How to run a payroll from start to finish on Breeze Payer? (Net payment and other payment)

Payer allows companies to execute salary payments to employees after the payroll amounts have already been calculated.

It is important to understand that Payer does not calculate payroll. It does not determine employees' gross-to-net salary, tax deductions, pension deductions or other payroll components. Instead, the company or its payroll system must first calculate the amount each employee should receive.

Payer then uses the prepared payment information to execute the corresponding payments.

Before You Start

Before creating a Net Salary payment, make sure the following are available:

Your company has completed Payer onboarding.
You have access to the Payer account.
You have the appropriate permission to create or manage payments.
Employee salary amounts have already been calculated.
Employees' bank details are available.
The payment account can be funded.
The relevant users have been assigned the required approval permissions if your company uses payment approval.

Important:

Payer Does Not Calculate Payroll

Payer is a payment execution platform, not a payroll calculation engine. This distinction is important. If an employee's gross salary is ₦500,000 and the employee's net salary after tax, pension and other deductions is ₦425,000, the ₦425,000 payment amount must already have been determined before the payment is uploaded or created in Payer.

Payer does not independently calculate that ₦425,000 figure. Instead, the admin provides the payment information and Payer executes the payment.

Step 1: Calculate Payroll Before Using PayerBefore starting the Net Salary payment process, the company must have completed its payroll calculation. This may happen in another payroll system, spreadsheet, internal process or another approved payroll process. The resulting payment information should contain the amount each employee is expected to receive. For each employee, ensure the relevant information is available, including:

Employee name.
Bank name.
Account number.
Salary/payment amount.
Phone number where required.
Other mandatory information required by the upload template.

The important point is that the final payment amount must already be known.

Step 2: Go to Payments → Net Salary

After logging into Payer, navigate to:Payments → Net Salary

This is the area used to prepare Net Salary payments. From here, you can add the employees and their bank/payment details.

Step 3: Add Your EmployeesYou can add employees and their payment details to the Net Salary payment.Depending on the size of the payroll, employee information can be prepared using the available bulk upload process.Payer provides a Net Salary bulk-upload template to make it easier to prepare payment information for multiple employees.This is particularly useful for companies processing payroll for a large number of employees.

Step 4: Prepare the Bulk Upload FileWhen using the bulk-upload option, download or use the relevant Net Salary template and enter the required employee and payment information.Make sure that all mandatory fields are completed.Common validation requirements include:

Phone number.
Account number.
Gender.
Employee name.
Salary.
Bank name.

Common Upload Errors

“Phone number required”

This means the required phone number field has not been completed.

How to resolve it: Enter the employee's phone number in the appropriate field in the upload template.

“Account number required”

The employee's bank account number is missing.

How to resolve it: Enter the employee's correct account number and ensure that it is in the expected format.

“Gender is required”

The gender field has not been completed.

How to resolve it: Complete the gender field for the affected employee.

“Employee Name is required”

An employee record does not contain a name.

How to resolve it: Enter the employee's name in the required field.

“Salary is required”

A salary/payment amount has not been provided.

How to resolve it: Enter the amount that should be paid to the employee. Remember that this amount should already have been calculated by the company's payroll process. Payer does not calculate the net salary.

“Bank name is required”

The employee's bank information is incomplete.

How to resolve it:Enter the required bank name in the template.

Step 5: Upload or Create the Payment

Once your employee information has been prepared, upload the completed template or create the payment using the available payment entry process. If you are processing a large number of employees, bulk upload can significantly reduce manual data entry.

After uploading, review the records carefully. Do not assume that a successful upload means the payment itself has been completed. Uploading payment information is only one stage of the payment journey.

Step 6: Review the Payment Details

Before submitting the payment, review the payment information carefully. Check details such as:

Employee names.
Bank names.
Account numbers.
Salary/payment amounts.
Number of employees included in the payment.
Total payment amount.

This review is an important control point because payment information should be verified before it is submitted for approval or execution. If any information is incorrect, correct it before proceeding.

Step 7: Submit for Approval

If your company's payment workflow requires approval, submit the payment for approval after completing your review. Payer supports configurable approval levels.

This means that companies can establish the approval structure appropriate for their internal processes.

Who can approve?

The admin who has been assigned the required approval permission can approve the payment. Not every user who has access to Payer will necessarily have approval rights. The relevant permission must be assigned to the user.

Example Approval Workflow

A company could have a workflow where:

Payroll Admin → Prepares payment → Reviews payment → Submits for approval → Authorised Approver → Approves payment → Payment proceeds.

The exact approval structure depends on how the company has configured its approval levels.

Step 8: Fund the Payment Account

Before the payment can be successfully processed, ensure that your Payer payment account has sufficient funds.

The payment account is funded from an external bank account through an online transfer. The amount transferred should be sufficient to cover the payments you intend to process.

Why should you fund the account before processing?

Payer executes the payments from the payment account. If the available wallet balance is insufficient, transactions may fail.

For example, imagine a batch contains 100 employee payments but the wallet does not contain enough money to cover the entire batch. Some transactions may fail due to insufficient wallet balance.

Therefore, it is best practice to ensure that the required funds are available before approving and processing the payment.

Step 9: Approve the Payment

Once the payment has been submitted and the appropriate approver has reviewed it, the authorised admin can approve the payment. The approval confirms that the payment can proceed according to the company's configured workflow.

Where approval is required, the payment should not be considered complete merely because it has been created or submitted. The relevant approval must be completed before the payment proceeds.

Step 10: Track the Payment

After the payment has been approved and processing begins, you can monitor its status from the Payments section.Payer provides three key payment statuses:

Processing

The payment is currently being processed.A payment with this status has not yet reached its final outcome.

Successful

The payment has been successfully completed.

Failed

The payment could not be completed.A failed payment requires attention and may need to be retried.

What to Do When a Payment Fails

A failed payment does not necessarily mean that the entire payment process must be started again from scratch.

When a payment fails, check the failed payment to see the reason.

Wait for the retry wait time to elapse (Currently at 3hours), ensure there is enough balance in the payment account and select Retry.

Failed Payment Recovery Flow

The general recovery process is:

Failed → Identify the failed transaction → Resolve the underlying issue → Retry the payment → Monitor the new payment status.

For example, if a payment failed because of insufficient wallet balance, ensure that the payment account has been adequately funded before retrying.

If the failure is related to incorrect payment information, review and correct the relevant information before attempting the payment again.

What Happens When There Are Insufficient Funds?

Insufficient wallet balance can cause transactions within a batch to fail.

Importantly, this does not necessarily mean that every transaction in the batch will have the same outcome. Some transactions may be processed successfully while others fail because the wallet does not have enough funds to cover them.

For this reason, after processing a batch, admins should review the payment statuses rather than assuming that the entire batch succeeded.

If any transactions are marked Failed, review those transactions and use the Retry action where appropriate.

End-to-End Net Salary Payment Flow

The complete process can be summarised as: Calculate Payroll → Prepare Employee/Bank Details → Payments → Net Salary → Add Employees → Upload/Create Payment → Validate Information → Review Payment → Submit for Approval → Fund Payment Account → Approve Payment → Payment Processing → Monitor Status → Successful or Failed → Retry Failed Payments Where Required

Example: Running a Monthly Payroll Payment

Imagine a company has 100 employees and has completed its monthly payroll calculation. The payroll team has determined the net salary payable to each employee.

1. Payroll is calculated

The company calculates each employee's net salary outside Payer.Payer does not perform this calculation.

2. The payment file is prepared

The payroll team prepares the Net Salary bulk-upload template containing the required employee and bank information.

3. The file is uploaded

The admin goes to Payments → Net Salary and uploads the prepared information.

4. Validation is completed

The admin checks for validation errors such as missing:

Employee names.
Salary amounts.
Account numbers.
Bank names.
Phone numbers.
Gender information.

Any errors are corrected before proceeding.

5. The payment is reviewed

The admin checks the employee records, account information and payment amounts.

6. The payment is submitted

If the company has an approval workflow, the payment is submitted to the authorised approver.

7. The payment account is funded

The company transfers sufficient funds from its external bank account to the Payer payment account.

8. The authorised admin approves

The admin with the appropriate approval permission reviews and approves the payment.

9. The payment is processed

The payment enters the processing stage.

10. The admin monitors the result

The admin checks the Payments section.Employees whose transactions were completed successfully will show Successful. Any unsuccessful transactions will show Failed.

11. Failed transactions are retried

The admin investigates the failed transactions, resolves the underlying issue where necessary and uses Retry to attempt the payment again.

Important Distinction: Payroll Calculation vs Payment Execution

One of the most important things to understand about Payer is where payroll calculation ends and payment execution begins.

Payroll Calculation	Payer Payment Execution
Determines gross salary	Uses the payment amount provided
Calculates tax	Does not calculate tax
Calculates pension deductions	Does not calculate pension deductions
Calculates other deductions	Does not calculate other deductions
Determines employee net salary	Executes the net salary payment
Produces the final payroll figures	Uses those figures to make payments

Therefore, if your payroll process determines that an employee should receive ₦400,000, the ₦400,000 payment amount must be provided to Payer.

Payer's role is to execute that payment—not to independently calculate how the ₦400,000 was derived.

Other Bulk Upload Options

Although this article focuses on Net Salary payments, Payer also supports bulk-upload templates for other payment activities.These include:

Net Salary
Other Payment
Pension Payment
Beneficiary Upload

Each payment type should be prepared using its relevant template and required fields.

Best Practices for Running Net Salary Payments

1. Prepare payroll before opening Payer

Complete your payroll calculation first so that the final payment amounts are available.

2. Use the bulk-upload template for large payrolls

For companies paying many employees, bulk upload reduces manual entry and makes it easier to prepare the payment batch.

3. Validate your information before submission

Pay particular attention to employee names, account numbers, bank names and salary amounts.

4. Review the total payment amount

Before approval, verify that the total amount being paid corresponds with your payroll records.

5. Fund the payment account before processing

Ensure the wallet has sufficient funds to minimise failed transactions.

6. Understand your approval workflow

Know which admins have approval rights and ensure the appropriate approver is available when payments need to be processed.

7. Monitor payment statuses

Do not assume that a submitted batch has been fully successful. Check the status of the individual transactions.

8. Act on failed payments

If a transaction is marked Failed, investigate the issue and use the Retry action once the underlying issue has been resolved.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Payer calculate employee net salary?

No. Payer does not calculate payroll or employee net salary. The company must calculate the salary and deductions before preparing the payment.

Does Payer calculate tax?

No. Tax calculations are completed outside Payer.

Does Payer calculate pension deductions?

No. Pension deductions must already have been calculated before the payment is prepared.

Can I upload multiple employees at once?

Yes. Payer provides a bulk-upload template for Net Salary payments.

What information is commonly required in the Net Salary upload?

Common required information includes employee name, salary, bank name, account number, phone number and gender.

What happens if an upload has missing information?

The upload will generate validation errors identifying required information that has not been provided. Correct the relevant fields and upload the information again.

Can I manually create a payment?

Yes. The Net Salary payment flow allows you to add employees and their bank details and create the payment.

Does every payment require approval?

Approval requirements depend on the company's configured approval workflow.

Who can approve a payment?

An admin who has been assigned the appropriate approval permission can approve the payment.

Can approval levels be configured?

Yes. Approval levels are configurable.

How do I fund the payment account?

The Payer payment account is funded from an external bank account through an online transfer.

What happens if there is not enough money in the wallet?

Some transactions in the batch may fail due to insufficient wallet balance.

What are the available payment statuses?

Payments can show as:

Processing
Successful
Failed

What should I do if a payment fails?

Review the failed transaction and resolve the underlying issue. You can then use the Retry action to attempt the payment again.

Do I need to start the entire payroll process again when one payment fails?

No. A failed payment can be retried using the Retry action after the relevant issue has been addressed.

How do I know whether the payroll payment was successful?

Go to the Payments section and review the payment statuses. Transactions marked Successful have been completed, while those marked Failed require further attention.

Quick Pre-Payment ChecklistBefore approving a Net Salary payment, confirm:

Payroll has already been calculated.
Net salary amounts are correct.
Employee names are complete.
Bank names are complete.
Account numbers are complete and correct.
Phone numbers are provided where required.
Gender information is provided where required.
The payment amount for each employee is correct.
The overall payment amount has been reviewed.
The required approver has been identified.
The Payer payment account has sufficient funds.
The payment has been submitted for approval where required.
An authorised admin has approved the payment.
Payment statuses have been monitored after processing.
Failed transactions have been reviewed and retried where appropriate.

Following this process ensures that the payroll figures are prepared correctly before they enter Payer, the appropriate controls are applied before funds are released, and the payment outcome can be monitored through to completion.