Year-end is when the payroll module carries its heaviest load: bonuses, 13th-month salary, tax settlement, and closing out the full year's figures. This article shows how to organize it so you don't have to work in Excel outside the system.
Bonuses and 13th-month salary
There are two ways to bring them into the system; choose based on your purpose:
| Method | When to use |
|---|---|
| Bonus column in the regular pay period | The bonus is paid together with the year-end monthly salary. Simple, less work |
| Separate pay period for bonuses | The bonus is paid on a different date, or a separate payroll is needed for approval. Clearer for record-keeping |
For the 13th-month salary and Tet bonus, the second method is usually better: a separate pay period allows separate approval, separate bank transfers, and doesn't clutter the monthly payroll.
Create a bonus pay period
- In Settings › Salary Grades › Pay Types › One-time Payment, set up the bonus item.
- Create a separate payroll template for bonuses, containing only the necessary columns: identification, calculation basis, bonus amount, deductions, net pay.
- Create a pay period from that template.
- Enter each person's bonus amount using Import file, or build a formula if the bonus is calculated by rule.
- Reconcile, approve, lock, and export the bank transfer file as you would for a regular pay period.
Bonuses and 13th-month salary are still taxable income in most countries, and whether they count toward the insurance contribution base is a separate legal question. Let your accountants decide how to handle them before you build the template — see articles B9-06 and B9-07.
Rule-based bonus formulas
Bonuses based on seniority, performance review results, or a percentage of salary can be built with formulas. The principle is the same as in article B9-05: break them into intermediate columns and don't embed hard-coded numbers.
| Column | Contents |
|---|---|
| Months worked during the year | Derived from the start date |
| Coefficient based on review results | Entered manually or taken from the Talent module |
| Base bonus amount | Usually one month's salary |
| Bonus before deductions | = base amount × number of months ÷ 12 × coefficient |
Year-end settlement
- Open Payroll › Reports › Personal Income Tax and export the full year's data.
- Reconcile the total tax withheld against the total of the 12 pay periods.
- Review the number of dependents declared by each employee.
- Handle people who joined or left mid-year — they have fewer than 12 months of pay periods.
- Hand the records over to accounting to carry out the settlement according to regulations.
Tanca provides the data for settlement; it does not perform the settlement. Filing with the tax authority and calculating obligations correctly is the responsibility of the company's accounting department.
Supporting year-end reports
| Report | Used to |
|---|---|
| Personnel Costs & Return on Investment | Total annual cost, share of revenue |
| Payroll Cost Changes | Compare across periods, explain increases and decreases |
| Pay Structure & Salary Ranges | Review salary ranges before the start-of-year adjustment |
| Payroll Forecast | Build next year's personnel budget |
| Workforce Scenario Simulation | Test the impact of hiring plans on costs |
Recommended year-end schedule
- November — finalize the bonus policy, build the bonus payroll template, do a test run.
- Early December — review employee profiles: bank accounts, dependents, start dates.
- Mid-December — run the bonus period, reconcile, approve.
- Late December — run the monthly pay period, close out the year's figures.
- January — export full-year reports, hand over to accounting for settlement.
