How to Configure Allowance Rules

What This Feature Does

Allowance Rules let you define additional payments triggered by specific activities, conditions, or work types. Unlike shift rules that modify the base rate, allowances are extra payments added on top of the standard rate. For example, a travel allowance for remote site work, a height allowance for elevated work, or a tool allowance for workers using their own equipment.

Allowance rules are configured within Rule Groups inside a pay rate document.

Key Concepts

Allowance Types

There are five types of allowances you can configure:

Weekly & Fortnightly Allowances

Weekly and fortnightly allowances are paid once per period rather than per hour, day, or timesheet. They use the account's payroll week settings to determine period boundaries, and apply on the first timesheet that brings the period total into the valid hours range:

• Minimum Hours: If set, the allowance is granted on the first timesheet where the weekly/fortnightly total reaches the minimum (e.g. apply a weekly allowance once 38 hours are worked in the week).
• Maximum Hours: If set, the allowance is only granted while the period total stays at or below the maximum.
• No hours conditions: If neither is set, the allowance applies on the first timesheet of the period.

Once granted, the allowance is not applied again for the remainder of that week or fortnight. For weekly/fortnightly types, the Minimum/Maximum Hours conditions are evaluated against the period total (not a single day or timesheet).

Conditions

Each allowance can have conditions that must be met for it to apply:

• Activity matching: Triggered when the timesheet activity matches a pattern
• Role-based: Only applies to workers in specific roles
• Time-based: Only applies during certain hours or days
• Shift start time: Only applies when the shift starts within a defined window (see below)
• Repetition frequency: How often the allowance is paid (every shift, once per week, etc.)

Shift Start Time Window

The Shift Start Time Window condition restricts an allowance to shifts that begin within a specific time range. For example, a window of 4:00 AM to 6:00 AM means the allowance only applies when the worker's shift starts between those times (such as an early-start allowance).

This works the same way as the Based on Shift Start Time matching used by Shift Rules: it looks only at the shift's start time, not at when the hours are worked.

• It matches on the shift start time only — a shift that starts before the window but works into it does not qualify. (If you instead want the allowance whenever the shift overlaps a time range, use the Time of Day condition.)
• The window start is inclusive and the window end is exclusive — a shift starting exactly at the window end does not match.
• Overnight windows are supported: a window of 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM matches shifts that start late in the evening or in the early hours of the morning.
• Leave both times blank to ignore this condition.

Enable/Disable Toggle

Each allowance rule has an enabled/disabled toggle, allowing you to temporarily turn off an allowance without deleting it.

Payable on Leave Timesheets

By default, allowances are only paid on worked timesheets — leave timesheets (RDO taken, annual leave, sick leave, etc.) never attract allowances. Some awards and EBAs, however, require an allowance to be paid even when a worker is on a particular kind of leave (for example, a Travel Allowance payable on RDO taken).

The Pay on leave timesheets toggle (under Leave Eligibility) makes this opt-in, per allowance:

• Off (default): The allowance is ignored on leave timesheets, exactly as before. Enabling the feature for one allowance does not change the behaviour of any other.
• On: The allowance is also evaluated against leave timesheets, in addition to worked timesheets. The leave hours are used as the allowance's base hours.

When the toggle is on, you can optionally set Limit to leave types to restrict the allowance to specific leave types (Annual, Sick, Personal, RDO, Unpaid, Other). Leave it empty to pay on any leave type. For example, set it to RDO so a Travel Allowance pays only on RDO-taken leave and not on annual or sick leave.

Important details:

• Leave hours never count toward overtime. Because a leave timesheet has no overtime, an allowance whose conditions require overtime (an overtime-only allowance, or a minimum-overtime-hours condition) still will not pay on leave.
• Only Daily, Per Timesheet and Hourly allowances can pay on leave. Weekly and Fortnightly allowances are not eligible — a leave timesheet isn't part of a worked week/fortnight total — so the toggle is hidden for those types.
• The allowance's other conditions (activity, role, time-of-day, employment type, etc.) are still evaluated against the leave timesheet, so an allowance only pays on leave if it both opts in and otherwise qualifies.
• This toggle only governs rule-based allowances. Pay-item rate overrides set against a worker continue to apply on leave timesheets regardless of this toggle.

Suppressing Other Allowances

By default, every allowance that qualifies for a timesheet is paid. Awards and EBAs, however, often say that paying one allowance means another should not also be paid. There are two ways to express this, both scoped to allowances within the same rule group:

• Suppresses other allowances (directional) — On an allowance, choose other allowances it replaces. When the chosen allowance actually pays out on a timesheet, the allowances it suppresses are not paid. Use this for "paid in lieu of", "paid instead of", or "X is not payable when Y applies" clauses. This is one-directional and can name any number of allowances.
• Exclusion groups (only one wins) — Create a named, ordered group of allowances where, at most, one is ever paid. The group is ordered by priority (drag to reorder); the first member in priority order that actually pays out wins, and the rest are suppressed. Use this for "only one of X / Y / Z applies" tiered sets. The winner is chosen by your priority order, not by which allowance would pay the most on a given timesheet — so order the members from most- to least-preferred. An allowance can belong to at most one exclusion group.

Important details:

• Suppression only happens when the "winning" allowance actually pays on that timesheet (a positive amount or a matched manually-added allowance) — not merely when it qualifies. It is evaluated per timesheet.
• Both mechanisms can suppress manually-added (Operations) allowances, not just automatic ones.
• A suppressed allowance is not shown as a $0 line item. Instead, it is explained in the calculation reasoning for that timesheet (visible in the pay rate details), so you can always see why it was not paid.
• The resolution order is: work out which allowances apply → apply directional suppression → apply exclusion groups among the survivors.

How to Create an Allowance Rule

1. Open a pay rate document from the Pay Rate Documents tab
2. Navigate to the Rule Groups section
3. In the allowance rules area, click "Add Allowance Rule"
4. Fill in the form fields described below
5. Click "Save" to create the allowance rule Basic Details:

• Name: Descriptive name (e.g., "Travel Allowance", "Height Work Premium")
• Type: Select the allowance type (Hourly, Daily, Per Timesheet, Weekly, or Fortnightly)
• Value: The amount or rate for the allowance

Conditions:

• Activity Pattern: Text pattern to match against timesheet activities (e.g., "confined space", "height work")
• Role Filter: Restrict to specific worker roles
• Time Conditions: When the allowance applies (all shifts, weekday only, weekend only)
• Shift Start Time Window: Restrict the allowance to shifts that start within a Start/End time window (found under Advanced Conditions). Leave blank to ignore.
• Minimum / Maximum Hours: For Weekly and Fortnightly types, the hours thresholds the period total must meet for the allowance to apply
• Repetition: How frequently the allowance is paid

Leave Eligibility:

• Pay on leave timesheets: Off by default. Turn on to also pay this allowance on leave timesheets (e.g. RDO taken). Leave hours never count toward overtime.
• Limit to leave types: When Pay on leave timesheets is on, optionally restrict to specific leave types (Annual, Sick, Personal, RDO, Unpaid, Other). Leave empty to pay on any leave type.

Cost Code:

• Cost Code: Select the cost code this allowance should be tracked against
• AI suggestions provide recommended cost code matches with confidence percentages

How to Edit an Allowance Rule

1. In the allowance rules section, find the rule you want to edit
2. Click the actions menu (three dots) on the right side of the row
3. Select "Edit"
4. Modify the type, value, conditions, or cost code as needed
5. Click "Save" to apply changes

How to Enable or Disable an Allowance Rule

1. In the allowance rules table, find the rule
2. Toggle the enabled/disabled switch in the row
3. Disabled rules are preserved but won't apply during rate calculation

Understanding the Allowance Rules Table

The allowance rules section displays a table with:

• Name: The rule name
• Type: Allowance type (Hourly, Daily, Per Timesheet, Weekly, or Fortnightly)
• Value: The payment amount
• Enabled: Toggle switch showing active/inactive status
• Conditions: Summary of when the allowance applies

Examples

Travel Allowance

• Type: Daily
• Value: $25.00
• Condition: Activity contains "travel" or "remote site"
• Cost Code: Travel & Accommodation
• Workers receive $25/day when working at remote sites

Confined Space Premium

• Type: Hourly
• Value: $8.50
• Condition: Activity contains "confined space"
• Cost Code: Safety Premiums
• Workers receive $8.50 for each hour of confined space work

Tool Allowance

• Type: Per Timesheet
• Value: $15.00
• Condition: Role matches "Carpenter" or "Electrician"
• Cost Code: Equipment Allowances
• Tradespeople using their own tools receive a flat $15 allowance per timesheet

Early Start Allowance (Shift Start Time Window)

• Type: Daily
• Value: $20.00
• Condition: Shift Start Time Window 4:00 AM - 6:00 AM
• Cost Code: Shift Allowances
• Workers receive a flat $20 when their shift starts between 4:00 AM and 6:00 AM. A shift starting at 6:30 AM does not qualify, even if some hours fall in the early-morning range.

Weekly Industry Allowance

• Type: Weekly
• Value: $30.00
• Condition: Minimum Hours 38 (weekly total)
• Cost Code: Industry Allowances
• The allowance is paid once on the first timesheet that brings the worker's weekly total to 38 hours

Fortnightly Site Allowance

• Type: Fortnightly
• Value: $60.00
• Condition: Minimum Hours 76 (fortnightly total)
• Cost Code: Site Allowances
• The allowance is paid once per fortnight on the first timesheet that brings the fortnightly total to 76 hours

Travel Allowance Payable on RDO Taken (Payable on Leave)

• Type: Daily
• Value: $25.00
• Leave Eligibility: Pay on leave timesheets on, Limit to leave types set to RDO
• Cost Code: Travel & Accommodation
• The Travel Allowance is paid on RDO-taken leave timesheets as well as on worked timesheets, but not on annual or sick leave. This replaces the manual workaround of adding the allowance by hand on each RDO leave day.

Travel Paid in Lieu of Site Allowance (Directional Suppression)

• Travel Allowance — Daily, $40.00, applies on remote-site timesheets
• On the Travel Allowance, set Suppresses other allowances to Site Allowance
• When Travel pays out, the Site Allowance is not paid. On timesheets where Travel does not pay, the Site Allowance applies as normal. The suppressed Site Allowance appears in the reasoning, not as a separate line.

Only One Site Allowance Applies (Exclusion Group)

• Create three allowances: Remote Site Allowance ($50), Metro Site Allowance ($30), Base Site Allowance ($15)
• Create an exclusion group named "Site Allowance Tier" with members ordered: 1. Remote, 2. Metro, 3. Base
• On any given timesheet, only the highest-priority member that actually pays is kept. If Remote pays, Metro and Base are suppressed; if Remote does not apply but Metro does, only Metro is paid. The suppressed members are explained in the reasoning.

Tips

• Match your award: Configure allowances that align with your award document or EBA
• Use specific activity patterns: The more specific the activity match, the fewer false positives
• Disable instead of delete: If an allowance is seasonal or temporary, disable it rather than removing it
• Check cost codes: Ensure every allowance links to the correct cost code for project costing accuracy
• Test conditions carefully: Review which timesheets match after applying rates to verify allowance conditions work as expected

What's Next

• Return to Rule Groups to configure other rule types
• Set up Shift Rules for time-based rate multipliers
• Accrue Rostered Day Off entitlements with RDO Rules
• Configure Minimum Engagement Rules for guaranteed hours
• Learn about Cost Code Linking for accurate project costing