This article explains how to configure bonus payments in Personio. 

Bonus payments are compensations in addition to any fixed salary or other compensation types. In Personio, you can configure two types of bonus payments, based on your Personio plan:

• Variable bonuses: Flexibly define bonus payments and payment intervals, as well as the amount to be paid out.
• Goal bonus: Set a payment tied to a goal, which can be defined under the Performance tab.

Before you start

To manage or view salary components in Personio, you need permissions for the employee’s salary information.

Create a variable bonus

To define bonus payments that are independent of employee performance, create a variable bonus. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Go to the employee's profile. Click Compensation.
2. Click Add and select Bonus.
3. Select Variable bonus.
4. Enter the necessary data and save the bonus.

After you have saved, you can edit the bonus in the compensation overview.

Note:
▶︎ The additional Bonus column in the compensation breakdown table only shows for the employees who receive the bonus. 
▶︎ To be paid out, a Variable bonus has to be added manually in the Bonus column of the compensation breakdown table, or via an import.

Create a variable bonus using an import

The import can be performed for single employees or for multiple employees at the same time, as long as the variable bonus has been enabled within the respective employee profiles. Learn how to import your variable bonus payments in our article Step 3: Importing Salaries.

Edit or stop a variable bonus

To edit or stop a variable bonus, follow these steps. Note that to edit the bonus you need to add a new one and schedule it.

1. Go to the employee's profile. Click Compensation.
2. On the relevant recurring bonus widget, click the three-dots icon.
3. To edit the bonus, select Add. Make the necessary adjustments and save.
4. To stop the bonus. Select Stop. Select the date until which the bonus is supposed to stay in effect and confirm your choice.

Delete a variable bonus

Note:
▶︎ If you delete the variable bonus, Personio deletes all past payments you have entered for the bonus.  
▶︎ Once the bonus payment has been terminated, the bonus column will still be displayed in the salary table for following years when the bonus type None is valid.

To delete variable bonuses, follow these steps:

1. Go to the employee's profile. Click Compensation.
2. Click the relevant bonus widget.
3. In the Changes window, select Delete.
4. Confirm your choice.

Create a goal bonus

You can also create a goal bonus. If you have the Performance package, you can link the bonus to an employee's goal. Personio then calculates the bonus payout based on the goal’s progress. If you do not have the Performance package, you can still create this type of bonus. However, you will not be able to confirm the payout in the employee's salary tab.

Learn how to configure goals and subgoals and how to link a salary bonus to a goal. 

To create a goal bonus, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Employee profile and click Compensation.
2. Click Add and select Bonus.
3. Select Goal bonus.
4. Under Target bonus, insert the currency and maximum amount that the bonus can entail.
5. Then select a payout frequency from the drop-down-menu. To set the payment interval.
   ▶︎ Monthly
   ▶︎ Quarterly
   ▶︎ Half-yearly
   ▶︎ Yearly
   Note:
   In case the Bonus period is set as Yearly, you have the option to select a month.
   ▶︎ If a month is selected, the payout takes place in that month after the bonus period. For a bonus defined as yearly in October, the payout for the bonus period 2023 will be October 2024.
   ▶︎ If no month is selected, the company settings under Settings > Payroll > Goal bonus distribution are valid. In this case, payout follows company settings at the end of the period, after the period or evenly distributed across the period.
   ▶︎You can manage currencies at the compensation level for each employee. Workplace changes will not automatically change an employee's compensation currency, meaning employees will not inherit the workplace currency. If there's a mismatch between an employee's compensation currency and the workplace currency, a validation alert will notify you of the discrepancy.
6. In Effective from, choose from the calendar from which date on the bonus should be applied.
7. Click Save.

To be paid out, a goal bonus has to be confirmed manually in the Bonus column of the Salary table.

Confirm a goal bonus payment

This feature is only available with the Performance package:

To pay out a goal bonus, the payment needs to be confirmed. Depending on your settings, this occurs at the end of the bonus period, after the period, or evenly distributed over the period.

The bonus amount is then displayed in the employee profile of the relevant employee, in the Compensation tab under the Breakdown.

To confirm the bonus payout of a goal bonus, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Employee profile and click Compensation. Click Breakdown.
2. In the Bonus payout column, click on the Warning sign. The payout amount calculated based on the achieved goal is displayed.
3. Click Confirm. If you want to change the amount to be paid out, click into the bonus field and manually adjust, then click Confirm. 

The bonus payment will be displayed in the preliminary payroll for the respective month.