Settings
Global defaults that apply across the entire system unless overridden at department or employee level.
ℹ️ Settings are global defaults
Most values here can be overridden per department and again per employee. The inheritance order is always: Employee → Department → Settings (global). The most specific setting wins.
Company
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Company Name | Used in payslip headers and PDF exports. |
| Company Logo | URL or uploaded image that appears on printed payslips. Use a high-resolution image for best print quality. |
| Brand Colour | Hex colour used for the header stripe on PDF payslips (e.g. #1e50a0). |
| Registration / Tax Number | Printed on payslips for employer identification. Include your PAYE reference number here. |
Payroll Defaults
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Default Hourly Rate | Used for display and calculations when an employee has no personal hourly rate set. Acts as the company floor rate. |
| Default Saturday Rate | Multiplier or flat rate applied to Saturday hours if not set per employee. Expressed as a multiplier of the hourly rate (e.g. 1.5 for time-and-a-half) or as a separate rand-per-hour figure, depending on your configuration. |
| Default Sunday Rate | As above, for Sunday hours. |
| Default Holiday Rate | As above, for public holiday hours. |
| Default Overtime Rate | Rate applied to hours exceeding the standard shift. Only relevant if overtime tracking is enabled. |
| Arrears Offset (days) | Shifts the clocking window back from the pay period end date. A 4-day offset means a period ending on the 30th uses clockings up to the 26th. This gives you time to review and correct clockings before generating payslips. Applies to all pay types except Monthly Fixed. |
Work Schedule Defaults
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Work Week Days | Default number of working days per week (typically 5 or 6). Used for monthly hours calculations and missing-day checks when no department or employee value is set. |
| Shift Start | Default shift start time (e.g. 08:00). Clock-ins on or before this time are treated as on-time. Used by the absent-day checker to determine expected working days. |
| Shift End | Default shift end time (e.g. 17:00). Auto-generated clock-outs use this time when an employee forgets to clock out. |
| Grace Period (minutes) | How many minutes after the shift start time a clock-in is still treated as on-time. Default is 15 minutes. Beyond the grace period, the late arrival reduces clocked hours for the day. |
| Month Start Day | The day of the month on which the pay period begins for monthly employees. Default is 1 (calendar month). A start day of 16 means the period runs from the 16th to the 15th of the following month. |
| Bi-weekly Period 1 Start | The day of the month that starts the first bi-weekly period (e.g. 1). Can be overridden per department or employee. |
| Bi-weekly Period 2 Start | The day of the month that starts the second bi-weekly period (e.g. 16). Can be overridden per department or employee. |
Tax & Statutory Deductions
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Enable PAYE | Toggle income tax calculation on or off globally. When enabled, PAYE is calculated using the current South African tax brackets (2026/27), adjusted for the employee's age. Individual employees can also be marked as PAYE-exempt on their own record — this overrides the global setting for that person regardless of what is set here. |
| Enable UIF | Toggle UIF contribution calculation on or off globally. When enabled, 1% employee + 1% employer contributions are calculated and displayed on payslips, capped at R177.12 each per period. Individual employees can also be marked as UIF-exempt on their own record. |
Leave Settings
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Annual Leave Entitlement (days) | Total leave days per year per employee. South African BCEA minimum is 15 working days for a 5-day week employee. |
| Leave Accrual Method |
All upfront — full balance is available from the start of the leave year. Monthly accrual — 1/12 of the annual entitlement is added each month. |
| Year-End Policy | What happens to unused leave at year end: Forfeit, Cash Out, Force Vacation, or Employee Choice. See Year End for full details. |
| Maximum Rollover Days | If your year-end policy allows a partial rollover, the maximum days an employee can carry into the new year. Excess days above this cap are handled by the overflow policy. |
| Emergency Callout Rate |
The premium applied when an employee clocks in on a day they have approved leave. Options: Regular — no premium (base rate only; no extra is added). Time-and-a-half — the premium portion is 0.5× the base rate for those hours. Double time — premium portion is 1× the base rate. Triple time — premium portion is 2× the base rate. Only the premium above base pay is added to the payslip; base pay is already included. |
💡 Tip
After changing any of the work schedule or payroll defaults, run a test payslip generation on a single employee to verify the new values are taking effect as expected before processing a full payroll run.