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A payroll period is one pay cycle — “May 2026”, “Week 23”, “First half June” — with a start date and an end date. Every payroll run is created for a period, and the period also ties payroll to your accounting calendar: when you close a period, you lock both the payroll and the matching accounting period together so nobody can post into a cycle you’ve already finalised. Periods are simple but important: they are the spine that runs, payslips and statutory remittances all hang off. You’ll find this at: /settings/erp/finance/payroll-periods — the old /payroll/setup/periods redirects here.
📷 Screenshot: the Payroll Periods list with the “New Period” button and Open/Closed badges — to be added.
Multi-business: a period belongs to a business and posts to that business’s default accounting book. Confirm the business switcher first.

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Creating a period

Choose New Period. The form asks for: The accounting book is resolved automatically from the business’s default book — you don’t pick it. If the business has no default book yet, creation is refused with a clear message; set up the book first.
No overlapping open periods. A new period cannot overlap an existing open period in the same business — the system blocks it. (Overlaps with already-closed periods are allowed, so an off-cycle or separation run can target a closed window.)

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Period status: Open vs Closed

A period is either Open or Closed. Actions on the list: Closing is a paired action: it closes the accounting period first, then flags the payroll period. Reopening is the higher-risk action and needs the dedicated payroll:period-reopen permission — typically held only by HR managers and SuperAdmins.

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How a run scopes to a period

When you create a payroll run you pick a period. The run records the period (its payrollPeriodId) and copies down the period’s business, accounting book and currency so the run is self-contained. The period’s open/closed state decides whether new runs can post into it. A run can only post into an open period. If you need to correct pay in a closed period you either reopen it (with the right permission) or use an off-cycle / correction route — see Running payroll.

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Permissions

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Behind the scenes — closing and the ledger

Closing a payroll period also closes the corresponding accounting period for the same book. That means once closed, no payroll journal entry — accrual, payment, or statutory — can post into those dates until the period is reopened. This keeps payroll and your financial statements in lockstep, so a “closed” month really is closed in both places.