How to Set Up a Benefit for Employees (Preset or One-Off)

Last updated: May 28, 2026

Overview

Benefits can be assigned to employees using either an existing business-level preset or by creating a new employee-specific benefit directly within the employee profile.

Using presets helps maintain consistency across employees, while one-off benefits are useful for unique or temporary arrangements.

For step-by-step instructions on assigning benefits in bulk or managing benefits for multiple employees at once, see the related article 📄 Bulk Change Payroll Items

Step 1: Open the Employee Benefits Tab

Open the employee profile.
Select the Benefits tab.
Click + Create to begin setup.

Step 2: Choose a Creation Method

Select one of the following options:

Use existing benefit
Applies a previously configured business-level benefit preset.
New benefit
Creates a one-off benefit specific to the employee.

Step 3: Complete the Benefit Details

Field	Description
Business benefit	Visible only when applying an existing preset benefit.
Type	Automatically populated from the preset or selected manually for new benefits.
Title	Display name used for reporting and pay stub visibility.
Contribution	Enter either a fixed dollar amount ($) or percentage (%).
Annual maximum	Optional yearly contribution limit.
Frequency	Determines how the benefit is applied during payroll processing.
Effective from/to	Defines the start and end dates for the benefit.

Key Details or Requirements

Frequency Options

Frequency	Description
Per Payroll	Applies the contribution amount on every recurring payroll run.
Per Month	Evenly distributes the monthly amount across specified payrolls within the month.
Non-Recurring	Applies the benefit one time only and does not repeat on future payrolls.

For additional details about benefit frequency behaviour and payroll calculations, see the related article 📄 Understanding Payroll Item Frequency

Important Considerations

Business-level presets are recommended when the same benefit configuration applies to multiple employees.
One-off benefits are best suited for temporary, custom, or employee-specific arrangements.
Effective dates determine when the benefit begins and when it stops applying during payroll processing.

Summary

Employee benefits can be configured using either reusable business presets or employee-specific one-off setups. Proper configuration of contribution amounts, frequency, and effective dates ensures accurate payroll calculations and reporting.