Payroll warnings explained
What each pay run warning means, from missing salaries and unmarked days to capped fines, minimum wage shortfalls and statutory values awaiting confirmation.
Warnings appear under Needs attention on Payroll and on the pay run, and on each person's pay. A blocking warning puts that person on hold. Fix the cause and compute the run again before you finalise: if you finalise first, the person is not paid by that run, and their pay is not carried to a later run.
The warnings
| Warning | Blocking | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|---|
| No salary set | Yes, when there is no salary at all | The person has no salary for the period. Set one, then compute again |
| The salary structure has an error | Yes | A template line or formula cannot be worked out. Check the template |
| Days without an attendance mark | Yes, unless unmarked days count as absent | Some days are Not marked. Mark them, or turn on Count days with no attendance mark as absent in the payroll settings (or Payroll counts unmarked days as absent in the rule set) |
| Pay is below the minimum wage | No | Pay is under the minimum wage on file for the state. Check the salary |
| Deductions capped at the legal limit | No | Total deductions would pass the legal share of pay, so they were capped |
| Fines capped at the legal limit | No | Fines would pass the legal limit, so they were capped |
| Deductions are more than pay | Yes | Net pay would be below zero. This can happen when a fixed Professional Tax or labour welfare fund amount falls in a month with little or no pay: income tax and the other deductions stop at the pay. Check the deductions |
| No Professional Tax slab for this wage | Yes | The state's PT slabs on file do not cover this pay. Tell support |
| No income-tax regime on file for the year | Yes | The year's tax slabs are not on file. Tell support |
| Income tax is due, but no PAN is on record | No | The person has income tax to pay this year and no PAN on their profile. Their TDS is worked out the same way as with a PAN: the higher rate the law can require without a PAN is not applied. Add the PAN, and ask your tax adviser. Listed under Check before you finalise |
| Income tax limited to this month's pay | No | This month's income tax was more than the salary left after PF, ESI, Professional Tax and labour welfare fund, so only that much was deducted (nothing in a month without salary). The rest is spread over the later months of the tax year. When no later month is left (March, or the person's last pay), ask your tax adviser how the rest is paid |
| Not available yet: data pending verification | No | A statutory item is not computed because its data waits for official checks |
| Uses a statutory value awaiting official confirmation | No | Computed with a documented default. The payslip carries a note |
Where to see the detail
Open the person's pay from the run and look at Warnings and How this was worked out. See Review a pay run.
Related articles
Review a pay run
Check warnings, find staff with blocking problems or on hold, and open any staff member's pay to see every rule payroll applied.
What statutory payroll computes
Which of PF, ESI, Professional Tax, LWF and TDS payroll works out for your business, why one may show as pending, and what each status means.
Set a staff member's salary
Set or revise a salary from a template and an amount such as monthly gross or annual CTC, preview the breakup and take-home, and see the history.
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