---
title: Configure the 13th month, bonuses and pay components
description: "The 13th month, bonuses and pay components are configured — at company level for some, employee level for others. Here are the rules that govern them. - **Reading time**5 min - **Level**Intermediate - **Last updated**May 2026 - **Module**Preliminary salaries ##…"
url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/simulate-13th-month-bonuses-and-variable-pay/"
updated: "2026-09-21"
category: Payroll
---

# Configure the 13th month, bonuses and pay components

The 13th month, bonuses and pay components are configured — at company level for some, employee level for others. Here are the rules that govern them.

- **Reading time**5 min
- **Level**Intermediate
- **Last updated**May 2026
- **Module**Preliminary salaries

## Two levels of setting

Extra months are configured at **company** level and can be overridden at **employee** level. Where they differ, the employee setting wins. Bonuses are always individual.

| Element | Where it is set | Watch out for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 13th month | Payroll settings, overridable per employee | One or several payment months, your choice |
| 14th month | Same | **Requires the 13th to be enabled** |
| 15th month | Same | **Requires both the 13th and the 14th** |
| Bonuses | The employee’s pay record | Their own rounding, separate from salary rounding |
| Pay components | The employee’s record | Several remuneration types coexist on one record |
| Hourly salary | The employee’s record | Set separately from monthly salary |

## Step by step

1. ### Enable the extra months for the company

   Tick the 13th, then the 14th if needed, then the 15th. The order is not a convention: validation refuses the 14th without the 13th.
2. ### Choose the payment month(s)

   Not necessarily December, and not necessarily a single month. The selected month is when the extra instalment is added to the calculated salary.
3. ### Override the special cases

   An employee whose contract says otherwise carries their own setting on their record. That is the one that applies, not the company’s.
4. ### Put bonuses on the record

   Bonus, pay component, hourly salary: these are distinct items, added and removed independently of base salary.
5. ### Check the rounding

   Three roundings are set separately: salary, bonus, advance. A badly set bonus rounding only shows up at payment time.
6. ### Verify in the payment period

   The month the 13th falls in is the month the wage bill jumps. Compare the file version against the previous month before approving.

## What does not exist

No simulation of the 13th month or of bonuses before entry. No associated net calculation. No automatic 13th-month prorata for a mid-year joiner or leaver: that rule belongs to the payroll producer. No variable pay plan with targets and achievement rates.

## FAQ

   Can the 13th be paid in two instalments?

Yes, several payment months can be selected.

   What if someone joins in September?

Illizeo does not compute a 13th-month prorata. The treatment is decided with your payroll producer and reflected, if needed, through a one-off pay component.

   Does the company setting apply retroactively?

No. It applies to future periods; an already-approved period stays as it was frozen.

   Do bonuses enter the prorata base?

They follow their own rounding and their own logic; absence prorata applies to salary, not to the bonus.

### See Payroll outsourcing

Learn to outsource payroll with Illizeo.

[See all Payroll articles](/en/centre-aide/?cat=payroll)

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