---
title: "How do I set up/process payroll actions?"
slug: "how-do-i-set-up-process-payroll-actions"
updated: 2026-06-10T11:26:21Z
published: 2026-06-10T11:26:21Z
canonical: "help.cintra.co.uk/how-do-i-set-up-process-payroll-actions"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.cintra.co.uk/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How do I set up/process payroll actions?

Now that you have set up your groups, you can now set up the actions for this group. Within the **Payroll Actions** window, you can either set up an action for an individual payroll or for a group as a whole using either the **Payrolls** tab or **Groups** tab.

## What are payroll actions?

Action output options set for a particular payroll, take precedence over any options set for a group. If you are producing output files, e.g. pension provider files, and you want the files to go to a different location for each payroll because you have a folder for each payroll, then you will set the action for each payroll rather than one action for each group. This is because you can only specify one file location for the group.Therefore you need to decide to action all the payrolls in the group or only some of them:

- If you want the action parameters to be the same for all the payrolls in that group, set up the action as a group action.
- If you want the action parameters to be different for each payroll in a group, then set up an action for each individual payroll.
- If you want most payrolls in a group to have the same parameters for an action, then set up the action as a group action and set up a payroll action for the exceptions.

> [!TIP]
> **Example:** If you had 20 payrolls and you want 19 of them to produce a pension output file to go to a specific folder for a specific employer, and one payroll to be different, then you would set the action parameters for the group of 19. For the 20th payroll, you would set the payroll actions for the individual payroll, and it would take precedence.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** The actions themselves are exactly the same regardless as to whether you open the action within the Payroll tab or Group tab.

## How do I set up payroll actions as group actions?

When you set a **Payroll** action for a group, this means that you should set action parameters for the whole group.

#### **To set group parameters**

1. Navigate to the **Payroll Workflow** window. Go to **Cintra iQ**: Payroll > Payroll Tools > Payroll Workflow ![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063864.png)
2. Click the **Action Setup** button. The **Payroll Actions** window appears.
3. Click the **Groups** tab. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063865.png)
4. Double-click the **N/A** for the desired action of the payroll. (e.g. Calculation). The **Workflow Options** window appears. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063866.png)
5. Click the **Apply** button. The **N/A** is now changed to a **G** in the **Payroll Actions** window. When you select the **Payrolls** tab, the action for all the payrolls within that **Group** will now display as **G**.

![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063867.png)

## How do I set up an action for individual payrolls?

When you set a **Payroll** action for all payrolls in a group where you can set an action for an individual payroll, you should specify particular parameters for that payroll.

### To set up parameters

1. Navigate to the **Payroll Workflow** window. Go to **Cintra iQ**: Payroll > Payroll Tools > Payroll Workflow
2. Click the **Action Setup** button. The **Payroll Actions** window appears.
3. Click the **Payrolls** tab.
4. Double-click the **G** of the desired payroll. (e.g. Calculation). The **Workflow Options** window appears.
5. Click the **Apply** button. The selected action displays as **P** within the **Payroll** tab.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Payroll locking can now be included in the workflow grid. This can be used for outsourced clients where there is a need to lock **Cintra Cloud** from any client input whilst payroll is being processed.

## Processing Payroll Actions

When it comes to processing actions, you have the following choices:

- Process an action for a group of payrolls or for a individual payroll.
- Process an action for an individual payroll in a group.

You can process multiple actions for a group of payrolls or for an individual payroll.

### To process actions

This option allows you to process each action one at a time for a group of payrolls or for an individual payroll.

1. Navigate to the **Payroll Workflow** window. Go to **Cintra iQ**: Payroll > Payroll Tools > Payroll Workflow
2. Click in the desired action field of the desired payroll. The field turns to blue. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063868.png)
3. Click the **Process** button. The **Process Run** log appears. As each payroll is calculated, it will appear in log with a start and end time and if any payroll should fail, a message will appear against it. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063870.png)
4. Once the process is finished, the log closes automatically. If all the payrolls are successful, the action appears as green.

![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063871.png)

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** If any of the payrolls had failed, or have action required then the action field changes to a yellow.
5. Repeat this process for the remaining actions.

> [!WARNING]
> **Important:** To process multiple actions, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and select the desired actions.

![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063872.png)

### To process an action for an individual payroll in a group

You can use this process within the **Payroll Workflow** window to run selected payrolls. If you have payrolls which have different payroll dates and you are not ready to process the group as a whole, then you can run selected payrolls. This facility can also be used where a payroll action needs to be re-processed for an individual payroll.

1. Navigate to the **Payroll Workflow** window. Go to **Cintra iQ**: Payroll > Payroll Tools > Payroll Workflow
2. Click the desired action field of the desired payroll.
3. Click the **Detail** button. The **Payroll Action** window appears.
4. Select the desired payroll by either its checkbox or clicking the **Tick/Untick** button. This allows only the selected payrolls to be run.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Against each checkbox will be a number which represents the outstanding significant changes for that payroll. e.g. There may be a significant change where you have added overtime or have added in an attendance category which needs to be calculated.
5. Select the **Process** button. The **Process Run** log appears informing you of its progress. Each payroll is processed one at a time.
6. Continue to action the payrolls. When all payrolls have run successfully, the action in the **Payroll Workflow** window is changed to green.

### How do I renew an action that has already been processed?

1. Navigate to the **Payroll Workflow** window. Go to **Cintra iQ**: Payroll > Payroll Tools > Payroll Workflow
2. Select the desired action field in the **Payroll Workflow** window. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063873.png)
3. Click the **Detail** button. The **Action** window appears. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063874.png)
4. Select the desired payroll by either its checkbox or clicking the **Tick/Untick** button. This allows only the selected payrolls to be run.
5. Click the **Process** button. The **Process Run** log briefly appears and the action is rerun. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/204001063875.png)