1. Click the Business menu.
2. Click the Payroll Settings submenu.
3. Under Pay Run Settings, click Pay Categories.

4. Click the Add button.

   Helpful Hint

   When you create a new business, you can select from the common pay categories we have on the platform, but you can still create new ones that match your business needs.

   

5. Type the name of the new pay category in the Pay category name field.
6. Tick the Is Fixed checkbox if this is a fixed pay category.
   • A fixed pay category is used for payments that do not depend on hours worked, such as allowances. Once set as fixed, it cannot be changed to an hourly, daily, monthly, or annual basis—you will need to create a new pay category if adjustments are required. This ensures consistency and prevents payroll issues.
7. Tick the Include in overtime rate button if you want this pay category to be considered for overtime calculation.
8. Click the Save button.
   

9. Fields in this category include:

   • Name.
   • Units - If the pay category is a fixed pay category, this field will be locked and not editable. For all other pay categories, you can select from hourly, annually, daily, and monthly.
   • Penalty loading - this is penalty loading that is applied on top of the base rate and the rate loading. 
   • CPF classification - This field determines whether the income is included against the ordinary wage or additional wage for CPF. This link provides some background on your employer obligations regarding CPF. Choose from:
     • Additional wage - includes wages which are not granted wholly and exclusively for the month or wages made at intervals of more than a month, e.g. a quarterly bonus.
     • Exclude from CPF - Income flagged as exempt from CPF will not be included in any CPF calculations.
     • Ordinary wage - includes wages due or granted wholly and exclusively in respect of an employee's employment in that month or wages payable before the due date for payment of CPF contributions for that month, e.g. monthly salary.
   • SHG Exempt - checking this box excludes all earnings against this pay category from SHG calculations.
     • The following 'system' pay categories are configured as SHG exempt:
       • Lump sum payment - Compensation for loss of office.
       • Pension / Retirement benefits (Amount accrued up from 1993).
     • The following deduction categories are considered SHG funds:
       • Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDCA).
       • Eurasian Community Fund (ECF).
       • Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) Fund.
       • Community Chest.
       • MBMF - Mendaki.
       • MBMF - Mosque building and religious education.
     • All other deduction categories will have the deduction calculated on all pay run earnings.
   • SDL Exempt - checking this box excludes all earnings against this pay category from SDL calculations. The following 'system' termination pay categories are configured as SDL exempt:
     • Lump sum payment - Compensation for loss of office.
     • Pension / Retirement benefits (Amount accrued up from 1993).
     • Retirement benefits (accrued from 1993).
   • Include in gross rate of pay: when selected, earnings against this pay category will be included in gross rate of pay for payments such as leave being paid out.
   • Accrues leave .

   • Hide Units on pay slip - When paying employees, there may be pay categories where you do not require the number of units and rate per unit to be displayed on the pay slip. Examples include paying a commission or bonus, or the primary pay category for salaried staff. Even though the units will still be displayed in the pay run, ticking this checkbox means they won't appear on the pay slip. For e.g., if you have ticked the setting for the 'Salary' pay category, the pay run will still appear as follows:
     
     

     The employee's pay slip, however, will appear as follows:
     
     

   • External ID - e.g. can be used if importing timesheets. The external ID can be used to match the pay category to the timesheet. If an external id is used that has been used before you won't be able to save it if the 'unique external Id' setting is switched on. This setting is located on the Payroll settings > Advanced settings page. See here for more information. 
   • Payment classification - this is used for reporting an employee's income information to the IRAS.
   • Rate Precision - option to set rate at between 0 and 6 decimal places. In regards to rate precision, please note the following:
     • Additional earnings lines (configured at the bottom of the employees' pay rates screen) can be specified to up to 6 decimal places, regardless of the pay category setting.
     • In the pay run, rates may be specified to up to 5 decimal places, regardless of the pay category setting.

   

10. Once you have completed the details of the pay category, click the Save button on the bottom left of the pay category box.

When you create a new business, there are several pay categories that are pre-loaded into the platform for your convenience. Among these, there are 'System default' categories that are marked with a 'System' tag, as shown below:

These platform-maintained pay categories cannot be deleted or replaced. Although some settings (such as loading) can be edited in some cases. This is intentional to ensure the system calculates the pay categories and associated components in a specific manner.

In addition to the base value pay category, you can create linked categories. However, you will not be able to add linked pay categories to ‘Fixed’ pay categories.

For example, a pay category could have the base value of Permanent - Ordinary hours but have linked categories of Permanent - Overtime x 100% and Permanent - Overtime x 50% to cater for any overtime worked.

When a pay category is linked to a base pay category, you only need to specify the base rate for the employee and the rate for the linked pay categories will be automatically calculated.

You can create linked categories by following these steps:

1. Click the Business menu.
2. Click the Payroll Settings submenu.
3. Under Pay Run Settings, click Pay Categories.
4. Open the pay category you need.
5. Click on Add Linked Category button in the bottom right-hand corner of the chosen pay category. This option will not be available if the selected pay category is a 'daily' rate.
   
6. Enter a name for the linked category, then press the Add button.
   • You can delete the linked pay category if it has not been used in a pay run yet. Once it is used in a pay run, you cannot delete it anymore. To delete the linked pay category, hover your mouse cursor over it, then press the red cross icon that will appear. 
     
7. Once the linked pay category is added, you will need to complete the relevant fields.
8. Click the Save button in the bottom left-hand corner.

You will not be able to delete platform-configured pay categories, as well as pay categories that have already been used in a pay run.

1. Click the Business menu.
2. Click the Payroll Settings submenu.
3. Under Pay Run Settings, click Pay Categories.
4. Hover your mouse cursor over the pay category you want to delete. You will see a red cross icon on the right-hand side of the pay category.
   
5. Click the delete button (red x icon).
6. In the Confirm Delete confirmation pop-up, click the Delete button.

1. Click the Business menu.
2. Click the Payroll Settings submenu.
3. Under Advanced, click Restore Deleted Items.
4. Click the Deleted Category dropdown field.
5. Select Pay category. 
6. A list of deleted pay categories will appear, where you can click the Restore button for the pay category you want to restore.