--- title: Preparing the month’s payroll description: Choose the month, read the indicators and check employees, salaries, absences, hours, changes and alerts before approving. url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/payroll-preparing-the-month/" updated: "2026-11-11" category: Payroll / Preliminary salaries --- # Preparing the month’s payroll Before approving a month, you check what goes into payroll: who is paid, how much, which absences and hours, what changed in the records, and what the alerts flag. This article walks through the tabs of the payroll screen in the order of a monthly check. It is intended for payroll managers. ## Before you start - Open **Payroll**. Each tab follows its permission in the **Salaries & Payroll** catalogue: **Provisional payroll — People tab**, **Provisional payroll — Personal data tab**, **Provisional payroll — Salary data tab**, **Provisional payroll — Absences tab**, **Provisional payroll — Presence tab**, **Provisional payroll — Changes log tab**, **Alerts**, **Audit report (log)**. The default Payroll Manager role reads them all. - The Absence and Attendance tabs only exist if the Absences and Attendance modules are active in your workspace. - Lists, actions and alerts are limited to your population. When that is the case, indicators covering the whole organisation are marked “company”. ## Choosing the month and the group 1. Change month with the arrows either side of the month name, or click the month to open the selector. 2. Below the month, the dates of the payroll period are shown (for example 01.11.2026 — 30.11.2026), as defined in the reference periods. 3. If accounting groups are set up, the breadcrumb at the top of the screen offers **All groups** or a single group: each group shows its number of employees, its total and the **Validated** label once approved. Indicators and lists follow the chosen group. The badges on the right summarise the month: the number of **changes** marked since the start of the period, and the status **Under review** or **Validated**. ## Reading the indicators - **Gross payroll**: the month’s gross total, its change from the previous month, and its breakdown (base and recurring). If some salaries are in another currency without an exchange rate, the total is not added up: each currency is shown separately, with a warning. - **Headcount**: the number of employees, the new hires, leavers and modified records of the month, and the average cost. - **Alerts**: their number, and **View alerts** to open the tab. - **Absences this month**: their number, and **View absences**. ## Checking employees and their salaries ### People tab One row per employee: **Person**, **Status**, **Gross salary**, leave taken and leave balance. The **All employees**, **New joiners** and **Leavers** filters isolate the month’s movements; the **New** and **End** labels flag them in the list. A prorated base salary (hire, departure or change during the month) carries the **Prorated** label. An employee with several contracts shows one line per contract under their name. ### Salary data tab Each compensation item of the month: person, contract, compensation type, amount, element, hourly rate, hours worked, **Contract currency**, reporting equivalent (the same amount converted into the organisation’s currency, for information) and comment. For a prorated salary, the row shows how it was calculated, for example “5 / 21 working days + 16 / 21 working days”. ![Salary data tab: one row per compensation item, with the contract, the type (main salary, advance deduction), the amount in CHF and, for a prorated salary, the working-day detail of the calculation.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/paie-02.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C327&quality=80&ssl=1) The month’s compensation items, row by row. ### An employee’s panel Click an employee’s name in the People tab: a panel opens on the right, with their position, site, hire date and number of changes in the month. Its tabs show what changed this month: **Personal info**, **Salaries** (fixed or hourly salary, salary changes, compensation types), **Absence** and **Expenses** (expenses reimbursed through salary). The link on their name opens their record. ## Checking absences and hours ### Absence tab The absences affecting the month: person, absence type, status, category, start and end dates, counted days, past absences, manager and comment. Look out for absences still **Pending**: they have not been approved by their workflow. ### Attendance tab Each employee’s days and special hours for the month: **Working days**, **Absences (days)**, **Days worked**, overtime, on-call duty and **Special total**, with their status and **Source** (badge reader, manual, import). At the top, the total of special hours and the number of rows to approve. 1. To correct a quantity, edit the cell, then click **Save**. An employee missing from the list is added with **+ Add**. 2. To approve rows, click **Validate** on the row, or tick several rows and click **Approve selection** (or **Reject selection**). If you leave the tab with unsaved changes, a confirmation reminds you. ## Reviewing the month’s changes The **Employee changes** tab lists every change to a record that affects payroll: person, contract, change, old value, new value, effective date, edit date, author and category. The **Retroactive** and **Scheduled** views isolate changes that take effect before the month or later; the **Retroactive** and **Scheduled** labels flag them in the list. The number of changes is shown on the tab. ![Employee changes tab: All, Retroactive and Scheduled views, then one employee’s changes (hourly salary marked Retroactive, marital status, nationality, department, office, position, sub-company) with previous and new value and effective date; the following columns, including the author, are outside the frame.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/paie-03.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C327&quality=80&ssl=1) The month’s changes, with the old and new value. ## Handling alerts The **Alerts** tab gathers what needs checking before approval. Each alert has a severity (**High**, **Medium**, **Low**), a category (for example bank data, personal data or compensation) and a type saying what is wrong — for example a duplicate IBAN, a salary change, missing data, an exceeded threshold, a contract or probation end. At the top of the list, the number of alerts and their breakdown by severity. 1. Filter by category with the buttons at the top of the list (**All** by default). 2. Click an employee’s name to open their record and correct the data in question. 3. An alert checked and requiring no action is hidden with the **Dismiss** cross at the end of the row. **Restore** brings dismissed alerts back. ![Alerts tab: 44 alerts, split High 2 and Medium 42, category filters, and duplicate IBAN alerts of Medium severity in the bank data category (these labels come from the server in French), each with its cross to dismiss it.](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/paie-04.en_-scaled.png?resize=800%2C327&quality=80&ssl=1) The month’s alerts, by severity and category. The variation alert thresholds (as a percentage and as an amount) are set in the general settings: see [Payroll settings](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/payroll-settings/). ## Finding out who did what The **Audit log** tab traces actions on the month’s payroll: salary changes, bonuses, payments, approvals, revocations (with their reason), exports, imports… A search bar and categories let you filter. Entries load as you scroll. ## Customising the lists In each list, **Columns** shows or hides columns, **Sort** and **Filter** reorder and narrow the rows, and the **Search…** field finds an employee. ## Good to know - Until the month is approved, values are “live”: they follow the records in real time. After approval, they are frozen at the approval date. - A dismissed alert is dismissed for the period; it does not erase the data that triggered it. - The amounts shown are those entered; Illizeo calculates neither contributions nor net pay. ## Frequently asked questions ### An employee has no gross salary. No base salary is recorded for them at that date. Enter it in the Salaries tab of their record ([Entering an employee’s compensation](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/payroll-employee-compensation/)) or import it ([Importing payroll data](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/payroll-importing-data/)). ### Gross payroll shows a dash. Some salaries are in several currencies without an exchange rate to the organisation’s currency: the total cannot be added up. The breakdown by currency stays visible below the indicator. ### I only see some employees. Lists are limited to your population, and to the accounting group chosen in the breadcrumb at the top of the screen. ### *Similaire*