What this guide covers
How to grant a bonus and get it paid. A manager grants a bonus to one or more employees; a CFO/CEO approves it (privately, in the Pending Approvals inbox); payroll then pays it on the next run. The Bonuses page (Payroll > Additions and Deductions > Bonuses) is a tabbed screen — you see the tabs your role unlocks.
Who can do what: granting needs the bonus-manage permission (or the manager-grant permission, limited to your own team and types); approving needs the bonus-approve permission; cancelling anyone's grants needs the bonus-admin permission.
The flow
Grant → pending → CFO/CEO approves in Pending Approvals → paid on the employee's next pay run.
The tabs
Grant bonuses
Pick the "Employees" (one or more), the "Type", an "Amount" and a "Note", then click "Grant". The same bonus fans out to everyone selected. The on-screen note says it plainly: the bonus is recorded as pending until the CFO/CEO approves it; it then pays on the employee's next run. The tab shows each person's "Pay period" so you can see when that will be — someone not in a pay group can't be paid until they are assigned one.
- Recurring bonus — tick "Recurring bonus — repeats monthly for a set number of months", then set the "# of months" and the "Start month" (year and month). Each month pays automatically; you can skip a month afterwards (it pays nothing and doesn't consume an occurrence).
A grant always goes out pending approval — granting it does not pay it.
My grants
Your own one-off grants (Employee, Type, Amount, Status, Note) and your recurring bonuses (Employee, Type, Amount / mo, Progress, Status, "Months (click to skip)"). Click a month in the timeline to skip it, or click it again to un-skip. "Cancel" withdraws a grant or schedule that is still pending.
All grants
For bonus admins: every granter's one-off and recurring grants, with "Granted by" / "Scheduled by", and the same "Cancel" action. This is for continuity when a granter leaves.
Going to Payroll
For approvers: for a chosen pay group and period, what is waiting to be paid, what is still pending approval, and what was paid — one-off bonuses and the recurring occurrences for that period. This tab is a read-out, not an approval queue.
Where approval happens
Approval is not on this page. Pending bonuses and recurring schedules land in the CFO/CEO's Pending Approvals inbox as bonus items, where they are approved or rejected with a reason. A pending bonus is confidential — it is never shown to the recipient or to HR, only to approvers.
Bonus types
The list of types in the "Type" dropdown (e.g. Performance, Incentive) is maintained by a payroll administrator. Each type's SimplePay mapping is set on the SimplePay Export Setup screen (see How SimplePay mapping works). There is no bonus-types panel on this page at present; if a type is missing, ask payroll admin.
Good to know
Granting ≠ paying. Nothing is paid until a CFO/CEO approves it, and then only on the next payroll run.
Confidentiality is by design — keep approvals to the approvers; recipients don't see pending bonuses.
Use recurring for a multi-month arrangement instead of granting the same bonus every month; skip months as needed.
Approved bonuses appear as earnings when the run is calculated and go to SimplePay as an amount on the export.
Related guides
Pending Approvals — where bonuses are approved or rejected.
Running monthly payroll (myWork → SimplePay) — where approved bonuses get paid.
The Deductions page and The Advances & Loans page — the other variable-input pages.