Pay runs

A pay run works out one month of salaries for everyone you employ. Calculating, checking and approving it posts nothing. Posting it records the salaries as money you owe your staff. Paying is a separate step: each salary payment moves money out of a bank or cash account.

Where: Payroll › Pay runs (the second tab, after Employees & salary)
Number: PAY-000001 for a run, given when you calculate the draft. SAL-000001 for each salary payment. SALR-000001 for the correcting entry of a cancelled payment
Posts to: Payroll Expense, Payroll Payable, Payroll Deductions Payable and Staff Advances when you post. Payroll Payable and your bank or cash account when you pay
Who: Admins do every step. Managers can calculate and adjust drafts

What it’s for

A pay run goes through these steps, in this order:

Calculate draft. You choose a month. LedgerLite makes one line for each employee from their salary. Nothing is recorded in your books.
Approve. You check the lines, then approve. Approving locks the lines. Nothing is recorded in your books yet.
Post. You choose the date the salaries are recorded on. Your books now show the salaries as owed. Nobody has been paid.
Record salary payment. Each time you pay employees, you record it. You can pay some employees now and the rest later.

Other things you do on this screen:

Correct a run: recalculate a draft, edit or delete a posted run, or add someone who was left out.
Pay out the money that was held back from salaries for fines, insurance and similar. See Pay out deductions.
Print payslips from the Payments tab. Printing a payslip pays nobody.

Employees, their salaries and their pay items are set up on Employees and pay setup. A staff advance is also given there, and its monthly repayment is set there.

Fields

New pay run

Field	What it means	What it changes
Pay month	One whole calendar month. The month in progress is allowed, for example if you pay on the 25th. A month that has not started is not	Sets the pay period, from the first to the last day of the month

Who is in a pay run

The run includes everyone who was employed on any day of the month and has a salary in effect by the end of it.

An employee’s contract end date counts as their last day if no exit date was recorded.
Nobody is in two pay runs of the same month.
An employee who joined or left during the month is paid for the days worked: monthly salary ÷ days of the month × days worked. The working is in the Adjustment column.
- Example: someone who joined on 20 July is paid for 12 of 31 days, so a salary of 3,000.00 gives 1,161.29.
- The line says Part month: 12 of 31 days. 3,000.00 / 31 x 12 = 1,161.29
If the salary changed during the month, each day is paid at the salary in force that day.
If the part-month pay would be less than the employee’s fixed deduction, it is raised to the deduction so net pay is zero, not negative. The line says so.
Some employees are left out: no salary yet, a salary that starts later, a contract that has ended, or archived with no exit date. A yellow panel lists each one with the reason and what to do. You approve and post with that list in front of you.

The lines of a run

Field	What it means	What it changes
Gross	Basic pay and allowances, plus the adjustment	Payroll Expense when you post
Deduction	The employee’s fixed deduction, plus any staff advance repaid in this run. Under it you may see “Staff advance repaid ‹amount›” and “Employee owes ‹amount› after this run”	Payroll Deductions Payable, and Staff Advances for an advance repaid
Adjustment and Reason if non-zero	An extra amount for this run only: a bonus, or unpaid leave as a minus. A reason is needed for any amount that is not zero. The salary on the employee does not change	Gross, net pay and the amount posted
Net	Gross less the deduction. This is what you owe the employee	Payroll Payable when you post
Breakdown	Shows the pay items that make up the line. Only if the salary has pay items	Nothing

You can change a line only while the run is a draft. Save is offered only when the adjustment or its reason has changed.

Paying tailors for piece work

A Tailoring statement of piece-work pay (for example PW-000001) is a record only. It posts nothing and does not add anything to a pay run by itself. See Production.

A tailor is in a pay run only if they are an employee with a salary in effect. Without one, they are left out, as described above.
While the run is a draft, add the statement total to that tailor’s line in Adjustment. Write the statement number in Reason if non-zero.
The total then counts in the line’s gross pay, like a bonus.

Staff advances

If an employee owes you money from a staff advance, the draft takes it back from their pay.

It takes the employee’s monthly repayment, if one is set. If not, it takes the whole amount owed.
It never takes more than the employee owes, and never more than their pay after the other deductions.
It is part of the line’s Deduction. Your books credit Staff Advances for it, so what the employee owes and the account fall together.
If an advance is given or paid back after you calculated the draft, the repayment would be different. The run is then listed as out of date and you recalculate it before approving.

Post pay run

Field	What it means	What it changes
Date in the books	The day the salaries are recorded on. It is filled in with the last day of a finished month, or today for the month in progress. You may choose another open day of the month, up to today	The date of the journal entry. A salary payment cannot be dated before it

If the whole month was already locked when you post, an admin can post on an open day after the lock. The entry says it was posted late. Dates inside the locked month are never allowed.

Record salary payment

Field	What it means	What it changes
Payment date	The day the money was paid. Not before the day the run was posted or the latest payment, and not after today	The date of the payment entry
Paid from	The bank or cash account the money left. Cash comes from the drawers assigned to you. Drawers assigned to other people are not listed	The account’s balance goes down
Transfer reference	The bank’s reference for the transfer. Required for a bank account	Kept with the payment. No effect on your accounts
Pay, Employee, How paid, Outstanding, Amount paid	Tick the employees you paid and enter what each was paid. Select all ticks everyone. How paid comes from the employee’s profile	What each employee is still owed. A smaller amount leaves the rest outstanding

Pay out deductions

Field	What it means	What it changes
Amount	Not more than is held	Payroll Deductions Payable goes down
Date paid	The day you paid it. Not in the future	The date of the entry
Paid from	The bank or cash account	The account’s balance goes down
What it is for, Paid to, Reference	Words kept with the payment. The first is required	Nothing

Buttons

On a run, the next step is a button at the top. The other actions are in the ⋯ menu. You only see the actions you may use. An action that cannot be used right now stays in the menu and says why.

Button	When you see it	What happens	Accounts
New pay run	The list	Opens the form for the month	No change
Calculate draft	New pay run	Makes the draft and its number	No change
Save (on a line)	Draft	Saves that employee’s adjustment	No change
Breakdown / Hide breakdown	A line with pay items	Shows or hides the pay items	No change
Approve pay run	Draft	Locks the lines. If people are left out, a window lists them first	No change
Post pay run	Approved	Opens “Post ‹number›?” with the date and the totals, then Post pay run	Posts
Record salary payment	Posted, with money still owed	Opens the payment window	Posts payment
Recalculate draft	Draft, in ⋯	Cancels the draft and calculates a new one, for the same or another month. Adjustments start again. Asks for a reason	No change
Cancel draft	Draft, in ⋯	Cancels the draft and frees the month. Asks for a reason	No change
Return to draft	Approved, in ⋯, admins	Removes the approval. Asks for a reason	No change
Fix a mistake	Posted, in ⋯	Asks what is wrong and offers only the way that fits	No change
Edit run	Posted, in ⋯, admins	Change each employee’s adjustment: Update run, then a review and a reason	Restated on its own date
Delete run	Posted, in ⋯, admins	Removes the run from your books. The number stays as Deleted	All effects removed
Cancel pay run	Posted, in ⋯, admins, only when Edit run and Delete run are both closed	Adds a correcting entry. See Fixing a mistake	Correcting entry
Add to an extra pay run	A posted run that lacks someone	Makes a second draft for the same month, for the people you choose	No change
Refresh	⋯	Reads the run again	No change
Edit payment	Payments tab, in ⋯, admins	Changes the date, account, reference or amounts. Asks for a reason	Restated on its own date
Cancel payment	Payments tab, in ⋯, admins, only when Edit and Delete are closed	Adds a correcting payment dated the day you choose	Posts correction
Delete payment	Payments tab, in ⋯, admins	Removes the payment from your books. The number stays as Deleted	All effects removed
Print…	Payments tab, payslips	Shows the payslips of one employee or all	No change
Pay out deductions	The list, when deductions are held, admins	Records the money you paid out of the held deductions	Posts payment
Payments made	The list, once a payout exists	Lists the payouts. Each has Cancel payment for admins	No change

Statuses you will see on a run: Draft, Approved, Posted, Draft cancelled, Cancelled and Deleted. Paid and Outstanding are shown beside a posted run’s totals. They come from the salary payments and never from the status. On the Payments tab, each employee is Unpaid, Part paid or Paid, and each payment is Recorded, Cancelled, Correction or Deleted.

What gets posted

Posting a run

Posting writes one journal entry, dated on the Date in the books. A line with a zero amount is left out.

Example 1Posting a month for one employee, with a bonusBasic 5,000.00 + housing 1,000.00 + transport 500.00 · fixed deduction 250.00 · bonus 100.00

Gross pay: 6,500.00 + 100.00 bonus6600.00
Deduction250.00
Net pay: 6,600.00 − 250.006350.00

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
6000Payroll Expense	6,600.00		The cost of the month’s salary
2250Payroll Payable		6,350.00	You owe the employee their net pay
2260Payroll Deductions Payable		250.00	Held back from pay, owed to someone else
Total	6,600.00	6,600.00	Balanced

No money has moved. The employee is owed 6,350.00 until you record a payment.

Example 2Two employees, one repaying a staff advanceEmployee A: gross 6,500.00, deduction 250.00 · Employee B: gross 3,000.00, advance repayment 400.00

Gross pay of both: 6,500.00 + 3,000.009500.00
Net pay of both: 6,250.00 + 2,600.008850.00
Advance repaid by employee B (monthly repayment 400.00, 700.00 owed)400.00
Other deductions of employee A250.00

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
6000Payroll Expense	9,500.00		The cost of both salaries
2250Payroll Payable		8,850.00	You owe both employees their net pay
1350Staff Advances		400.00	Employee B owes 400.00 less
2260Payroll Deductions Payable		250.00	Other deductions, owed to someone else
Total	9,500.00	9,500.00	Balanced

Employee B now owes 300.00. The next run takes only that, even if the monthly repayment is higher.

A run where deductions use up all the pay has no Payroll Payable line. There is nothing to owe the employee.
If the books are locked up to the end of the month, an admin posts on an open day after the lock.
Approving a run does not post anything. Only Post pay run does.

Paying salaries

Each salary payment writes its own entry, dated on the Payment date.

Example 3Paying part of a salary from the bankEmployee owed 6,250.00 · paid 100.00 by bank transfer

Owed before6250.00
Paid now100.00
Still owed6150.00

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
2250Payroll Payable	100.00		You owe the employee less
1020Bank Accounts		100.00	Money left the bank account you chose
Total	100.00	100.00	Balanced

Paying from a cash account works the same way. The cash account is credited instead of the bank. See Cash and bank accounts.

Pay out deductions

Example 4Paying 100.00 of the held deductions from the bank250.00 was held · 100.00 paid out

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
2260Payroll Deductions Payable	100.00		You owe less to those the deductions were for
1020Bank Accounts		100.00	Money left the bank account you chose
Total	100.00	100.00	Balanced

This is not an expense. The cost was already counted when you posted the run. Cancelling the payout adds a correcting entry dated the day you cancel it.

Changing a posted run

These actions change the entry of a run you already posted. Their exact lines depend on the run, so they are described here in words.

Action	What happens to your books
Edit run	The run’s own entry is restated on its original date, with the same number. The totals, Payroll Payable and any staff advance repayment follow the new amounts. Payments you recorded stay as they are
Delete run	The run’s entry is removed. Payroll Payable and Payroll Deductions Payable fall by what the run added. Any staff advance repayment is given back, so the employee owes it again
Cancel pay run	A second entry reverses the first, dated the same day as the original posting. The original stays in your books, marked cancelled. A staff advance repayment is given back

Where it shows up

Place	What changes
Payroll › Pay runs	The run, its status, the number of employees and the net pay
The run’s Payments tab	Each employee’s Net pay, Paid and Outstanding, and the list of salary payments
Your accounts	Payroll Expense for the cost. Payroll Payable for salaries not yet paid. Payroll Deductions Payable for money held for others. Staff Advances falls as advances are repaid
Accounting journals	The run’s entry is named “Payroll ‹number›”. A payment’s entry carries the payment number and the run number. The journals are listed under Accounting details on the History tab
The bank or cash account you paid from	Its balance goes down on the payment date. See Cash and bank accounts
Payroll › Employees & salary	What an employee still owes on a staff advance
Closing a period	You cannot close the books through a month while a draft or approved run ends on or before that date

If the salaries owed to employees stop matching the Payroll Payable account, a warning on the Payments tab tells you to ask your accountant before recording more payments.

What the app blocks

Each check happens before anything is saved, so a refused step leaves no half-written records.

Calculating and checking

Situation	What you see
No month chosen	Choose the pay month.
A month that has not started	Choose a month that has started. A pay run cannot be calculated for a month that has not begun.
The month already has a run	This period overlaps the existing payroll run for ‹date› to ‹date›. Review that run and choose a separate period.
Nobody in the month has a salary	No employee employed during this month has a salary structure in effect.
Company payroll is not monthly	Pay runs support monthly payroll only. An administrator can change Payroll frequency to Monthly in UAE payroll setup.
An adjustment with no reason	Enter a reason for this adjustment.
An adjustment that takes pay too low	Keep gross pay above zero and deductions no greater than gross pay. Reduce the negative adjustment.
You prepared or adjusted the run and try to approve it	The button is greyed and says: You prepared or adjusted this run. Ask someone else who can approve pay runs to approve it. The shop owner can allow self-approval under Who can approve payroll in Payroll.
Salary or advance changed after the draft	Salary or employee details changed after this draft was calculated. Recalculate the draft, then approve it.
Approving a run that leaves people out, with an older list	These employees are not in this run: ‹names›. Update their details or record their exit and recalculate the draft, or approve the run without them.
An approval that is no longer current	Return this unposted run to draft and obtain a current approval before posting.
Closing the books over an unposted run	Pay run ‹number› is not posted yet. Post it, or cancel the draft, before closing this period.

Posting

Situation	What you see
A date outside the allowed days	Choose a date from ‹date› to ‹date›.
The books are locked up to today	The books are locked up to today, so this pay run cannot be posted yet. An administrator can unlock a recent date in Settings.
A date inside a locked month	This date is in a locked accounting period. Choose a date after the lock. An administrator can post a pay run for a locked month on a later date.
A repayment is now larger than the employee owes	‹name› now owes ‹amount› on staff advances, less than the ‹amount› this pay run takes back. Recalculate the draft
You may not post	You don’t have permission to post this pay run.

Paying

Situation	What you see
The run is not posted	Post this payroll run before recording salary payments.
No employee ticked	Select at least one employee to pay.
More than the employee is owed	Enter no more than the outstanding amount ‹amount›.
More than two decimals	Enter an amount with up to 2 decimals.
A bank account with no reference	Enter the bank transfer reference.
A date before posting or the latest payment, or in the future	Use a date on or after payroll posting and the latest payment, and no later than today.
A cash drawer assigned to someone else	Choose one of your assigned cash drawers or a bank account to pay salary from. Cash drawers assigned to other people are not offered.
The account would go below zero (default setting)	This would take ‹account› below zero on ‹date› (balance then AED −‹amount›). Record at least AED ‹amount› coming in on or before ‹day› first, then save again.
Paying out more deductions than are held	Only ‹amount› is held for salary deductions, which is less than the amount entered

Changing a posted run or payment

Situation	What you see
The run is in a locked month	In the menu: Locked period — locked through ‹date›.
Deleting a run that has a live salary payment	This run has salary payments. Delete or cancel the payments first (Payments tab), then delete the run.
Lowering an employee’s amount below what was paid	A payment already exceeds ‹name›’s new salary amount. Reduce the decrease, or edit the payment first.
Cancelling a run that has payment history	This run has payment history. Voiding runs with payments is not supported, including fully reversed payments. Review the payment history with your accountant.
Cancelling a run whose month is locked	The original payroll posting period is locked. Ask your accountant to review a current-period correction.
Editing or cancelling a payment in a locked month, behind a bank reconciliation or a cash count, or on a cash account with an open till	The menu says why, for example Locked period — locked through ‹date›.

Warnings that do not stop you

People left out. The yellow panel lists them. You can approve and post anyway.
Part-month pay. A panel lists employees who joined or left during the month. Change a line if the shop pays something else.

Who can do it

Action	Admin	Manager	Cashier
Open Payroll and see pay runs	Yes	Yes	No
Calculate a draft, adjust a line, recalculate or cancel a draft, add an extra run	Yes	Yes	No
See the Payments tab and print payslips	Yes	Yes	No
Approve a run	Yes, not the person who prepared it, unless the owner allows self-approval	No	No
Return an approved run to draft	Yes	No, the menu offers it to admins only	No
Post a run	Yes	No	No
Record, edit, delete or cancel a salary payment	Yes	No	No
Pay out deductions, or cancel a payout	Yes	No	No
Edit, delete or cancel a posted run	Yes	No	No

These are the standard roles. Your administrator can give a custom role each action separately in Settings › Users & access. Who may approve payroll is set under Who can approve payroll, in the menu Administration & tools on the Payroll screen.

Fixing a mistake

The draft is wrong. A salary changed, someone is missing, or it is the wrong month. Use Recalculate draft. It cancels the draft and calculates a new one. Adjustments you typed are lost. The old draft stays in the History tab. Or use Cancel draft to free the month.
The run is approved and wrong. An admin uses Return to draft, gives a reason, and then recalculates. Nothing in your books changes, because an approved run is not posted yet.
One employee’s amount is wrong on a posted run. An admin uses Edit run. Change that employee’s adjustment, give a reason, and review the new totals.
- The run is restated on its own date, with the same number.
- What was already paid is kept. The new net pay cannot go below it.
- Example: a line of 5,000.00 with no deduction gets a 500.00 bonus added. Its gross and net pay become 5,500.00, and so do the run’s totals.
Someone is missing from a posted run. Use Add to an extra pay run on the notice, or choose Fix a mistake. It makes a separate draft for the same month with only the people you choose, and a reason. It is approved, posted and paid like any run. The posted run is not touched.
The whole run, or its month, is wrong, and nothing is paid. An admin uses Delete run. The salaries are removed from your books and the number stays as Deleted. Then calculate the right run.
The run has payments. You cannot delete it. Open the Payments tab first. Delete the wrong payments, or cancel them with Cancel payment, then delete the run.
Money was paid wrongly. On the Payments tab an admin uses Edit payment for a wrong date, account, reference or amount. Use Delete payment to remove it, so the employee is owed the money again. Cancel payment adds a correcting payment and is offered only when edit and delete are closed.
A staff advance repayment is wrong. Before posting, recalculate the draft. After posting, Delete run gives the repayment back: the employee owes it again and the Staff Advances account rises by the same amount. Edit run keeps the repayment as it was.

When Edit run and Delete run are not allowed

The run’s month is locked. Edit and delete are closed, and so is Cancel pay run. Ask your accountant.
Delete is closed while a live salary payment exists. Edit is still open.
Cancel pay run is a last resort. It is refused when the month is locked or when the run has any payment, even a cancelled one.