Payroll Adjustments Overview
Payroll adjustments let you add one-off or recurring changes to an employee's pay (extra pay, deductions, or corrections) without changing their base salary structure. Adjustments are applied during payroll processing and appear as separate line items on the run.
What Are Payroll Adjustments?
An adjustment is an amount added to or deducted from an employee's regular pay. Unlike a permanent salary change, an adjustment is a targeted, period-specific change that does not alter the employee's ongoing CTC.
Common scenarios:
- Paying a performance bonus after a project milestone.
- Reimbursing an employee for a business expense.
- Recovering an advance that was paid out earlier.
- Correcting an overpayment from a previous month.
Where to Find Adjustments
The Payroll Adjustments page is at /employer/payroll/adjustments, and the Create Adjustment page (where you add a new adjustment) is at /employer/payroll/adjustments/create. Both are reached by going directly to the URL.
While reviewing a draft payroll run (Payments > Payouts > a run), an Add Adjustments button is shown that takes you straight to the Create Adjustment page.
Payroll lives under Payments > Payouts in the sidebar (it is not a separate "Payroll" menu item). The Payouts page is your payroll dashboard.
Types of Adjustments
Every adjustment is either an addition (extra pay) or a deduction (an amount withheld). When you create an adjustment, you pick the category first, then choose a type from a fixed list.
Additions
| Type | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Performance Bonus | A bonus tied to performance or a milestone |
| Signing Bonus | A one-time bonus paid on joining |
| Festival Bonus | A festival or holiday bonus |
| Equipment Reimbursement | Reimbursing equipment the employee paid for |
| Travel Reimbursement | Reimbursing business travel costs |
| Internet Reimbursement | Reimbursing internet or connectivity costs |
| Overtime | Pay for extra hours worked |
| Arrears | Back-pay owed from a delayed change or correction |
Deductions
| Type | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Advance Repayment | Recovering a salary advance paid to the employee |
| Overpayment Correction | Clawing back an amount overpaid in a previous run |
| Loss of Pay (LOP) | Deducting pay for unapproved or excess leave days |
| Equipment Recovery | Recovering the cost of company equipment not returned |
These are the only types the Create Adjustment form offers. If none fit exactly, pick the closest type and use the Name field to describe the adjustment more specifically.
When to Use Adjustments
- One-time payment or deduction? Use a one-time adjustment.
- Repeating payment, like a monthly allowance? Use a recurring adjustment.
- Same adjustment for many employees? Use bulk CSV import.
How Adjustments Flow into Payroll Runs
Adjustments come into your payroll workflow at two points:
Before the run
You can create adjustments at any time. When you run payroll, the relevant adjustments for that period are pulled in automatically.
During payroll preview
While reviewing a payroll run (before approval), you can add adjustments directly to an employee's row using the Adjust button. These are saved as drafts and the preview recalculates with server-validated numbers. See Adding Adjustments for the in-run flow.
Adjustment Statuses
Adjustments move through these statuses, which double as the filter tabs on the Payroll Adjustments page:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending Approval | Waiting for an approver (only when the amount is above your approval threshold) |
| Approved | Cleared to be picked up by a payroll run |
| Applied | Included in a payroll run |
| Paid | An applied adjustment that has been paid out |
| Cancelled | Rejected by an approver; kept on record but not applied |
A draft status also exists internally for adjustments that are still being set up (for example, rows from a CSV import, or in-run adjustments that have not yet been finalized). Neither draft nor paid has its own filter tab -- the tabs are exactly All, Pending Approval, Approved, Applied, and Cancelled.
Whether an adjustment needs approval depends on a single threshold set on your account. See Adjustment Approval for how this works.
The Adjustments List
The Payroll Adjustments list shows these columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Employee | Name and email, falling back to "User #<id>" |
| Type | The adjustment type |
| Name | The adjustment name |
| Category | A green Addition or red Deduction badge |
| Amount | The amount, in the adjustment's own currency |
| Status | A status badge |
| Effective Date | When the adjustment applies |
| Actions | Inline buttons that depend on status (see below) |
The list paginates 20 per page. The inline row actions vary by status:
- Pending Approval: Approve and Reject.
- Draft or Pending Approval: Edit.
- Draft, Pending Approval, or Approved: Delete.
- Applied or Paid: no action buttons.
Related Guides
- Adding Adjustments - Create a one-time adjustment, or add one during a payroll run.
- Recurring Adjustments - Set up an adjustment that repeats on a schedule.
- Bulk Import Adjustments - Upload adjustments for many employees via CSV.
- Adjustment Templates - Pre-fill the form from a saved template.
- Adjustment Approval - How the approval threshold works.