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Payroll permissions

Steph Gonzales
  • Updated
Note: From October 1st, 2025, we introduced new plans that better reflect how our customers use Deputy: Lite, Core, and Pro. If you're an existing customer, look out for an email with all the details you’ll need. Learn more about the new plans and what this change means for you.

This article explains the permissions for managing payroll and pay calendars within Deputy.  It can help you select the appropriate permissions when creating a custom access level.
 

Before you read

  • Target audience: This article is for users with System Administrator access.
  • Plan restrictions: To check whether your plan includes custom access levels and permissions, see the Customization & Security section of our Pricing Plans.
  • Feature update: Custom access levels has a new look in Business settings. This change is being gradually rolled out and will soon be available in all eligible Deputy accounts. If you're not on the new access level experience, go to Classic custom access levels and permissions (Discontinuing).
     

This article covers:

Australia

US

 

What these icons mean

Personal information.png  Indicates access to a team member's private or sensitive data.

Costs.png  Indicates access to a team member's pay or other business costs, such as shift totals. 

 

Payroll management permissions (AU)

These permissions control how payroll is set up and processed in your organization. Since they directly impact employee pay and sensitive financial data, you'll want to assign access carefully.

Tip: Before assigning access, be clear about who should manage organization-wide payroll settings and who has final approval to submit pay data. Many businesses choose to keep these permissions with Payroll Managers or similar roles for stricter oversight.
 

blue tick (1).png  Purchase payroll Costs.png  

Dependencies: If enabled, users must have System Administrator access for this function to work properly.

  • If turned ON: Users can purchase the Deputy Payroll (AU) add-on for the account via self-serve checkout.

  • If turned OFF: Users cannot purchase the Deputy Payroll (AU) add-on for their account via self-serve checkout. 

 

blue tick (1).png  Initialise payroll Costs.png

  • If turned ON: Users can setup and configure payroll for the first time. This includes completing setup inside the Deputy tenant, and setting up and adding a provisioned account.

  • If turned OFF: Users cannot setup your payroll configuration.

 

blue tick (1).png  Access pay in business settings Costs.png

Note: This permission is intended for users who manage organization-wide payroll settings. If a user only handles payroll for a single entity or location, this permission can generally be left off.

  • If turned ON: Users can open the Pay tab in Business Settings, where they can manage business entities and pay calendars. They have access to set up payroll settings on behalf of entities, pay rate builder and pay calendars.

  • If turned OFF: Users cannot view or modify organization-wide pay settings or business entities.

 

blue tick (1).png   Access leave in business settings

Note: This permission is intended for users who manage organization-wide leave settings.

  • If turned ON: Users can access the Leave tab in Business Settings to manage organization-wide leave settings, including modifying leave rules and default leave entitlements.

  • If turned OFF: Users cannot view or manage organization-wide leave settings.

 

blue tick (1).png  View payslips Costs.png

Dependencies: Access to employee payslips depends on the locations or entities users have been granted access to.

  • If turned ON: Users can see the payslips for of subordinates / team members they manage.

  • If turned OFF: Payslips are hidden.

 

blue tick (1).png  Manage pay details Costs.png

  • If turned ON: Users can view and edit details in the Payroll tab of team members they manage. This includes banking, superannuation, taxation and payroll information.

  • If turned OFF: Users cannot edit details in the Payroll tab of team members they manage. 

 

blue tick (1).png  Load payroll engine

Note: This is a high-level permission intended for users who process payroll end-to-end. 

  • If turned ON: Users get full access to Deputy's payroll engine, including the ability execute pay runs, view all employee payroll data, submit superannuation reports for processing, open all payroll reports in the payroll engine such as leave entitlement reports, accounting report and pay run details report. 

  • If turned OFF: User cannot run payroll or submit tax reports.

 

Pay calendar permissions (AU)

These permissions control the timing and frequency of your pay cycles. Pay calendars determine when timesheets are grouped and processed for payment, so any changes can affect your entire payroll schedule.
 

blue tick (1).png   View pay calendars Costs.png

  • If turned ON: Users can view the pay calendars and pay period dates configured in Deputy. They can view people in pay calendars linked to entities they are assigned to.

    If turned OFF: Users cannot view when pay periods begin or end.

     

blue tick (1).png   Manage pay calendars Costs.png

Dependencies: Turning this permission ON will automatically enable the following permission: View pay calendars.

  • If turned ON: Users can add, edit, or delete pay calendars linked to entities they are assigned to.

  • If turned OFF: Users cannot change the pay cycle structure.

 

Payroll management permissions (US)

These permissions control how payroll is set up and processed in your organization. Since they directly impact employee pay and sensitive financial data, you'll want to assign access carefully.

Tip: Before assigning access, be clear about who should manage organization-wide payroll settings and who has final approval to submit pay data. Many businesses choose to keep these permissions with Payroll Managers or similar roles for stricter oversight.
 

blue tick (1).png  Purchase payroll Costs.png  

Deputy Payroll enabled by Paycor (US) is not yet available to purchase via self-serve checkout. Coming soon!

Dependencies: If enabled, users must have System Administrator access for this function to work properly.

blue tick (1).png  Initialise payroll Costs.png

Dependencies: If enabled, users must have System Administrator access for this function to work properly.

  • If turned ON: Users can set up and configure payroll for the first time, including the ability to connect to Paycor and configure the associated Paycor client IDs inside the Deputy tenant.

  • If turned OFF: Users cannnot set up and configure payroll for the first time.
     

blue tick (1).png  Access pay in business settings Costs.png

Note: This permission is intended for users who manage organization-wide payroll settings. If a user only handles payroll for a single entity or location, this permission can usually be left off.

  • If turned ON: Users can access the Pay tab in Business Settings to manage business entities and payroll configuration. For Deputy Payroll (US), the pay calendar is managed within Paycor, so it can’t be changed in Deputy.

  • If turned OFF: Users cannot view or manage organization-wide pay settings or business entities.

 

blue tick (1).png   Access leave in business settings

Note: This permission is intended for users who manage organization-wide leave settings.

  • If turned ON: Users can open the Leave tab in Business Settings to manage organization-wide leave settings, including modifying leave rules and default leave entitlements.

  • If turned OFF: Users cannot view or manage organization-wide leave settings.
     

blue tick (1).png  View payslips Costs.png

Dependencies: Access to employee payslips depends on the locations or entities users have been granted access to.

  • If turned ON: Users can see the payslips for of subordinates / team members they manage.

  • If turned OFF: Payslips are hidden.
     

blue tick (1).png  Manage pay details Costs.png

  • If turned ON: Users can view and edit details in the Payroll tab of team members they manage. This includes banking, taxation and payroll information. 

  • If turned OFF: Users cannot edit details in the Payroll tab of team members they manage. 

 

Pay calendar permissions (US)

These permissions control the timing and frequency of your pay cycles. Pay calendars determine when timesheets are grouped and processed for payment, so any changes can affect your entire payroll schedule.

 

blue tick (1).png   View pay calendars Costs.png

  • If turned ON: Users can view team members in pay calendars linked to the entities they are assigned to.

  • If turned OFF: The user cannot view when pay periods begin or end.

     

blue tick (1).png   Manage pay calendars Costs.png

Note: Pay calendars are managed in Paycor under Paygroups.

Dependencies: Turning this permission ON will automatically enable the following permission: View pay calendars.

  • If turned ON: Users can add, edit, or delete pay calendars linked to entities they are assigned to.

  • If turned OFF: Users cannot change the pay cycle structure.
     

Check out our Permission Guides

Use these as a reference guide when creating custom access levels and permissions:

Switching from classic permissions? Find out how they compare to the new permissions.

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