Closing payroll without losing your Saturday: a checklist

Payroll that closes on a Saturday is rarely a lack of effort. It's almost always the wrong order: time entries arrive late, a new hire shows up on the last day, and someone finds an extra payment after the preview. A fixed checklist solves much of that.

The deadline that rules the calendar

The monthly salary must be paid by the fifth business day of the following month (art. 459, § 1, of the CLT). Count backwards from that date: it defines when time tracking needs to be closed.

The checklist, in order

1. Close time tracking: absences, late arrivals, overtime and the hours bank balance, with corrections justified.
2. Check the month's changes: hires, terminations, vacations, leaves and salary changes.
3. Post the variables: commissions, premiums, bonuses and agreed deductions.
4. Check benefits: top-ups and deductions for transportation, meals and the health plan.
5. Run the preview and compare it with the previous month: a big difference needs an explanation before approval.
6. Check the payroll taxes: each person's INSS, IRRF and FGTS.
7. Approve, pay and publish the payslips for everyone on the same day.
8. Issue and pay the tax forms on time.
9. Record what went wrong and adjust the next month's checklist.

What really takes your Saturday

The close runs late when information arrives late. Time tracking closed with two days to spare, the month's changes logged as they happen, and variables sent through a form instead of a message make more difference than any last-day shortcut.

Read also: the payroll close checklist to download and overtime under the CLT.