How to change an employee's salary

What is it for?

An employee's salary is in the contract. When it changes, you do not overwrite the old amount: you create a new version of the contract with the date from which the new salary applies. Each month's payslips use the version in force that month, and the old amount stays in the history.

When to use it?

• A raise agreed with the employee, from the following month.
• The annual update of the pay scale of the applicable collective agreement.
• A reduction that the law or the collective agreement allows (see “Important notes”).

Do not use a new version for a month whose payslips are already validated: those payslips do not change. A difference in a month already processed is corrected on that month's payslip.

Where to find it?

Payroll › Prepare › Pay history › open the employee's line › + button next to the dates, at the top of the file

Before you start

• Your profile is Payroll Administrator. The Payroll Processor only reads the contract; the change is made by Human Resources or the Payroll Administrator (see “Common problems”).
• Know the effective date. Choose the first day of a month that has not been processed yet.
• The employee's file has the Usual Work Location filled in (Work tab). Without it, fiscaldoo refuses the new version (see “Common problems”).
• If you log in as Payroll Administrator, first choose the right company (Empresa Demonstração, Lda) in the selector in the top right corner.

How to use it

1. Open Payroll › Prepare › Pay history. Each line is a contract version, with the Effective Date on which it started to apply.
2. Open the employee's most recent line. At the top of the file, the dates of the versions appear (for example 01/01/2026), with the + button on the right.
3. Click +. A calendar opens: move to the right month and click the effective day, for example 1 November 2026. The new version is created straight away and is selected at the top (01/11/2026).
4. Open the Payroll tab. In Contract summary, enter the new amount in Wage, for example 1700.
5. Save (the cloud icon, next to the name).

Example. Bruno Miguel Teixeira's salary went from 1,650.00 € to 1,700.00 € from 01/11/2026. In the November batch, his payslip had the Base remuneration line of 1,700.00 € without any extra step, and the rest of the payslip was recalculated with that amount:

• Social Security (worker): 11 % of 1,725.75 € (the base plus 25.75 € of overtime already recorded) = 189.83 €.
• IRS withheld: 108.00 €, with the 2026 table I on 1,700.00 € and the November reduction explained on the payslip (see How IRS withholding on salaries is calculated).
• Net pay: 1,557.07 €.

Changing the salary does not create journal entries. The new amount only reaches the accounts with the month's payslips.

Expected result

• In Pay history a new line for the employee appears with the Effective Date 01/11/2026. The previous line is still there, with the old amount.
• At the top of the file, the version dates include the new one. Clicking a date shows the contract as it was in that version.
• The payslips from November onwards, when the month's batch is calculated (see How to process the month's payroll), use the new salary. Those for October and earlier do not change.

Important notes

• The salary cannot go down without grounds. An amount lower than the previous version's is refused (Labour Code (CT) art. 129.º, no. 1, letter d). If the law or the collective agreement allows it, choose in Exception to irreducibility the option Provision of the Labour Code or Collective agreement (IRCT) and state the article or clause. Pending validation by a certified accountant or employment lawyer: cases in which the reduction is allowed and the evidence to keep.
• Choose the date carefully. A version created with the wrong date cannot be deleted or archived once the month is closed (see “Common problems”).
• The minimum wage and the reductions it applies to are in How to update the minimum wage and apply reductions.

Common problems

On saving, “The wage … is lower than the one of the previous version of the contract” appears

• Message: “Validation Error The wage of Bruno Miguel Teixeira from 01/11/2026 is lower than the one of the previous version of the contract. What happened: the retribution cannot be reduced, except in the cases of the Labour Code or a collective agreement (CT art. 129.º/1-d). How to fix it: correct the amount, or choose “Exception to irreducibility” and enter the article or clause that allows it.”
• Cause: the amount entered in Wage is lower than the previous version's. In the demo, both 900 and 1600 were refused (the previous version had 1,650.00 €).
• What to do: click Close and correct the amount. If the reduction has legal grounds, fill in Exception to irreducibility before saving.

On clicking the day, “The version of … was not created” appears

• Message: “Invalid Operation The version of 01/01/2027 was not created. What happened: the contract of Bruno Miguel Teixeira has no Usual Work Location, and a new version copies it. How to fix it: fill in the Usual Work Location in the contract, save, and then add the version.” It appears right after you click the day in the calendar, with the warning “Some required fields are empty”.
• What happens: the version is not created. The dates at the top of the file do not change.
• Cause: the employee's file has no Usual Work Location (Work tab). In the demo, no employee had one.
• What to do: close the window and, in the Work tab, choose the location. If the company does not have one yet, type the name (for example Escritório de Lisboa) and click Create "Escritório de Lisboa". Then save and click + again: the version is created (seen with the 01/01/2027 one).

I created a version with the wrong date and cannot delete it

• Message (Delete): “Invalid Operation A closed record cannot be deleted: 01/10/2026. What happened: what was recorded, approved, paid or issued is part of the payroll history and is never deleted …”
• Message (Archive): “Invalid Operation Active cannot be set directly. …”
• Cause: the version has a date within a month with validated or paid payslips. fiscaldoo keeps it in the history and does not let you delete or archive it.
• What to do: if the salary of that version is the same as the previous one, it has no effect on the payslips and can stay. Create the right version with the right date. If the amount is wrong, ask the Payroll Administrator to assess correcting that month's payslips with the accountant.

With the Payroll Processor profile, the + button appears

• Symptom: the Payroll Processor sees the + button and, on clicking a day, the version is created. Afterwards they cannot delete or archive it: “Invalid Operation The Payroll Processor only reads the contract (Active). … How to fix it: ask Human Resources to record the change as a new version of the contract.”
• What to do: do not use + with the Payroll Processor profile. Ask the Payroll Administrator or Human Resources for the change.