What this guide covers
How to take an amount off an employee's pay - a once-off deduction or a fixed amount over several months. You set up deduction types once, then apply a deduction to a person; it then comes off each applicable payroll run. The page is Payroll > Additions and Deductions > Deductions.
Who can do what: managing deduction types needs the payroll-group-admin permission; applying a deduction needs the pay-item-manage permission (payroll-group-admin also qualifies). This page is Deductions only - bonuses live on The Bonuses page.
Setting up deduction types (once)
In "Deduction types", click "New deduction type" and add the kinds of deduction you use (e.g. "Staff purchase", "Loan repayment"). These are the types HR can apply to an employee.
The SimplePay mapping is not done here. The page says so: map each type to its SimplePay field on the SimplePay Export Setup screen. See How SimplePay mapping works - a deduction type is sent as an Amount.
Applying a deduction
In "Apply a deduction" set:
Employee and deduction type.
Amount per month.
Over how many months - 1 for a one-off; more for a repayment spread over time.
A deduction takes effect immediately - there is no approval step.
The applied deduction shows in the list with Employee, Type, Amount per mo, Progress, Status and "Timeline (click a month to skip)". Click a month on the timeline to skip it (pauses that month without cancelling the whole thing). You can cancel a deduction too.
What happens on payroll
The amount comes off each applicable payroll run until the scheduled months are complete; the Progress column shows how many are left. On the export it goes to SimplePay as an amount on the employee's draft payslip.
Good to know
No approval is needed - a deduction is active as soon as you apply it. Bonuses and advances are the pay items that wait for approval.
One-off vs repayment is just the number of months - there's no separate "once" mode.
Skip a month to pause a deduction (e.g. a tight month) without losing the schedule.
For a salary advance/loan that you pay out and then recover, use The Advances & Loans page (it tracks the pay-out and the outstanding balance); a plain Deduction just takes money off.
An unmapped deduction type is the usual reason a deduction shows as "Unmapped" on the export. Fix it on SimplePay Export Setup and re-run the export.
Related guides
How SimplePay mapping works - mapping a deduction type to its SimplePay item.
The Bonuses page and The Advances & Loans page - the other variable-input pages.
Running monthly payroll (myWork → SimplePay) - where deductions are applied.