Employee deductions

An employee deduction connects a deduction type to one employee, with a schedule and any amount or repayment plan. New assignments start Pending. Payroll applies only Active assignments that are due for the period.

Access needed

Access depends on your assigned permissions and workflow scope.

Create an assignment through the current form: All:payroll.deductions.managepayroll.deductions.reademployees.reademployees.compensation.read
The current form requires employee selection and active-pay checks in addition to the assignment-write permission. Existing-assignment reads do not need this entire set.
Role and permission labels
Typical responsibility: Authorized deductions administrator. Role names alone do not grant access.
Manage payroll deductions
Read payroll deductions
Read employee records
Read compensation
Read employee assignments, type choices and review lists: payroll.deductions.read
Payroll must be included in the workspace plan. This permission can resolve existing assigned employee names through the directory lookup without general employee-record access.
Role and permission labels
Typical responsibility: Authorized deductions reader. Role names alone do not grant access.
Read payroll deductions
Create/edit/cancel assignments or activate Pending assignments: payroll.deductions.manage
Reading the register/type choices separately needs payroll.deductions.read. The current creation form additionally requires employees.read and employees.compensation.read for selection and pay checks. Status rules still apply.
Role and permission labels
Typical responsibility: Authorized deductions administrator. Role names alone do not grant access.
Manage payroll deductions
Inspect automatic deductions or calculated payroll effects: payroll.read
Calculation/recalculation separately requires payroll.manage and a Processing run. Assignment creation or activation does not recalculate results.
Role and permission labels
Typical responsibility: Payroll reviewer. Role names alone do not grant access.
Read payroll periods and results

Demo screenshots may show broader access than your account.

Find existing assignments first

Open Pay configuration → Employee deductions. Check filter chips: an Active-only filter hides a newly created Pending assignment. Remove that filter or choose the intended status before deciding a save failed.

Expand an employee under Assigned deductions to inspect individual types, amounts, start dates and states. Needs review groups Pending, Suspended, ending-soon and finishing-installment items. These are review lists, not calculated payroll totals. Amount summaries group configured active/pending amounts by frequency; do not treat them as net-pay forecasts.

Assign to one employee

Choose Assign deduction → Assign to single employee. Review the deduction type first; its calculation method determines how the assignment will be used.

Choose the employee and type
Verify the employee number as well as the name. Choose the intended active type; PAYE and NASSCORP are automatic and do not need duplicate assignments.
Choose the schedule
Select Recurring, One-time or Installments as intended. For recurring deductions, set the amount per occurrence, frequency and start date. For installments, provide the total and installment count together.
Review references
Enter approved payee/reference information and any explanatory notes as needed. These are records for payroll; they do not send money to the payee.
Review before saving
Select Review deduction. Check employee, type, setup, frequency, start date, amount and references. Go Back to details to correct mistakes.
Save Pending and verify
Select Assign deduction once and wait for success. Find the assignment using a Pending or unfiltered list, then inspect its saved details.

Fictional monthly employee deduction assignment form — Check employee, type, schedule and dates.

Pending assignment review for Demo Staff Club and Grace Cooper — Creation does not activate a deduction.

The fictional example assigns Demo Staff Club at 10 per monthly occurrence from October 27, 2026. The review displays USD from the employee context, but the stored assignment itself has no currency field. Verify employee pay and currency before relying on an amount; do not mix assignment values across currencies.

Distinguish the schedules

Setup	What happens when Active and due
Recurring	Repeats on the configured frequency. Without an end date it stays Active until cancelled. Amount is not a lifetime ceiling.
One-time	Applies once and completes after the run applies it.
Installments	Tracks a total balance and remaining installments. The regular installment is derived from total divided by count; the final installment settles the remaining balance.

Monthly deductions occur once in a Monthly run; in shorter runs they are due in the period containing their monthly anniversary. Dates and end dates limit eligibility. A deduction outside the period stays out of that calculation rather than automatically completing.

Verify Pending status

Employee deductions review with a Pending fictional assignment — Check status filters when a new record seems missing.

Saved assignment details showing Awaiting activation — The assignment remains Pending with no payroll activity.

Review activation by employee

Select Activate pending. Review each employee and every listed Pending assignment, select the intended employee, then choose Review activation.

Activation review listing every Pending deduction for the selected employee — Selections apply to employees, including assignments outside current filters.

Read the final Activate these pending deductions? confirmation. Choose Cancel to keep them Pending. If the reviewed activation is intended, select Activate deductions, wait for completion and verify the saved states.

Final activation confirmation for one Pending assignment — Cancelled for the demonstration; no deduction activated.

The demonstration cancelled both activation dialogs. No deduction was activated and no payroll was recalculated in this pass. Activation itself does not recalculate existing payroll; an eligible Processing run needs a separate calculation and review.

Edit, stop or complete an assignment

Use the assignment's Deduction actions for actions offered by its state. Pending and Active assignments can be edited. Check amount, frequency, start/end dates and references before saving; editing does not rebuild an installment plan's balances or counts.

Cancellation keeps the record and prevents application in periods generated afterward. It does not prove that a previously calculated or issued result has changed. Review the affected run separately. Completed and Cancelled assignments cannot be cancelled again.

One-time assignments and completed installment plans can become Completed during payroll calculation. A recurring assignment can complete when the run reaches its end date. Recalculation reverses that period's earlier applications first, restoring balances/counts and potentially returning a previously completed assignment to Active before applying the new result.

Review automatic deductions separately

Automatic deductions shows PAYE and NASSCORP for a selected payroll period. These do not need employee assignments. Use Review payroll transactions to inspect statutory amounts, employer contributions and net pay in the recorded result.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
A new assignment disappeared	Remove the Active-only filter and inspect Pending items before saving a duplicate.
The type is unavailable	Check type availability and whether it is an automatic statutory type.
A Pending assignment did not deduct anything	It must be activated and due, then included in a separate payroll calculation.
A weekly amount was taken more than once	Check the number of due occurrences in the period.
Editing an amount did not change a percentage deduction	Percentage and Formula methods use the type's rules.
A repayment balance looks wrong after editing	Edits do not rebuild balances or installment counts; investigate recorded applications.
Only one assignment was expected to activate	Activation covers all Pending assignments for the selected employee.
Suspend or Resume is missing	These actions are not available in the documented workflow.
Cancelled still appears in an old result	Review the calculation/issuance stage; cancellation is not proof of retroactive correction.