Goal seek is an automated calculation tool that can be used to determine the gross amount for an employee’s basic salary, annual bonus or commission if you have a target nett amount that you want to pay an employee. In other words, it works backwards by adding the necessary PAYE onto the target nett amount to determine the gross figure that should be entered.

Before using goal seek, it needs to be enabled. To do this:

1. Go to Settings > Advanced > General.
2. Select the checkbox for Goal Seek.
3. Click Save.

The goal seek function can now be used as outlined below.

Important Note: When the Goal Seek function is used, it relies on the payslip information available at that time. If any payslip information is subsequently changed, Goal Seek must be re-performed to ensure that the desired nett amount is still obtained.

Basic Salary

The goal seek function is only available for salaried employees, not hourly paid ones, and can be used as follows:

1. Click on Employees and select the relevant employee.
2. Click on Basic Salary under Regular Inputs.
3. Click on Goal Seek on the right-hand side of the Fixed Amount field.
4. Enter the desired Goal Nett amount.
5. Click Calculate.
6. The calculated gross / basic amount can then be transferred to the employee’s profile by clicking Use Calculated Value.

Annual Bonus

The goal seek function can be used for calculating an annual bonus as follows:

1. Click on Employees and select the relevant employee.
2. Click on Add next to Payslip Inputs and select Annual Bonus (under Income).
3. The next screen shows a field for entering the annual bonus. It defaults to zero. Leave it on zero and click Save.
4. Under Payslip Inputs, click on Annual Bonus.
5. Three dots now appear on the right hand side of the Amount field. Click on the three dots and then click Goal Seek.
6. Enter the desired Goal Nett amount. Note: this is the nett amount to pay the employee including their nett salary; it is not the nett amount for the annual bonus.
7. Click Calculate.
8. The calculated gross / basic amount can then be transferred to the employee’s profile by clicking Use Calculated Value.

Commission

The goal seek function can be used for calculating commission as follows:

1. Click on Employees and select the relevant employee.
2. Click on Add next to Regular Inputs, select Commission (under Income) and then click Save.
3. Under Payslip Inputs, click Commission.
4. Click on the three dots on the right hand side of the Commission Input field and click Goal Seek.
5. Enter the desired Goal Nett amount. Note: this is the nett amount to pay the employee including their nett salary; it is not the nett amount for the commission.
6. Click Calculate.
7. The calculated gross / basic amount can then be transferred to the employee’s profile by clicking Use Calculated Value.

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