Use early pay period closure to let payroll admins close a pay period for a set number of hours before the official period end, while still requiring all timesheets to be approved.
Enable early closure at the platform level
Go to Global Settings > Platform Settings > Platform Configuration > Time and Attendance.
Check Enable the option to allow early closure of pay periods. This option controls whether the early-closure field is available in Pay Period Configuration. When this option is cleared, the early-closure field is disabled for all pay period configurations, even if it was previously enabled and saved.
Click Save.
Open a pay period configuration
Go to Global Settings > Time Tracking > Pay Period Configuration.
Select the pay period configuration that you want to edit. Click Edit.
Configure how early a pay period can close
In the right panel, expand the Deadlines section.
In Deadlines, locate Allow pay period closure up to [x] hours early under Close after pay period end.
Select the checkbox to enable early closure for this pay period configuration.
In the numeric field, enter a value between 12 and 96 hours.
Click Save.
Behavior notes:
The early-closure field is visible only when the platform option Enable the option to allow early closure of pay periods is turned on.
The field is unchecked by default and the numeric input defaults to 24 hours the first time it is shown or whenever it is reset.
The field remains visible even when it is disabled by workflow or platform settings.
Good to know
Understand workflow interactions
Early closure is only available when both workflows are set to the default option.
In the same pay period configuration, expand Workflows.
Review Request approval by employee and Request approval by manager.
Behavior notes:
If you change either workflow from the default value to a non-default workflow (before saving), the early-closure field becomes disabled immediately but stays visible.
When you save a configuration that uses a non-default workflow:
Any previously saved early-closure value is cleared on the backend so no early closure is applied.
The early-closure checkbox is cleared and the numeric value resets to 24.
The field remains disabled and visible.
If you later set both workflows back to the default option and save:
The early-closure field becomes enabled again.
The field stays unchecked and the numeric value is 24 until you explicitly enable early closure and save.
How early-closure timing works
When early closure is enabled and saved for a pay period configuration, the system calculates an early-close threshold based on the pay period end date and the value you enter in hours.
The threshold is calculated in the Deadline time zone configured in the pay period configuration.
If the pay period ends at time E and the early-closure value is x, then closing is allowed starting at E − x hours, to the minute.
Early-close timing overrides the approval deadline timing, so you can close the period before the approval deadline, as long as all other prerequisites are met.
You can only close the pay period after:
The early-close threshold time has passed.
All timesheets for the period are fully approved.
Example
The pay period ends Sunday at 11:59 P.M. in the deadline time zone.
Early closure is set to 48 hours.
The earliest time you can close the period is Friday at 11:59 P.M.
What you see in Timesheets
Before the early-close threshold
The Timesheets page shows the status In Process for the pay period.
The Submit Payroll dropdown is not visible and the Close Pay Period option is not available.
After the early-close threshold
The Submit Payroll dropdown appears, as in the normal closing flow.
When all timesheets are approved, the Close Pay Period action is available and can be used to close the period early.
Integration-related actions in the Submit Payroll dropdown (for example, sending to payroll systems) continue to behave the same way as in the standard closing process.
Per configuration behavior
Each pay period configuration controls its own early-closure setting.
Turning on early closure and entering a value for one configuration does not affect any other configuration.
When you turn off the platform-level option Enable the option to allow early closure of pay periods, the early-closure field becomes disabled for all configurations and early closure is not applied, regardless of any previously saved values.