---
title: Calculating, closing and publishing the month’s payroll
description: Open a month, calculate it, deal with contracts to complete, close it and publish the payslips.
url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/moroccan-payroll-calculating-and-closing/"
updated: "2026-11-11"
category: Payroll / Moroccan payroll
---

# Calculating, closing and publishing the month’s payroll

Each month, Morocco payroll produces the payslips of an employer — the company or one of its sub-companies — in a payroll period. A period goes through three statuses: **Open**, **Calculated**, then **Closed**. This article explains how to open a month, calculate and recalculate it, deal with contracts to complete, close it (on your own or with a second manager’s approval), then produce and publish the payslip PDFs. It is intended for payroll managers and administrators.

## Before you start

- The Morocco payroll module is installed and open to you (see [Getting started with Morocco payroll](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/moroccan-payroll-getting-started/)).
- The **Calculate and close the month’s payroll, read the payslips** permission: at the **Access** tier you read periods, payslips and statements; at the **Execute** tier you open a month, calculate it, close it, and produce and publish the PDFs.
- Employers, remuneration types and the payslip template are set up (see [Setting up Morocco payroll](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/moroccan-payroll-setting-up/)), and employee records are complete (see [Preparing an employee’s Morocco payroll record](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/moroccan-payroll-employee-record/)).

## Reading the list of periods

Open **Morocco payroll › Payroll periods**. The **Morocco payroll** screen lists the months of the year chosen in the **Year** list, one per employer, with the columns:

- **Month**: the link to the period;
- **Employer**: the company or the sub-company;
- **Status**: **Open**, **Calculated** or **Closed**;
- **Payslips**, **Net pay** and **Employer cost**: the period’s totals, in dirhams.

If no month is open for the year, the screen shows “No payroll period this year.”. At the bottom, the **Salaries** card gives the annual statement (see [Monthly statements and returns](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/moroccan-payroll-statements-and-returns/)).

## Opening a month

1. In **Morocco payroll › Payroll periods**, choose the **Employer**. The list first offers employers that have contracts in Morocco, with their number (for example “3 contract(s) in Morocco”).
2. Choose the **Month** (the current month is suggested).
3. Click **Open the month**. The period opens and its page appears, with the status **Open** and “No payslip yet”.

A given month can only be opened once per employer: if the period already exists, **Open the month** takes you to it.

## Calculating the month

1. On the period page, click **Calculate**.
2. A message summarises the calculation, for example “12 payslip(s) calculated, 2 to complete.”. The status changes to **Calculated**.
3. Read the payslip table: **Employee** (name and employee number), **Gross**, **Net pay**, **Employer cost** and **Notes**. The **Notes** column shows gaps that do not prevent the payslip, such as “CNSS number missing”.

The calculation includes all the employer’s Moroccan contracts active in the month. As long as the period is not closed, you can correct a record or the **Salary** tab, then click **Recalculate**: the payslips are replaced by the new calculation.

### Contracts to complete

A contract missing blocking data has no payslip. It appears in the **To complete before closing** card, with the employee’s name (a link to their **Morocco payroll** tab) and what is missing:

- “No salary on the Salary tab and no agreed net pay”;
- “Salary or payment not in dirhams on the Salary tab: Moroccan payroll only calculates in MAD”;
- “Payment type to set up for the Moroccan payroll (Settings › Payroll › Remuneration types)”.

Complete each contract, then click **Recalculate**. As long as the card is not empty, the **Close** button stays greyed out.

## Closing the month

1. When the period is **Calculated** and no contract is left to complete, click **Close**.
2. The **Close the month?** dialog reminds you that payslips are frozen, their PDFs produced and the month’s input closed. This cannot be undone. Click **Close** to confirm, or **Cancel**.
3. Without a validation workflow, the message “Month closed: N PDF payslip(s) produced.” confirms it. The status changes to **Closed**.

Closing is refused if a contract has entered the month since the last calculation: recalculate first. A closed month can no longer be recalculated; payslips keep the rate schedule that calculated them.

### With a second manager’s approval

If the **Closing a Moroccan pay period** workflow is active (see [Setting up Morocco payroll](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/moroccan-payroll-setting-up/)):

1. Click **Close** and confirm. The message “Closing sent for validation: a second manager must approve it.” appears. The closing checks are made before sending.
2. On the period page, a banner reads “Closing awaiting validation by a second manager: the month can no longer be recalculated meanwhile.”. The **Recalculate** and **Close** buttons disappear.
3. The second manager sees the banner “Closing awaiting validation” with the **Approve or reject** link, which opens the request in their approvals. They can also decide from their notifications.
4. If approved, the period is closed in the approver’s name and the PDFs are produced. If rejected or cancelled, the period stays **Calculated** and can be recalculated again.

The person requesting the closing cannot approve it themselves.

## Reading a payslip PDF

After closing, the **Payslip** column shows a **PDF** link for each employee. Click it: the payslip opens in a new tab. It is written in the employee’s language, using their employer’s template.

If producing a PDF failed during closing, the **Produce missing PDFs** button appears: click it to produce them.

## Publishing payslips

1. On the page of a closed period, click **Publish (N)**, where N is the number of payslips not yet published.
2. The message “N payslip(s) published to the employees’ files.” confirms it. In the table, the link becomes **PDF · published**.

Each payslip is placed in the employee’s documents, **Payslips** folder, attached to their contract. The employee receives the “Payslip available” notice, with a link to their payslips. A published payslip no longer changes.

## Good to know

- Every action (opening, calculating, closing, producing, publishing) is logged in your name. Each viewing of a payslip or of a month’s payslip list is also logged.
- An alert reminds the payroll manager every working day of the month’s contracts missing data, then, from the 5th of the following month, of calculated periods not yet closed. A period awaiting validation no longer triggers this reminder.
- Payslip PDFs are stored encrypted and are included in your space’s backup.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I correct a payslip after closing?

No. Closing is final: payslips are frozen. Check the calculation, and if needed the simulation of a few employees, before closing.

### The Close button is greyed out. Why?

At least one contract is listed under **To complete before closing**. Complete it, then click **Recalculate**.

### I can’t see the Calculate or Open the month buttons.

Your role holds the **Calculate and close the month’s payroll, read the payslips** permission at the **Access** tier only: you can read but not act. You need the **Execute** tier.

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