The payroll month is already closed

Symptom

You choose a past month on the What is there to do this month? screen, click Process and save the batch. Invalid Operation opens and the batch is never saved.

Message

Seen at Empresa Demonstração, Lda, with the Payroll lock date at 30/06/2026, on a May 2026 batch (Payroll Processor profile). The What is there to do this month? screen lets you choose the month and shows Process May. When saving the batch:

“The month of this batch is already closed (closed up to 30/06/2026). What happened: a closed month does not accept a new batch. How to fix it: create the batch of the first open month, or ask the Payroll Administrator to register an exception to correct a payslip of the closed month.”

The refusal is the same for the last closed month (June 2026), even with an Active exception for that month: the exception does not open the month for a new batch.

Verified causes

• The company has a payroll lock date. No new batch or payslip for a period ending on or before that date is saved. It is in Settings › Users & Companies › Companies, on the company form, Accounting tab, Payroll group, Payroll lock date field. In the demo, after setting it to 30/06/2026, May and June 2026 were closed.
• Payslips already validated for a month also close it for the data they used. An attendance, an attendance interval or a company holiday in a period with validated or paid payslips is refused with its own message. Pending validation on screen: these three refusals were not triggered in this round.
• The payroll lock date cannot go past the accounting one. If accounting is only locked up to 30/06/2026, payroll cannot be locked up to 31/07/2026 (see “How to fix it”).

What to check

1. The batch month, at the top of the What is there to do this month? screen. Is it really a past month, or did you want the current month?
2. The company's Payroll lock date (with the administrator, who has the Settings app: Users & Companies › Companies, Accounting tab, Payroll group).
3. Whether what you want to do is a new payslip (a forgotten employee, which goes into an open period) or correct a payslip that already exists (corrective payslip, with an audited exception). To correct, see The payslip is already validated and cannot be changed.

How to fix it

You chose the wrong month (Payroll Processor profile)

1. Click Close on the message. The batch was not saved: there is nothing to delete.
2. Go back to What is there to do this month?, choose the first open month and click Process.

A payslip is missing in a closed month (Payroll Processor profile)

A closed month does not accept new payslips, not even with an exception. Payment to a forgotten employee is made on a payslip in an open period, after the Payroll lock date.

In the demo, with payroll closed up to 30/06/2026, a new payslip for Bruno Miguel Teixeira from 01/05/2026 to 31/05/2026 (Payroll › Process › Payslips › New) was refused on saving:

“The period ends on 31/05/2026, on or before the payroll lock date (30/06/2026). What happened: a closed period does not accept new payslips. How to fix it: put the payment in the first open period, or correct a payslip of the period with a corrective payslip and an audited exception.”

The June payslip (period up to 30/06/2026) got the same refusal with an Active exception for June. The same payslip, with a period after the lock date (for example November 2026), is saved in Draft.

1. Click Close on the message and discard the payslip.
2. Create the payslip with the dates of an open period, after the Payroll lock date.
3. Calculate it and follow the month's normal path (How to process the month's payroll).

Pending validation by a certified accountant: in which month the salaries of a previous month paid now are declared to the AT (DMR) and to Social Security, and whether the income relates to previous years when the forgotten month is from the previous year.

The exception to correct a payslip that already exists (Payroll Administrator)

The audited exception opens a closed month only to correct a payslip that already exists, with a corrective payslip (see The payslip is already validated and cannot be changed). Only the Payroll Administrator registers it.

1. In Payroll › Configure › Company, look for Lock date exceptions. Today this menu only appears with developer mode on, and only for the demo administrator: the payroll profile, without developer mode, does not see it.
2. Click New, choose the Company and fill in Period from and Period to (for example 01/06/2026 to 30/06/2026) and the reason, and save. The record keeps who authorised it (Allowed by) and has the Corrective payslip field; it stays Active until it is used (Used) or cancelled (Cancelled, with the Cancel button).

In the demo, the June 2026 exception became Active. Pending validation on screen: the corrective payslip for a closed month, validated with the exception. In the demo, Rectify responded “Nothing changed since this payslip was closed” while the contract was the same; with a new contract version, the corrective payslip stopped at an IRS data refusal from the version created for the test, and was not taken through to Validate.

Changing the payroll lock date (administrator)

The date only moves forward, and never past the accounting lock date. In the demo, with accounting locked up to 30/06/2026, typing 31/07/2026 and saving gives Validation Error:

“The payroll lock date (31/07/2026) cannot be later than the accounting lock date (30/06/2026). What happened: closing payroll for a period that accounting still accepts would leave the journal entries and the payslips out of step. How to fix it: first lock accounting (Accounting › Close › Month accounting › Close the month, “Lock dates” button) up to the same date and then set the payroll lock date.”

To move accounting forward, the administrator opens Accounting › Close › Close the month, clicks Lock dates, chooses the date (the date picker is a calendar that opens when you click the field) and types the reason; when applied, the screen says “Lock dates saved. General lock date moved up to 30/06/2026. The reason was recorded in the audit.” In the demo, payroll was then saved at 30/06/2026 without a message. Moving accounting forward may be refused if there are unreconciled bank statement lines in the period. Accounting lock dates are explained in Lock dates.

Closing payroll closes the month for everyone

Once the payroll lock date is saved, nobody creates or validates payslips for that period. Only a corrective payslip goes in, with an audited exception. Only close payroll once the month's salaries have been paid, declared and posted. Pending validation by a certified accountant: at what point in the month to close payroll.

Expected result

• With the right month, Create the payslips of the month creates one payslip per employee and “Payslips created. 8 payslips created; 0 employees already had a payslip.” appears.
• A batch for a closed month is not saved, so it does not appear in Payroll › Process › Process the month.

When to contact support

• The message appears in a month after the Payroll lock date.
• You need to move the payroll lock date back.
• The Payroll Administrator's exception is Active for the period and the corrective payslip for that month is still refused.

Information to send

• The company, the batch month and the Payroll lock date.
• The full text of the message, copied from the screen.
• The profile you logged in with.