Seven days is enough for a business with fewer than 200 employees to run its first payroll on Tanca. The condition is doing things in the right order. This article is the overall map; each day has its own detailed guide.
Principles before you start
- Follow the order. Each step is the input for the next. Jumping ahead to payroll before finishing the organizational structure means starting over from scratch.
- Only turn on what you need for the first payroll. Leave Talent, Training, and Recruitment for next month. Turning everything on at once is the fastest way to confuse the whole company.
- One person takes primary responsibility. Designate a single administrator during the setup phase, with a second person only as backup.
- Run one period in parallel. The first payroll should be reconciled against the old calculation method before you drop the Excel file entirely.
Seven days
| Day | What to do | Who | Done when | Detailed article |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Create your account, enter company information, set date and time formats | Administrator | Company name, tax ID, and date and time formats are saved | A2-02 |
| 2 | Build the organizational structure: Regions, Branches, Departments | Administrator + HR | Every branch has an address; every department is linked to the correct branch | A2-03 |
| 3 | Set up job titles | HR | The job title list matches the people actually being paid | A2-04 |
| 4 | Import the employee list from an Excel file | HR | The number of employees in the system matches last month's payroll | A2-05 |
| 5 | Configure shifts and time & attendance rules | HR + department managers | A one-day clock-in test shows the correct figures on the timesheet | A2-06 |
| 6 | Configure requests, leave allowances, and approval flows | HR | A test leave request is submitted and approved through the entire flow | A2-07 |
| 7 | Test-run the first payroll | HR + payroll accountant | The test payroll differs by less than 1% from the old calculation method | A2-08 |
Day 4 is the heaviest and also the most error-prone. If you're short on time, put more people on day 4 and stretch days 5–6 to two days each.
Prepare before day 1
| What you need | For which step | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Full company name, tax ID, address | Day 1 | Business registration certificate |
| List of branches with addresses and phone numbers | Day 2 | Administration |
| Current department chart | Day 2 | HR |
| Employee list: full name, email, phone number, job title, department, start date | Day 4 | Most recent month's payroll |
| Rules on working hours, shifts, and overtime | Day 5 | Company work rules |
| Annual leave policy and request approval flows | Day 6 | Company work rules |
| Pay structure: allowances, deductions, formulas currently in use | Day 7 | Most recent month's payroll |
After day 7
- Run the A2-09 Acceptance Checklist before announcing to the whole company.
- Read A2-10 Ten Common Mistakes During First-Time Setup to double-check the error-prone areas.
- Send employees the A3 For New Employees article group, and managers the A4 For Line Managers group.
- Only start turning on Tasks, Talent, Training, and Recruitment in the second month — see the order in A1-02.
