New Hire / Termination Payroll Adjustment

Download and open in Excel or Google Sheets

Requires a Tools Club membership — log in first to access the file.

Enter the employee’s regular pay rate and the full pay period

This establishes the baseline the proration is calculated from.

Enter the actual days or hours worked in the partial period

For a new hire’s first period or a departing employee’s final period.

Review the automatic prorated pay calculation

This applies a consistent method based on the actual time worked.

For terminations, add any final pay considerations

Unused PTO payout requirements vary by jurisdiction — check what applies before finalizing.

Using an inconsistent proration method

Whether you prorate by calendar days or actual working days in the period, be consistent — mixing methods creates confusing, hard-to-defend results.

Forgetting jurisdiction-specific final pay timing rules

Some jurisdictions require final pay to an outgoing employee within a specific, sometimes very short, timeframe — check applicable requirements before assuming standard payroll timing applies.

Missing unused PTO payout on termination

Where legally required or per company policy, unused accrued PTO often needs to be included in final pay — don’t overlook this.

Not double-checking the calculation on a manual override

If a proration doesn’t fit the standard formula for any reason, have a second person verify the manual calculation before it goes into payroll.