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Q What is Instaroll?

Instaroll is the redesigned payroll run experience. It streamlines the end-to-end payroll process — from pay data entry through approval, report generation, and bank file submission — into a faster, more guided workflow. The key philosophy is: All payroll processing actions available in a single view to allow payroll user to verify and finalise payroll. Less manual work for payroll admins, more automation, and a single, confident action at approval.

Q What has changed compared to the old payroll run?

The most visible changes are:

Multi step payroll across multiple tabs is now a simplified payroll run with payroll and post payroll actions only.
Payroll inputs are automatically captured and payroll results calculated at the payroll run begin.
Add/Edit/Delete actions on pay data can be done directly in payroll run experience for both recurring and additional pay data
Each change triggers calculation automatically and results are updated in real time which simplifies the correction process.
Pay dates are no longer entered manually on every run — they are sourced automatically from the Payroll Calendar configured by your admin.
Approve and Lock is now a single action (previously multiple steps).
Reports are now simplified and available under actions tab within payroll reports and statutory reports.
Payroll reports contain all your custom reports + standard reports (G2N, Variance) and Bank file
Statutory reports (if applicable for the country) contains all statutory reports applicable for the given country.
Client specific custom reports can be generated manually upon requirement, and standard reports are generated each calculation. Statutory reports can be generated manually before approval but post approval they are automatically generated along with the bank file.
Reports are versioned automatically on every generation — no more overwriting.
Bank file regeneration is available even after payroll is closed to support. Similar functionality will be extended for statutory reports in upcoming release.

Q Does Instaroll change the underlying payroll calculation engine or how payroll inputs are received/persisted via integrations?

No. Instaroll is a workflow and experience redesign where how inputs are captured, calculation process is triggered and approval is done. The payroll calculation engine, statutory rules, and compliance logic remain unchanged. How inbound integration files are received or persisted remains as it is. What changed is how admins interact with the run — not what happens under the hood.

2. Pay Dates & Payroll Calendar

The Payroll Calendar configuration is where this is managed. Admins can adjust individual period pay dates in the calendar settings. Once saved in the calendar, the corrected date flows through automatically to the run.

Q Where does the pay date come from now?

Pay dates are sourced from the Payroll Calendar, which your Payroll Admin configures in advance under Payroll Settings. When a payroll run opens, the correct pay date is pre-populated automatically. Admins no longer enter it manually each cycle. For Off-cycles, pay date can be entered manually upon Off-cycle creation and if needed changed within the payroll run experience.

Q What happens if the Payroll Calendar has not been configured for the period?

The run cannot proceed to Approve & Lock without a pay date. If the calendar has not been configured, the payroll admin will see a clear dependency error and will need to configure the calendar first. This is a hard dependency — Instaroll does not allow manual pay date override at the run level for regular payroll runs.

Q Can a payroll admin still override the pay date on a specific run?

No. Pay date override at the individual run level has been removed. Pay dates are governed entirely by the Payroll Calendar configuration. If a pay date needs to change for a specific period, the admin must update it in Payroll Calendar settings before that period’s pay date to ensure timely change. Pay dates cannot be changed once payroll run is closed.

Q What if a pay date falls on a public holiday or weekend?

Q Can I change my pay date while my payroll run is still open/approved and not closed?

Yes, Pay date can be changed from payroll settings – payroll calendar for that specific period. Once updated it will be reflected immediately on the payroll run

Q Can I set pay date for Off-cycle from payroll calendar

No, Payroll calendar is only used to update pay dates for regular/scheduled payroll periods and not Off-cycle runs. Off-cycle runs have their pay date set while creating new Off-cycle run.

Q Changing paydate will auto update my reports as well?

No, custom reports under payroll reports still need to generate manually. If payroll is in approved state then you must unlock payroll in order to regenerate reports. Only Bank file gets regenerated automatically upon payroll approval and if pay date is updated, it will capture the changes.

3. Approve & Lock

Q Why is there only one Approve & Lock button now? There used to be Six steps

The previous six step workflow has been simplified into a single action. Redundant steps have been removed and automated (inputs review and payroll calculation). Approval step is the only step which approves and lock the payroll and finalises it.

Q What exactly happens when I click Approve & Lock?

In a single action, the system:

Marks the payroll run as approved and locked simultaneously.
Payroll calculation and inputs are locked. No more changes made in the employee card or inputs received by interface will impact the payroll calculation.
Editing pay date directly in the payroll run is disabled along with the bulk import. Employee card level changes are allowed which is not part of the payroll run.
Stamps a versioned snapshot of all generated reports at that moment.
Regenerate button is disabled upon approve and lock action. To regenerate any report, payroll must be unlocked
Automatically generates the bank file and statutory reports (given they are configured correctly).
Finalises the payroll so it can be auto closed on the pay date.
Enables “send to integration” button for the reports where outbound is configured.

Q Can a run be unlocked after Approve & Lock?

Yes, unlock is still available. However, unlocking does not delete the report versions — those are preserved in version history. Any reports generated after an unlock create new versions. When unlocked, all the pending payroll data which is applicable to the current payroll run and wasn’t processed will be captured and calculated when payroll is unlocked.

Q What is the Closed state and how does a run get there?

Once a payroll run has been approved, locked, and the pay date has passed, the system automatically transitions the run to Closed. This transition is automated — no manual action is required. Support teams should be aware that once Closed, certain actions (such as editing pay data) are restricted, though report regeneration remains available subject to master data change requirements on a Bank file.

4. Report Versioning

Q What is report versioning?

Every time a report is generated — at any stage of the payroll run — the system saves a versioned copy. You will never lose a previously generated report because a new one was created. All versions are accessible in a unified, chronological history per report type.

Q Which reports are versioned?

All report types generated within the payroll run are versioned. This includes statutory reports, bank files, and any other reports generated as part of the run workflow.

Q Are older versions still downloadable?

Yes. All versions — regardless of when they were generated or what state the run is in — remain available for download from the version history. There is no expiry or automatic deletion of older versions.

5. Report Regeneration post payroll closure.

Q Which reports can be regenerated post-approval?

Current phase one release supports only bank file regeneration. Phase 2 will support the remaining files regeneration.

Q When can reports be regenerated after Payroll is closed?

Regeneration is available when one or more employees have had master data changes applied after payroll is closed.
It is not a general ‘regenerate all’ function — at least one master data field must have changed to initiate the regeneration flow post payroll run is closed.

Q What counts as a ‘master data change’ that enables regeneration?

Master data changes are HR fields that can be updated without affecting payroll calculations — for example, employee bank account details, cost centre assignments, or address changes.
Fields that affect payroll calculations cannot be updated through this flow. The system will show which fields are editable from the action tab.

Q Which reports can be regenerated post-approval?

Current phase one release supports only bank file regeneration. Phase 2 will support the remaining files regeneration.

Q Does regenerating reports after approval change the ‘Approved’ version?

No. The approved-flagged version is locked in history. Regenerated reports create new versions with their own version numbers.
The original version remains intact and clearly distinguished in the version history.

Q Can regeneration happen on a Closed run?

Yes. Post-approval report regeneration is available even after a run transitions to Closed state, subject to the same master data change requirement.
The new version is created and follows the same versioning behaviour as all other states.

6. Common Scenarios

Q Pay date is wrong on the run — what do we check?

Confirm the Payroll Calendar has been configured for the relevant pay group and period year. Verify if the payroll cycle is set for “All Employees” or “Specific pay group”. Pay date must be set for the same in the payroll calendar. Any mismatch will not update the pay dates correctly.
Check whether the pay date in the calendar for that specific period has been saved correctly.
If the calendar was saved after the run opened and page wasn’t refreshed then it may need a refresh to reflect latest changes.
Remember: pay date cannot be overridden at the run level — the fix must be made in Payroll Calendar settings.

Q Approve & Lock button is not available — what do we check?

Confirm a pay date exists for the period in the Payroll Calendar.
Check for any open calculation errors. Approve lock is available upon 100% employees calculation stage only. If any employee is still calculating or failed then it will need to be resolved.
Confirm the user has Payroll Admin permissions — Payroll users cannot approve.
Check whether the run is already in an Approved, Locked, or Closed state.

Q Cannot find a previously generated report — what do we check?

Under Instaroll, reports are never deleted — only versioned. In the Actions tab where you see the report listed, if multiple versions available you should be able to expand and see all versions of that report. All versions generated at any stage should be visible there. If a report is genuinely missing from version history, escalate as a data incident.

Q User wants to regenerate a report but the regenerate button is inactive — why?

The regenerate button activates only after at least one employee in the run has had master data updated via the ‘Edit Master Data’ flow in the action tab post payroll is closed. If no master data changes have been made, the button remains inactive. User cannot force a regeneration without a data change — this is by design.

7. Outbound File Transmissions

Q Send to Integration button is not available. How to enable?

Send to integration button is available only if there is an outbound configuration enabled for a certain report
Check for any open calculation errors. Approve lock is available upon 100% employees calculation stage only. If any employee is still calculating or failed then it will need to be resolved.
Confirm the user has Payroll Admin permissions — Payroll users cannot approve.
Check whether the run is already in an Approved, Locked, or Closed state.
Check whether the file is already sent. In case its sent already and the status shows Sent/Done/Success then you cannot send the same file again.

Q Send to Integration action failed, Can I resend the same file?

Yes, absolutely. However first verify why it failed so the issue is fixed before you attempt to send again.

Q Send to Integration action was successful but file was not received, Can I resend the same file?

No, Once a file is successfully sent it cannot be resent again. This is to ensure same file is not sent multiple time causing issues downstream. Unlock the payroll, regenerate the report again which will allow to send the file again.

Q I see status as failed but I still don’t see send to integration button?

Failed status is also applicable when the report generation itself failed. As there is no report, you cannot send any file to the integration. Try regenerating the failed report and if still not resolved, contact support team or raise a ticket.

Q Where can I see the status of the previously sent file status or the status or previous report version which was sent to outbound?

Each report version contains its status. Expand the reports row if there are more than 1 report version to see its status (generation or send to integration status).

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Instaroll – FAQ’s