The period end and pay date are not “from” and “to” dates. It is important to set both correctly.
Period end date: The last day of the period you are paying employees for.
Pay date: The date you are paying the employees.
You do not enter a period start date here. SmoothPay determines it from the period end date and each employee’s pay cycle in their contract settings.
For example, a weekly employee might have a period ending on Sunday and be paid the following Monday. Sunday is the Period end date, and Monday is the Pay date.
For more information about an employee’s pay cycle, refer to:
Setting the pay dates
Click Pay dates on the navigation bar.
In the Pay period dates window, set the Period end date.
Set the Pay date.
Check both dates, then click Save.
The period end and pay date are displayed on the navigation bar and at the bottom of the Payrun screen. Check these dates before preparing each pay.
Using the calendar
Click either date field to open its calendar.
Select a day to choose a date.
Use the arrows to move backwards or forwards.
Click the month and year heading to display the available months.
Click the year heading in the month view to display the available years.
Click Today to select today’s date.
How SmoothPay suggests the next dates
Once you have established the first pays for your employees, SmoothPay uses their payment history and pay cycles to suggest the next pay dates.
When you reach Process pays, review the next suggested dates. These are the dates for the next pay process, not the dates of the pay you are currently completing. You can adjust the suggested dates if required.
After processing, SmoothPay moves the pay dates forward to those next dates. When employees have different pay cycles, the suggestions follow the next pays due in chronological order, rather than always advancing by the same interval.
Example: weekly and monthly employees
In this example, both employees’ pay cycles have already been established:
Employee A is paid weekly. Their period ends on Sunday, and they are paid on Monday.
Employee B is paid monthly. Their period ends on the last day of the month, and they are paid on the first day of the following month.
As each pay is completed, the sequence through October 2026 is:
Period end date | Pay date | Employee due |
4 October | 5 October | A — weekly |
11 October | 12 October | A — weekly |
18 October | 19 October | A — weekly |
25 October | 26 October | A — weekly |
31 October | 1 November | B — monthly |
After the four weekly pays, SmoothPay suggests the monthly dates because that is the next pay due.
How the dates relate to Who to pay
The colour of an employee’s name in Who to pay helps identify whether their next pay aligns with the current pay dates:
Green: The employee’s payment history and pay cycle align with the current dates.
Black: The employee’s next pay does not align with the current dates.
In the example above, Employee A appears green for each weekly pay, while Employee B appears black. For the monthly period ending 31 October, Employee B appears green and Employee A appears black.
Review the dates and select the employees you intend to pay. The colour helps with that selection; it does not replace checking who should be included.
For more information about selecting employees and completing a pay, refer to:
Changing dates when pay entries are already loaded
When you change the period end date with pay entries already loaded, an additional option appears:
Re-date any existing pay entries to fit the new period ending?
Select this option if you want SmoothPay to adjust the transaction dates of existing entries in the Payrun to fit the new period ending.
Example
An eight-hour ordinary-time entry is dated 30 September, matching the original period end. Changing the period end to 22 September and selecting the re-date option moves that entry’s transaction date to 22 September.
After saving, review the pay entries and their dates before continuing. If you have already produced reports, rerun them so they reflect the changes.