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CogniYukti

Payroll

A pay review leaks in the order the changes are made.

One manager tells their team early. A salary structure is updated a week before the rest. Somebody sees a payslip that does not match what they were told was coming. By the time the round is finished the conversation has already happened badly, three times.

How a round starts

Everybody at parity, and nobody typing from a blank screen.

Seeding a round creates one proposal per eligible person at their current pay — no change, no delta. Managers move only what they mean to move, against a budget for the round.

Each proposal freezes the person's current package at the moment it is created, so a salary edit elsewhere mid-round cannot quietly race the number the manager is looking at. Somebody with no current structure is skipped rather than silently priced from zero.

Annual revision roundnothing applied yet
  1. Proposals seeded at paritydone
    everyone starts at their current pay, nobody starts blank
  2. Managers proposedone
    each proposal snapshots current pay, so a later edit cannot race it
  3. In reviewhere
    the running total moves as decisions land — the approver sees it before saying yes
  4. Approved
    the set is agreed, still nothing applied
  5. Applied in one batch
    each person’s pay mix scaled, not flattened
  6. Closed
    the round stops accepting changes
Nothing touches a salary until the whole round is approved. That is what stops a pay review leaking out of order — the conversation somebody has before the person next to them has heard anything.
Illustrative
  • Guardrails annotate, they do not block

    A proposal above or below the band's range is flagged when it is submitted, in words — so a manager can iterate freely and still gets stopped at the point of commitment rather than nagged from the first keystroke.

  • The round cannot go for approval half-finished

    It is refused while any proposal is still open, and the approver sees the total impact rather than a list to add up themselves.

  • Managers work their own reports

    From their own portal, with no admin licence — bulk-apply a percentage, override any row, write the justification. Somebody else's already-agreed proposal cannot be rewritten underneath them.

  • Per legal entity

    A group runs a round per company rather than one round that quietly mixes three sets of payroll obligations.

Applying it

Every structure at once, and the mix survives.

Approving is a decision; applying is a write. Keeping them apart is what makes the decision reversible right up to the moment it lands — and what stops a revision reaching one person's payslip a week before everybody else's.

When it applies, each person's existing pay mix is scaled rather than flattened: proportional components stay proportional, fixed lines move together. Somebody with an unusual package does not come out the other side on a standard one.

And a round can be deliberately back-dated. The months already paid become arrears on the next run — calculated, not typed.

One person · an unusual package+9% applied
Before
After
  • Fixed · 55%
  • Variable · 30%
  • Allowances · 15%
The bar is wider and the proportions are identical. A package that was thirty per cent variable is still thirty per cent variable — which is the difference between a raise and a quiet renegotiation.
Illustrative

What it will not do

It does not tell you who deserves a raise.

No benchmark data, no recommendation engine, no increase suggested from a performance rating.

Pay decisions carry the most consequence and the least tolerance for a confident guess. What the product holds is the budget, the proposals, the sequence and the total — so the decision is made once, by the people accountable for it, and lands everywhere at the same moment.

What a founder asks

Mostly about control and timing.

What stops changes reaching payslips early?

Nothing is applied until the round is approved and applied as a batch. A revision cannot land on one structure ahead of the others.

Can we change our mind after approving?

Approving and applying are separate acts, and an approved round can still be cancelled. Once applied, a correction is a correction like any other.

What happens to somebody with an unusual salary structure?

Their mix is scaled, not replaced. A package that was 40% variable stays 40% variable.

Can we back-date a round?

Yes, and the months already paid become arrears on the next run rather than a spreadsheet somebody maintains.

Does a manager need an admin seat to recommend?

No. They work their own reports from the employee portal.

Does it suggest increases?

No. No benchmarks, no recommendation engine, no inference from ratings.

Book a demo

Run a round without applying it.

The fourth step is the one that decides whether you trust it with your senior people.

  • Seed the team and watch everyone start at parity
  • Push one proposal above its band and submit it
  • Approve, then check no structure has changed yet
  • Apply, and open somebody with an unusual pay mix