Bonuses and deductions: immediate or with payroll?

Bonuses and deductions are two screens with identical behaviour: HR → Bonuses and HR → Deductions — image 1 and image 2.

Before the first bonus

Define bonus types and deduction types first, and link each type to a salary component. The type is what decides the accounting account and the payslip line; if you leave it unlinked, the system falls back to a default component.

Creating the record

1. Pick the employee and the bonus type (or deduction type).
2. Enter the amount and the request date.
3. Choose the disbursement mode:
   • Immediate — paid on its own after approval, with a payment method and date you choose.
   • With payroll — waits for the payroll run. The system then asks for the effective month and effective year so it knows which run to join.
4. Save. The record starts as a draft.

The status path

Draft → approved → paid, with cancellation possible before payment.

• Approval works only from draft, and records who approved and when.
• Disburse now appears only for approved records in immediate mode; it asks for the payment method, reference and date, and creates the journal entry.
• An approved record in with payroll mode is picked up by the payroll run for its month and year on its own.
• Cancellation is available for drafts and approved records, and blocked on paid ones. A paid record is handled with a reversing bonus or deduction, not a cancellation.

Common mistakes

• Recording it as with payroll and then forgetting to approve it — the run only picks up approved records.
• Choosing an effective month whose payroll is already closed; pick the next month.
• Using a deduction to repay an advance — advances have their own screen with automatic monthly deduction, so see the advances article.