

A pay run takes the repayment from the employee’s pay, and the entry on the run credits Staff Advances. This page only sets the amount. You can see how much was taken on the Staff advances tab, as Taken from salary.

Step	What the employee owes
Advance of 700.00 given, monthly repayment 400.00	700.00
First pay run is posted and takes 400.00	300.00
Next pay run is posted and takes the last 300.00, not 400.00	0.00

If you leave Monthly repayment empty, the next pay run takes the whole amount, or as much as the net pay allows. An employee with 1,000.00 of pay who owes 1,500.00 repays 1,000.00 in the first run, and the net pay is 0.00. The remaining 500.00 is taken from the next run.

A draft pay run takes nothing until it is posted. If you cancel or delete a posted pay run, the repayment goes back on the employee’s balance.

Pay items and deductions

• Earnings add to the employee’s gross pay.
• Employee deductions, and the Recurring deduction, lower net pay. The money is held in Payroll Deductions Payable until you pay it out from the pay runs screen. A staff advance repayment is not part of that balance.
• A salary’s deductions cannot be more than its gross pay.

Money handed over at the till

An advance taken from the till drawer is recorded through Cash review, not here. It adds to the same balance, so each employee has one figure. See Cash in and out and Cash review.

Where it shows up

Place	What changes
Employees list	The Employee owes column shows the staff advance balance
Employee page › Staff advances	Employee owes, the repayment plan, and every advance, repayment and deduction in order, newest first
Pay runs	An employee with a salary in effect during the month is included. The run shows each salary part, named pay item and the advance repayment
Pay runs › out of date	A draft made before you saved a new salary, or added an employee, is marked as changed since it was calculated
Pay runs › approval	The person who pays sees how each employee is paid, with the account number hidden
Balance sheet	Staff Advances (1350) goes up when you give an advance and down when it is repaid or cancelled
Employee history	View history lists the changes to the employee record, with the reasons

What the app blocks

Checks run before anything is saved, so a refused form leaves nothing half-saved. The app shows every problem beside its field and keeps what you typed.

Employees and salaries

Situation	What you see
No name	Enter the employee name.
No code	Enter an employee code.
Code already used	Choose a different employee code.
No joining date	Enter a valid joining date.
Joining date in the future	Review the employee details and joining date.
Exit date before the joining date	Exit date cannot be before the joining date.
No reason when editing or archiving	Explain the change using at least three characters.
Someone else changed the employee first	This record changed. Refresh it before trying again.
No basic salary	Enter the monthly basic salary.
No start date	Enter the date the salary starts.
Basic salary of zero	Basic salary must be positive.
More than 2 decimals	Enter an amount with up to 2 decimals.
Recurring deduction above the gross pay	Recurring deductions cannot exceed gross salary.
Deductions including pay items above the gross pay	Total deductions cannot exceed gross salary. Reduce the selected deduction amount.
A salary already starts on that date	A salary already starts on this date. Choose the correct new effective date.
Salary starting before the joining date	Salary effective date cannot be before the employee joining date.
The same pay item twice	Add each compensation component only once.
An inactive pay item on the salary	Remove the inactive components, or reactivate them in Pay items, before saving.
A pay item that was switched off meanwhile	Choose an active compensation component, or reactivate it before using it in a new salary structure.

Pay items

Situation	What you see
A code that is not 2 to 30 capital letters, numbers or underscores	Use 2 to 30 capital letters, numbers, or underscores, starting with a letter.
No name	Enter a component name.
Code already used	Choose a different component code.
A code payroll uses itself	Choose a component code that is not reserved by payroll.

UAE profile

Situation	What you see
A document number without its expiry date	Enter the passport expiry date. (or visa, work permit)
An expiry date without its number	Enter the passport number. (or visa, work permit)
Date of birth in the future	Date of birth cannot be in the future.
A nationality not in the list	Choose a nationality from the list.
An IBAN that is too short, too long or has other characters	Enter a valid IBAN.
Bank transfer without an IBAN	Enter the beneficiary IBAN for bank transfer.
Bank transfer without an account-holder name	Enter the beneficiary account-holder name for bank transfer.
Contract end before contract start	Contract end date cannot be before the contract start date.
Only one of hours and days entered	Enter both normal work hours per day and normal working days per week.
Enrolled in a pension with no scheme	Enter the pension or social-insurance scheme or provider name.
Alternative savings with no provider	Enter the alternative-savings provider name.
Someone else saved the profile first	This payroll profile changed. Refresh it before saving again.

If you save a profile and nothing changed, you see No changes to save. and no new version is made.

UAE payroll setup

Situation	What you see
Free zone with no authority	Enter the free-zone authority.
Monthly payroll with no pay day	Choose the monthly pay day.
WPS applies with no number	Enter the WPS establishment number.
Saving with no changes	Nothing has changed.
Someone else saved first	This payroll profile changed. Refresh it before saving again.
Creating a pay run while the frequency is weekly or every two weeks	Pay runs support monthly payroll only. An administrator can change Payroll frequency to Monthly in UAE payroll setup.

Staff advances

Situation	What you see
No amount, or an amount of zero	Enter an amount above zero.
More than 2 decimals	Enter an amount with up to 2 decimals.
No account chosen	Choose the cash or bank account the money came from.
Date in the future	The date of an advance cannot be in the future
Date inside a locked period	That date is in a locked accounting period
Archived employee	Choose an employee who is still working here
A cash drawer that is not yours	Choose one of your assigned cash drawers or a bank account to pay the advance from
Repayment above what the employee will owe	The monthly repayment cannot be more than what the employee will owe
Repayment of zero	Enter an amount above zero.
Cancelling with no reason	Explain why it is cancelled.
Cancelling after a pay run took part of it	The employee has already repaid part of this advance. Cancel the repayment first
Cancelling twice	This advance was already cancelled
Today is inside a locked period	Today is in a locked accounting period

If you send the same advance twice, for example after a lost connection, the app recognises it and records it once.

Warnings that do not stop you

• Approved pay runs go back to draft. Saving an employee change or archiving shows this in the confirmation message. Saving the UAE profile asks first in a window called Review approved payroll. It says how many approved pay runs will return to draft and that an admin must approve them again. Posted payroll and salary payments are not changed.
• No salary yet. A banner on the employee page says the employee cannot be in a pay run until you add a salary.
• Archived but still owes. The Staff advances tab says the employee still owes money. Archiving does not clear the debt. An archived employee with no exit date is left out of new pay runs, so nothing is taken back. Agree how the employee repays.

Who can do it

Action	Admin	Manager	Cashier
Open Payroll, see employees and salaries	Yes	Yes	No
Add an employee, edit details, archive, reactivate	Yes	Yes	No
Add a salary or a salary revision	Yes	Yes	No
Change an employee’s monthly repayment	Yes	Yes	No
Choose existing pay items on a salary	Yes	Yes	No
Add, rename, deactivate pay items	Yes	No	No
See or edit the UAE profile (IDs and bank details)	Yes	No	No
Open or change UAE payroll setup	Yes	No	No
Give an advance, cancel an advance	Yes	No	No

Salary amounts are seen by admins and managers. A cashier has no access to Payroll.

These are the standard roles. Your administrator can give a custom role each action separately in Settings › Users & access. A custom role without the right to see salaries gets the employee list without the salary amounts.

Fixing a mistake

1. A wrong name, date, department or designation. Use ⋯ › Edit details, and give a reason. The old values stay in View history. The employee code cannot be changed.
2. A wrong salary. Add a New salary revision with the correct amounts. Use a start date that has no salary yet. Earlier versions are never edited or deleted, and pay runs already made are not changed. For a posted pay run, see Pay runs.
3. An employee added by mistake, or one who has left. An employee cannot be deleted. For someone who left, enter the Exit date in Edit details first, then use ⋯ › Archive. Without an exit date the person is left out of new pay runs, so a final month would be missed.
4. An archived employee is working again. Use ⋯ › Reactivate. They are in new pay runs once a salary is in effect.
5. A wrong pay item name. Use ⋯ › Edit name. A wrong code or type cannot be changed. Deactivate the item and add a new one. A salary that still has an inactive item must have it removed on the next revision.
6. An advance given by mistake. An admin uses Cancel advance with a reason. The entry is reversed on the day you cancel. The app allows this only while the employee still owes at least that advance. After a pay run has taken part of it back, it refuses. Advances taken at the till are fixed in Cash review.
7. A wrong monthly repayment. Use Change monthly repayment. A draft pay run that was already calculated keeps the old figure, so recalculate it before you approve it.
8. A wrong ID, bank or contract detail. An admin edits the UAE profile again. Saving makes a new version. The history lists which fields changed, never the values.
9. The wrong payroll setup. An admin changes it and presses Save payroll setup. Pay runs already made keep their dates.