Repaying advances
An advance is recovered from the employee's next payslip, in full, along with its fee. There is no schedule to manage — but there is a payslip to check, because this is where an advance meets everything else being deducted.
Where: Benefits › Advance wages, and the employee's payslip You need: benefits rights covering that employee
How recovery works
When the next payroll runs, the outstanding advance and its fee are deducted from the payslip as a repayment. The employee receives their pay for the period less what they already drew.
Because the advance was capped at a share of earned wages — the cut-off rate — there should be enough left to cover statutory deductions. That headroom is the entire reason the cut-off exists; see KAMI QuickPay: advance wages.
What to check on the payslip
- The advance repayment appears as a deduction.
- The net is not negative or near zero. If it is, the cut-off rate is set too high for that employee's deduction profile.
- The fee is what you expect — the configured fee, or the minimum fee where that is higher.
- Nothing is outstanding afterwards unless it should be.
⚠️ An employee whose payslip nets to almost nothing after an advance will be back for another advance next period. That is the loop worth spotting: repeated use with a shrinking net is a hardship signal, not a product success.
What Happens Next
- The advance is cleared once recovered, and the employee can request again subject to eligibility and the maximum outstanding.
- Recalculating the payslip re-applies the repayment; it is not lost.
- An unrecovered advance on a leaver has to be settled from final pay.
Tips
- Reconcile advances against payroll each period. An advance drawn but not recovered is money out with no matching deduction.
- Check leavers for outstanding advances before final pay. It is a small amount that is very hard to recover once someone has gone.
- Look at repeat users each quarter. Habitual advances usually mean the pay cycle does not fit the person's outgoings, which is a conversation rather than a system setting.
- Do not manually adjust a payslip to remove an advance repayment. Resolve it in Benefits so the record and the money agree.
Troubleshooting / FAQ
Q: The advance was not deducted from the payslip. Check the payslip was calculated after the advance was taken, and recalculate if not.
Q: The employee's net pay was almost nothing. The advance plus statutory deductions consumed the period's pay. Review the cut-off rate.
Q: An employee left with an advance outstanding. Settle it from final pay — see Final pay on termination.
Q: Can repayment be spread over two payslips? No. Advances are recovered in full from the next payslip. Spreading repayment means a loan.
Q: The fee is higher than the percentage suggests. A minimum fee applies where the percentage would produce less.