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Timeclock and payroll

Payroll projections

Payroll projections estimate what a payroll will cost before you run it, from recorded punches or from configured salaries, in USD, COP or EUR, with accrued liabilities and the months ahead.

Written By Chris Scaminaci

Last updated About 1 hour ago

A projection estimates what payroll will cost before you calculate a period. Payroll admins use it to budget, to see the effect of exchange rates when employees are paid in different currencies, and to plan for the accruals that pay out later.

Before you start: the Timeclock & Payroll module must be on for your organisation, and your payroll employees and rule groups must be set up. The Projections tab of the Admin Hub is open to the Administrator, Timeclock Admin and Payroll Admin roles. The stand-alone Payroll Projections page is open to the Administrator and Payroll Admin roles.

A projection is an estimate. It does not split hours into night, Sunday and holiday hours, so it will differ from a calculated period. Use the calculation in Pay periods for the figure you pay.

Project from punches

Use this when employees have already punched in the date range.

  1. Open the Admin Hub and choose the Projections tab.
  2. Choose Based on Punches.
  3. Under Punch Data Range, set the Start Date and End Date. The shortcuts Last 7 Days, Last 14 Days and Last 30 Days fill them in. The range starts as the last 14 days.
  4. Choose the currency for the totals: USD, COP or EUR.
  5. Choose Calculate.

The projection adds up each employee's worked hours in the range together with approved time off. Hours above the weekly threshold, scaled to the length of the range, are paid at the overtime multiplier. The rules of the employee's rule group are then applied.

Every employee is priced at their Hourly Rate; Base Salary is not used. For salaried staff, use Based on Salary.

A HaloPSA agent's punches count only when the payroll employee is linked to that agent. On the employee form, tick Link to Halo Agent and choose the agent in Select Halo Agent. When no hours are found, the page tells you to set the linked agent or to project from salaries instead.

Project from salaries

Use this when punch data is not available yet.

  1. On the Projections tab, choose Based on Salary.
  2. Choose the currency and choose Calculate.

The on-screen note says that salary-based projections use configured salaries and standard hours instead of actual punches. The date range applies to Based on Punches. Based on Salary shows next month's payroll, whatever dates are set, with every row converted to the currency you chose. An employee paid in another currency shows that currency after the name.

Read the results

Under Projection Results the tab shows:

  • Gross Payroll, Total Deductions, Net Payroll and Total Burdened Cost, all in the currency you chose. In a projection, Total Burdened Cost is net pay plus the employer costs, so it is not the same figure as Burdened on a calculated period, which is gross pay plus the employer costs.
  • Exchange Rate History, a chart of the last 3 months for the pair of currencies, with the current, high and low rate.
  • Currency Breakdown, when employees are paid in more than one currency. Each currency shows its employees, Gross, Net and Burdened.
  • A table with a row for each employee: Employee, Currency, Hours, Gross, Deductions, Net and Burdened.

Choose Export to download the table as a CSV file with a totals row.

The Payroll Projections page

The stand-alone page opens from the address /timeclock/payroll/projections. No menu links to it. The back arrow returns to the stand-alone Payroll Management page (/timeclock/payroll), not the sidebar entry of the same name. Choose USD, COP or EUR at the top and choose Refresh to reload.

The page has four parts.

  1. Next Payroll Projection covers the next two weeks, starting today. It uses the punches recorded so far, approved time off and the configured rules. Only punches recorded from today onward count, so the figure grows as the two weeks pass; it does not estimate hours not yet worked. It shows the four totals, a Currency Breakdown when more than one currency is in use, and Employee Projections with Gross Pay, Net Pay, Employer Costs and Burdened Cost for each employee.
  2. Accrued Liabilities lists money you owe later, such as Prima or severance. It is reported apart from the cost of the period. You see a total, a card for each currency, and Liability Details by Employee with Accrual Type, Current Balance, Interest Accrued and Next Payout. A balance with no payout month shows N/A.
  3. Future Month Projections looks ahead. Choose Months ahead: 3, 6 or 12 months and then Calculate. Each month card shows Base Payroll, the cost in each currency and, for months in which an accrual pays out, Scheduled Payouts. Projected Costs Trend charts the base payroll and the payouts. Future months are projected from configured hours and salaries, not from punches.
  4. Exchange Rate Trend appears when some employees are paid in a currency other than the one you display. It shows the last 3 months with the current rate and the percentage change.

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