Corrections after locking

A locked month is deliberately hard to change. Even so, there are cases in which it has to be done — a forgotten sick note, an incorrectly transferred time, a premium that should never have applied.

First the question: has payroll already been run?

Everything depends on it.

Case A — not yet processed

The month is locked, but the payroll office has not yet done the calculation. Then the clean way is:

1. Lift the lock in the month-end close (owner only).
2. Correct the error — with a reason, like every correction.
3. Lock the month again.
4. Export again and inform the payroll office that the old file is to be discarded.

Case B — already processed and paid out

Then the old month is not changed. The record stays as it was, and the correction goes through the current month:

1. Enter the error in the current month as a correction entry — for example, record missing hours afterwards or deduct hours booked in excess.
2. Establish the link in the reason: “Late entry for March: Site North on 14 March not recorded.”
3. Inform the payroll office so that it takes the difference into account in the current run.

This is exactly the way payroll offices go about it in other cases too. It has one decisive advantage: the payroll that has already been paid out remains traceable.

What is logged when unlocking

So that it is clear that nothing happens unnoticed:

• Who lifted the lock and when
• Every single correction with before value, after value and reason
• Who locked again and when
• Every export generated, with its time

All of this is in the change log and visible in the tax adviser portal as “Changes since the last export”.

Who may unlock?

Only the owner. Management may make corrections within open months, but may not lift a lock. The reason is the same as for the roles in general: whoever can reopen a finalised payroll bears responsibility for it — and in a business that is exactly one person.

Still stuck?

If several months are affected or contributions have already been reported, talk to your tax adviser first and then make the correction in Zeitflex. This order saves a second correction.