Why use a payroll approval workflow?

A payroll approval workflow ensures that no payroll run can be finalized without explicit sign-off from designated approvers. This is a critical internal control for preventing errors, unauthorised payments, and fraud. Most finance and audit standards (including SOX-equivalent requirements in Pakistan for listed companies) require a segregation of duties between the person who prepares payroll and the person who approves it.

The default payroll flow (no approval)

Without an approval workflow, any Payroll Officer or Admin can calculate and finalize payroll without a second review. This is fine for small organisations but is not recommended for teams of 20+ employees.

Configuring the approval workflow

1
Go to Settings → Payroll → Approval Workflow.
2
Add approval levels. For each level, give it a label and assign an approver role (e.g., HR Manager, Finance Director). Approvers are defined by role, not by named individual — any user holding that role for this company can approve at that level. Levels are processed in order: Level 1 first, then Level 2, and so on. Up to 5 levels are supported.
3
Save. Adding at least one active level automatically enables the approval chain for all future payroll runs.
Admins can always approve: Users with the Admin or Super Admin role can approve at any level regardless of the assigned approver role.

The approval flow in action

Once the workflow is enabled, a typical payroll cycle looks like this:

Payroll Officer processes the payroll run and clicks Submit for Approval.
Level 1 approver (e.g., HR Manager) opens the run, reviews the payroll summary, and clicks Approve or Reject.
Level 2 approver (e.g., CFO) can approve once Level 1 has approved. The run advances one level at a time until the final level.
When the last level approves, the run is fully approved — its payslips are locked and loan/advance recoveries are applied.
Rejection: Approving does not take a comment. Rejecting, however, requires a reason. When an approver rejects the run, it returns to draft status. The Payroll Officer can re-process and resubmit — the approval chain then restarts from Level 1.

Viewing approval status

The current approval level of a run is shown when you open it from the Payroll → Payroll Runs list, along with the approval history (which level was approved or rejected, by whom, and when). The full record of approval events is also captured in the global audit log at Admin → Audit.

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