Answer
Yes. Your subscription is sized on how many employees are on file, not on how often each one is paid. Someone you only pay a few times a year still uses a place on your plan.
What counts towards the limit
Every employee counts unless they have been terminated or deleted. That includes employees you have paused by unticking Active pay recipient?, employees on unpaid leave, and casuals who go months between pays.
If you run more than one company, the limit is the total across all of your companies rather than a separate allowance for each one.
Finalising an employee through the termination process is the only thing that frees a place. See What Are The Different Employment States?
Working out which plan you need
Add up everyone on file. If you have 5 full time staff and 5 casuals, that is 10 employees, so you need a plan that covers at least 10. The small plan covers 5 employees and the medium plan covers 30, so 10 employees needs the medium plan even when the casuals are only paid occasionally through the year.
What happens if you have more employees than your plan allows
Lightning Payroll does not only warn you. The employees over your limit are locked, which means they cannot be edited or included in a pay. Lightning Payroll keeps the employees you added first and locks the most recently added ones, so you do not get to choose which of your staff stay available.
Changing plans during the year
- Moving up can be done at any time, and you are credited for the unused part of your current plan. See What Do I Do If I Need More Employees Throughout The Year?
- Moving down takes effect at your next renewal rather than part way through a term. You can choose a smaller plan when you renew, or contact us and we will set that up for you.
Please note you cannot move up and down between plans as staff numbers change through the year. Choose the plan that covers the most employees you expect to have on file at once.
