Payroll
Allowance
An addition to basic pay, such as housing or transport: may be taxable or exempt.
Allowances are amounts paid on top of basic salary for specific purposes (housing, transport, meal, etc.). Some are fully taxable and some are partially or wholly exempt, so how they're set up affects both gross pay and PAYE.
Related terms
Help & how-to
See it in practice
The payroll run lifecycle, explained
Run → Review → Approve & lock → Disbursement → Remittances → Rollover. The same flow every month.
Read the variance report
Compare this run to last period and catch a silently-wrong payroll before you approve.
Set up salary structures & pay elements
Define what people earn once, assign it in bulk, and override per employee where needed.
See it applied to real payroll
Vintage People handles every statutory rule for you: accurate, compliant and audit-ready.