If you run payroll on different cycles for different homes, or you want Florence to prepare your payroll runs for you each period, this article shows you how to set that up with payroll groups.

A payroll group is a set of locations that are paid together on the same cycle. Each group has its own payroll cycle, its own start date and its own payroll runs. Every location that has shifts to pay needs to be in a group.

You need the Manage Payroll permission to add or change a payroll group. Admins with only View Payroll can open the page and see the groups but can't save changes. See the permissions article linked below if you need this switched on.

Have the following to hand:

1. Go to Payroll and click Payroll groups in the top right. You'll see a table of your existing groups.

2. Click Add payroll group. A panel titled New payroll group opens on the right.

3. Enter a Group name. Use something your payroll team will recognise, such as "Northern homes" or "Monthly paid".

4. Choose a Payroll cycle. This is optional, and once added, will enable automated pay run generation. The options are explained in the next section.

5. Set the Cycle start date. This is the first day of the first period Florence will pay. Shifts before this date are not included in any run for this group.

6. If you chose Monthly, a Day of month field appears. Enter the day your monthly period starts, from 1 to 28.

7. Under When a run is created automatically, choose Save as draft or Finalise. Save as draft is the safe default and is explained below.

8. Under Locations, tick the locations that belong to this group. You can search the list or use select all.

9. Click Save. The group appears in the table with its cycle, start date and locations.

Day of month must be between 1 and 28. This keeps every period the same length in short months. If your payroll runs on the 29th, 30th or 31st, use End of month or speak to the Florence support team.

Once a group has a cycle and a start date, Florence creates a payroll run for it at the end of every period. You don't need to create runs by hand, though you still can from the Payroll page.

The draft is generated the day after the cycle ends. If a shift in the period finishes after midnight on the last day, Florence waits for that shift to end first so overnight work isn't missed. Runs created this way are marked Automated on the Payroll page.

The run is created as a draft for you to review. You check the figures, resolve anything outstanding and finalise it yourself. This is the default and the right choice for most organisations.

Florence creates the run and then finalises it for you, without anyone clicking Finalise. This happens on the next overnight check once the period has closed.

Oakfield Care has two homes paid four-weekly and one head office paid monthly on the 22nd.

The payroll admin creates a group called "Homes" with a Four-weekly cycle, a Cycle start date of Monday 6 April 2026 and both homes selected. Florence creates the first run covering 6 April to 3 May, then 4 May to 31 May, and so on. The draft for the first period is created on 4 May.

They then create a second group called "Head office" with a Monthly cycle, a start date of 22 April 2026, Day of month set to 22 and the head office location selected.

The first run covers 22 April to 21 May and the draft is created on 22 May.

Both groups are left on Save as draft, so the admin reviews and finalises each run themselves.

A location can only be in one group at a time. If you add a location that is already in another group, it moves to the new group. Its earlier payroll runs stay where they are.

Shifts before the cycle start date are left out. That's expected, not an error. If earlier shifts are missing from a run, check the group's start date.

The start date can't be earlier than your organisation's payroll start date. This date was set when you went live on Florence. If you need a group to start earlier than that, contact the Florence support team.

A group with payroll runs can't be deleted. Open the group and click Delete group to remove one that has no runs. If it has runs, move its locations to another group instead.

Click any group in the table to open it. You can rename it, change the cycle or start date, change what happens to automatic runs, and add or remove locations. Click Save when you're done. Changes affect runs created from then on, not runs that already exist.