If you encounter a correction on a payslip that you weren’t expecting, use this troubleshooting guide to investigate, and if necessary, resolve it.
Why do corrections appear?
Cintra iQ is date-driven. Editing data in a past pay period doesn't just change that period, it recalculates tax, NI and pension as if the change happened at the correct time, then pushes the difference to the current payslip as a correction. For more information, see Guide: Corrections.
Investigating the checklist
Identify which section of the payslip has correction lines: Corrections can occur as both payments and deductions and will either add or remove money from the payslip. Here is a full example of a payslip with a correction.
Run one of the correction reports: You can view all corrections made against an individual employee’s payslips, or access the Correction Report for an entire payroll.
Check the date of the earliest correction. If it goes back further than expected (e.g. to the start of the previous tax year), someone likely edited an existing line instead of adding a new one.
Check the scratch payslip. This lets you see every payslip affected by a correction, and compare "before" and "after" figures side-by-side, and help you demonstrate the effect of single corrections to employees. See Scratch payslips.
Cross-reference the audit log: Look for lines with an old value and a new value; these indicate an edit rather than a new entry. See How do I use the audit log?
Fixing a correction / making an amendment
Once you've identified why the correction occurred and whether it needs correcting, you should correct the data rather than delete it, unless you're certain of the consequences.
The exception to this is a sickness period that shouldn't be there. It's safe to delete this from the calendar.
For more information, see Amending corrections.
Warning! NEVER delete or amend tax codes from HMRC. Always contact them instead.
Common situations and their solutions
You have a missed payment that needs backdating
Add it via Payroll Period Input rather than in the current period, so tax/NI/pension are calculated correctly. See How do I create and edit corrections: Ad hoc corrections.
You need to show an employee a before/after comparison
Use scratch payslips to compare original vs corrected net pay. Avoid this if corrections overlap; it becomes confusing rather than helpful. See How do I use a scratch payslip?
A correction that won't clear even though the data looks fixed
The original record is likely still anchored at its old point in time, and is most common with sickness, maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave.
Try deleting and re-adding it rather than editing dates. If the problem persists, contact Support.
FAQs
Why did a correction appear that I wasn't expecting?
Usually because someone edited an existing line (e.g. a post or work pattern) instead of adding a new one, or backdated data (like sickness) was entered.
Why are pension corrections harder to trace?
A: Because pension is a by-product of gross pay. If there's no correction on gross pay but there is one on pension/salary sacrifice, it usually points to a top-level pensionable pay change rather than an employee-level edit.
Why not just add a backdated payment (like a late bonus) to the current month instead of correcting it?
It risks over- or under-taxing the employee and can misrepresent pension contributions for that period.
Is it ever safe to delete a correction?
Only in specific cases like removing a sickness period that shouldn't be there. As a golden rule, never delete a line unless you know exactly what will happen.