By default, Dayforce generates pay periods so that there is one approve-by, transmit-by, commit-by, impound-by, and pay date for each pay period. These dates are generated and offset according to the pay group’s configuration. However, you can manually adjust these default pay group dates. For example, you can adjust these dates so that multiple pay periods have the same approve-by or commit-by dates.
Dayforce generates pay periods with their own approve-by and transmit-by dates, offset according to the pay group’s configuration. For example, a pay group with biweekly pay periods and an approve-by offset of 1 day and transmit-by offset of 2 days has the following pay period and dates:
| Pay Period | Approve By Date | Transmit By Date |
|---|---|---|
| January 11, 2010 to January 25, 2010 | January 26, 2010 | January 27, 2010 |
| January 25, 2010 to February 8, 2010 | February 9, 2010 | February 10, 2010 |
However, in this example, although managers approve time and attendance records on a biweekly basis, employees are paid every 4 weeks. To set this up, you’d define two pay periods with the same transmit date. That way, when the payroll administrator transmits the payroll data to the payroll application, it’s 4 weeks' worth of pay.
Continuing the example, both pay periods are configured with 2/10/2010 as the transmit-by date:
| Pay Period | Approve By Date | Transmit By Date |
|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2010 to January 25, 2010 | January 26, 2010 | February 10, 2010 |
| January 25, 2010 to February 8, 2010 | February 9, 2010 | February 10, 2010 |
That way, even though managers approve payroll data and time and attendance records every two weeks, the payroll data is transmitted (and employees are paid) every four weeks. For this configuration, you need to adjust the Transmit By Date of every second pay period in the pay group.
When you adjust your default approve-by and transmit-by dates, it’s recommended that you specify dates using the following formulas:
| Date Type | Suggested Formula | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Approve By Date | Pay Period End Date + 1 Day |
For example, if your pay period end date is January 25, 2022, you should configure an Approve By Date of January 26, 2022. Important: If your organization has an unpaired threshold configured (that is, the maximum time between in and out clock entries that can be considered a single shift), you should take its length into account when choosing an approve-by date and time. An unpaired threshold is configured using the Unpaired Threshold client property in the Time and Attendance section of the Properties tab in System Admin > Client Properties. |
| Transmit By Date | Approve By Date + 1 or 2 Days |
For example, if your Approve By Date is January 26, 2022, you should configure a Transmit By Date of January 27, 2022 or January 28, 2022. |
You can also configure a data gate, which is a period of time in the pay period during which Dayforce delays workflows affecting employee information that might otherwise impact a pay run in the middle of the commit process. When the data gate is closed, workflows that would impact a pay run are paused. After the data gate is opened, they are automatically resumed and processed.
Note: Non-employee based workflows, and job requisitions, new hire, and rehire workflows will continue to process when the data gate is closed.
To adjust your default pay group dates:
- In Pay Setup > Pay Group, select a pay group in the left side panel.
- Click the Pay Calendars tab.
- Click the Approve By Date cell for the appropriate row and configure the following:
- Specify the date when managers need to approve the pay period.
- Specify an approval time when managers must approve the pay period on the specified date.
- Click the Transmit By Date cell for the appropriate row and configure the following:
- Specify the date when managers must transmit the payroll data for the pay period.
- Specify a transmission time when managers must transmit the payroll data on the specified date.
- Click the Data Gate Close cell for the appropriate row and configure the following:
- Specify the date on which Dayforce delays workflows affecting employees in the pay run.
- Specify a time at which the data gate closes and Dayforce delays workflows affecting employees in the pay run.
- Click the Commit By Date cell for the appropriate row and configure the following:
- Specify the date when managers need to commit the pay period.
- Specify a commit time when managers must commit the pay period on the specified date.
- Click the Data Gate Open cell for the appropriate row and configure the following:
- Specify the date on which Dayforce completes workflows affecting employees in the pay run.
- Specify a time at which the data gate opens and Dayforce completes workflows affecting employees in the pay run.
- In the Impound By field, specify the date when managers need to impound the pay.
- In the Pay Date field, specify the date on which employees are paid.
- Record ledger codes in the Ledger Code 1 and Ledger Code 2 fields, if required for general ledger records.
- In the Pay Period field, enter the pay period number to identify the pay period in Dayforce and reports.
- Click Validate to ensure that the dates you’ve specified are valid.
- Click Save.