Skip to main content

Simple Payroll Example

This guide walks you through creating a basic payroll setup from scratch for a small company with monthly-paid employees.

Scenario​

In this example, we'll set up payroll for a company with:

  • 5 employees paid monthly
  • Basic salary defined for each employee
  • Basic salary displayed on the payslip

Step 1: Define Basic Salary for Employees​

  1. Go to Payroll > Salary

  2. Create a salary component named Basic Salary

  3. Define the basic salary amount for each of the 5 employees

Basic Salary Definition

Step 2: Add Employees to Payroll​

  1. Go to Payroll > Payroll Menu

  2. Click on the Payroll Employees tab

  3. Click Add to Payroll for each of the five employees

  4. Configure the following options for each employee:

    • Currency - USD
    • Pay Frequency - Monthly
    • Payroll Group - Leave empty

Payroll Employee List

Step 3: Create Payslip Design​

  1. Go to the Payslip Design tab

  2. Click Add New and select the starter template Monthly Salary

  3. Enter Simple Payslip as the template name in the top left corner

  4. Click Save

Payslip Design Monthly

  1. Remove unwanted fields from the design

  2. Keep only Basic Salary and Total to show the essential fields

Simple Payslip Design

info

Having additional fields in your payslip template won't break the payroll. If a field has no value, it will simply appear empty or be hidden. You don't need to remove all unwanted fields immediately.

Step 4: Create a Payroll​

Now we'll create a payroll for the month of January 2026.

  1. Go to the Payroll tab

  2. Click Add New to create a new payroll

  3. Configure the payroll:

    • Payroll Group - Leave empty
    • Pay Period - Select the correct month (January 2026)

  4. Click Save

Add Payroll

Once saved, you should see the payroll with all 5 employees listed.

Payroll with Employees

Step 5: Add Payroll Column for Basic Salary​

  1. Go to the Payroll Columns tab

  2. Add the Basic Salary column as shown in the image

Basic Salary Column

info

Since we have selected the Basic Salary component, the IceHrm payroll processor will automatically retrieve each employee's basic salary and populate this column during the payroll run.

Step 6: Add Payroll Column for Total​

  1. Go to the Payroll Columns tab

  2. Add the Total column as shown in the image

Total Column

Step 7: Add Payroll Columns to Payroll​

  1. Go to the Payroll tab and select Sample Payroll - 2026 January

  2. Add the previously created payroll columns to the payroll

Payroll Columns Basic Total

  1. Open the payslip design under the Payslip Design tab

  2. Click on the Earnings table in the design

  3. An attribute editor will appear on the right side

  4. Click the + symbol next to Basic Salary

  5. Select the Basic Salary payroll column to link it to this field

Add Basic Salary to Design

  1. Repeat the process to add the Total column to the payslip design

Total Column in Design

  1. Click Save to save the template

Step 9: Process Payroll​

  1. Go to the Payroll tab

  2. Click on Sample Payroll - 2026 January

  3. Click the Process button

Payroll Process Button

  1. Click View Payroll to see the processed payroll with the basic salary and total columns

View Payroll

Step 10: Generate Payslips​

  1. Click the Generate Payslips button

Generate Payslips

  1. Wait a few minutes for the payslips to be generated

  2. Once complete, the payroll status will change to Completed

  3. View all employee payslips under Manage > Documents > Employee Payslips

Payslip List

  1. Open a payslip to verify it displays the correct payroll column values

Sample Payslip