The order of checks that prevents rework: records, time tracking, leaves, variable pay, statutory deductions, accruals and the comparison against last month.
Why payroll always breaks in the same place
Almost every payroll error shows up after payment, and almost always for the same reason: something changed outside HR (a hire, a leave, a schedule change, a new benefit) and never reached the calculation before the close. It isn’t bad math, it’s bad sequencing.
That’s why closing payroll is a list with an order: first what changes the base (records and schedule), then what changes the amount (time tracking and variable pay), then what applies on top (deductions and accruals) and, last, the comparison against last month, which is the only step that catches the error nobody was looking for.
Before calculating: records and employment data
Check the month’s hires: date, role, salary and schedule matching the contract and eSocial. A hire entered one day off changes the salary balance and the vacation and 13th-salary twelfths.
Check terminations: reason, notice date, and whether notice is worked or paid in lieu. The reason defines which items are due, and changing it after the close means redoing the whole settlement.
Check contract changes: promotions, schedule changes, cost-centre transfers. A retroactive raise must be entered as a salary difference, not as a new salary, otherwise the history no longer explains what was paid.
What time tracking must deliver
A closed timesheet, with no punch pending treatment and no open day. A missing punch handled as a justification is not the same as an adjusted punch: the first explains the absence, the second corrects the time, and an audit needs to tell them apart.
Overtime and the night-shift premium totalled by band, not in bulk: 50% and 100% have different bases, and the night hour is shortened (52 minutes and 30 seconds). The weekly-rest effect belongs here, not later.
Absences, lateness and early departures must be classified as justified or unjustified before the calculation, because an unjustified absence in a week with a holiday can void that week’s paid weekly rest.
Leaves, variable pay and benefits
Sick leave changes who pays what: the first 15 days are on the employer, from the 16th onward on social security, and the leave start date sets the cut. Maternity leave, work accidents and contract suspension each have their own rule for keeping benefits.
Variable pay (commission, bonus, habitual overtime) feeds the average used for vacation and 13th salary. If the bonus policy changed mid-year, the average changes with it, and the history is what defends the amount in an audit.
Benefits: transport allowance with the deduction capped at 6% of base salary, meal allowance per policy, and health plan co-payments posted in the right month, always within the legal cap on total deductions.
Statutory deductions, accruals and the final check
Social security calculated progressively by band on the correct base (salary plus salary-natured items), and income tax with the applicable deductions. Checking the social-security ceiling in a month with vacation or 13th-salary payments avoids the classic double contribution above the cap.
Vacation and 13th-salary accruals with their charges: without accruals, the payment month becomes a cash surprise. FGTS at 8% on the items due, including the vacation and 13th-salary instalments paid in the period.
The final check is the comparison against last month, employee by employee: anyone whose net pay moved more than 10% needs an explanation (hire, termination, vacation, leave, raise). A change with no explanation is an error waiting to be found later.
Closing with the list inside the system
In Avos the close runs on that list: the calculation blocks when a punch is pending treatment or a leave has no date, it shows each employee’s variation against last month, and it records who checked what. Closing stops depending on someone remembering the order.