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Configuring Salary Structures and Formulas

Payroll & Compensation 14 Aug 2026

Configuring Salary Structures and Formulas

Content:
A Salary Structure is a blueprint that tells the payroll engine how to break down an employee's total Cost to Company (CTC) into various earnings (Basic, HRA, Allowances) and deductions.
Where to find it:
  • Navigate to Payroll > Components to define individual line items.
  • Navigate to Payroll > Structures to group them.
Complete Field Reference (Components):
  • Component Name & Code: The name of the component and its unique code (e.g., BASIC). The code `SPECIAL_ALLOWANCE` is extremely important as it acts as the "shock absorber" to ensure math exactly equals CTC.
  • Category: Choose the category such as `salary`, `allowance`, `provident_fund`, `tax`, etc.
  • Calculation Type: Choose `FLAT` (a fixed amount like ₹1000) or `FORMULA` (e.g., `CTC * 0.4`).
  • Preferences:
  • Main Component: Identifies primary salary structure elements.
  • Prorate on LOP: If checked, this component scales down based on working days.
  • Disable To Employee: If checked, hides this component from payslips.
Step-by-step instructions (Assigning to an Employee):
  • Go to Payroll > Employee Revisions.
  • Click New Revision.
  • Select the Employee, the Salary Structure, and enter their total Annual CTC.
  • Set the Effective From date. If this date is in the middle of a month (e.g., they got a mid-month raise), the payroll engine will automatically run two separate prorated calculations for that month and merge them into a single payslip.
Edge Cases & Restrictions:
  • Circular Dependencies: You cannot create a formula where Component A relies on Component B, and Component B relies on Component A. The system will throw an error and block the structure creation.
  • Missing Special Allowance: A structure should typically contain a component with code `SPECIAL_ALLOWANCE` to balance the math if a total CTC is enforced.

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