Payroll – Period Closing and Locking

When the month ends, the payroll period must be reviewed, approved and locked. This gives you confidence that the numbers are correct before exporting to Fortnox or Visma – and that nobody retroactively adjusts a punch that was already counted.

When should the period be locked?

Default timing: the last business day of the month (or per your payroll routine). Rule of thumb: lock when you are 100% certain no more punches, break adjustments or absence requests affect the period.

Some restaurants lock only on the 5th of the following month to allow room for delayed corrections.

Overview – month-end checklist:

Step 1 – Review time reports:

1. Open Staff → Time Tracking
2. Select the current period (the month being closed)
3. The filter Status: Pending review shows unreviewed rows
4. Check:
   • Difference between scheduled and actual time (the Diff column)
   • Forgotten clock-outs (no clock-out registered → flagged red)
   • Unusually long shifts (> 10h)
   • Missing breaks
5. Correct via Edit entry or Add note
6. Mark row by row as Approved – or use Approve all for an employee

Step 2 – Absences:

• Open Staff → Staff → Absences
• All Pending requests with dates inside the period must have a decision before locking
• Tip: Previous month's childcare leave (VAB) may arrive late – ask the employee for certification

Step 3 – Tips:

1. Staff → Tips
2. Close the period (Close period button)
3. Choose distribution method (per hours / per role / equal / custom)
4. Confirm that total distributed = total collected
5. Save the distribution – it then flows into the payroll

Step 4 – OB check:

• OB summary tab in the payroll view
• Verify that OB1 and OB2 match expectations (especially weekends and evenings 20:00–06:00)
• On major holidays (e.g. Easter, Midsummer): double-check that double OB (major-holiday rate) triggered

Step 5 – Review per employee:

Per row in the payroll, check:

• Ordinary hours × hourly rate / monthly salary
• Extra hours (beyond employment rate)
• OB1 amount + OB2 amount (in SEK)
• Sick days (first-day waiting deduction)
• Vacation days and vacation surcharge (12%)
• Childcare (VAB) deduction (reimbursed via Försäkringskassan)
• Meal deduction (SEK 55/day × workdays with meal)
• Tips share (from step 3)
• Gross pay
• Social fees (31.42%)
• Total cost

Step 6 – Sanity check:

Compare against last month. Warning signs:

• Gross pay ± 15% without obvious cause → dig in
• OB jumped unusually high → check weekend shifts
• Someone has 0 hours but receives monthly salary → verify they worked or had paid leave

Step 7 – Mark as reviewed:

• Per employee: the Reviewed button
• Whole period: the All reviewed button (visible once every row is done)

Step 8 – Export:

1. Click Export
2. Choose format:
   • SIE PA – direct import to Fortnox/Visma accounting (ships Q2 2026)
   • FORA CSV – pension contributions to FORA
   • AGI CSV – employer declaration to the Swedish Tax Agency
   • Employer Certificate – per employee as needed
3. Download the file
4. Import into the respective system

Step 9 – Lock the period (most important!):

1. Click the red Lock period button
2. Confirmation dialog: "When the period is locked you can no longer change time reports, absences or tips within this period. Any corrections after locking must be made as next period's corrections. Are you sure?"
3. Re-enter your password (security confirmation)
4. Click Lock

What happens when the period is locked:

• All time entries within the period get the status Locked
• Editing is blocked both in the UI and in the underlying storage
• The payroll is marked Closed with date and who closed it
• New punches after the lock date automatically go to the next period
• An entry is added to Finance → Audit Log

Step 10 – After import in Fortnox/Visma:

• Verify that accounts 7010/7210 (salary), 7510 (social fees), 2920 (vacation liability) are posted correctly
• Reconcile against your bank file once salaries have been paid
• Do a verification check between Vendion's total and Fortnox total – they should be identical

What if I find an error after locking?

• You cannot unlock the period yourself (policy decision to protect the audit trail)
• Open a support ticket with the Vendion team with justification
• Alternative: post the correction in the next period as a correction with a clear note

Tips:

• Use AI Boss – ask "Show payroll for April 2026" or "Summarize payroll changes since last month"
• Set a recurring calendar reminder: last workday of the month = month-end close
• Create an internal routine so the same checklist is followed every month

Related: Payroll data (export), Time Tracking, Unsocial Hours Rules, Tip Distribution, Absence Management.