P4 Software / cifraHQ

Monthly Accrual

Monthly Accrual

Each month, when a Payroll period is closed, CifraHQ automatically calculates and journals the cesantia provision for every active indefinite-contract employee. This creates the balance that feeds the Quarterly Deposit.

How the accrual is calculated

For each employee in a closed Payroll period:

Cotizable Base = sum of all earning lines where Concept.AffectsCesantia = true

Prima Provision    = Cotizable Base x 1.92%
Indemnity Provision = Cotizable Base x 5.00%
Monthly Total      = Prima Provision + Indemnity Provision (6.92%)

The cotizable base is the same base used for CSS contributions. It includes base salary, overtime, and cotizable bonuses; it excludes non-cotizable allowances.


Journal entry

The monthly accrual posts a journal entry per Payroll period:

Entry Debit Credit
Prima provision (1.92%) Cesantia Expense Cesantia Payable
Indemnity provision (5.00%) Cesantia Expense Cesantia Payable

The journal posts at the period's posting date (the same date the Payroll run is closed). Both concepts post in a single journal entry grouped by period.

GL accounts must be configured in Account Priming before the accrual journal will post. If accounts are missing, the Payroll run will close but the cesantia journal entry will be skipped and flagged in the Compliance Calendar.


CesantiaBalance ledger

In addition to the GL journal, each monthly accrual updates the employee's CesantiaBalance record:

Column Updated by Description
AccruedPrima Monthly accrual Cumulative prima provision since hire
AccruedIndemnity Monthly accrual Cumulative indemnity provision since hire
CutoffDate Monthly accrual Date through which balances are calculated

The difference between Accrued and Deposited amounts gives you PendingDeposit - the amount that must be transferred to the trust in the next Quarterly Deposit.


Viewing monthly accruals

From the balance grid:

  1. Go to Payroll > Cesantia Fund > Balances.
  2. Each row shows an employee's cumulative AccruedPrima, AccruedIndemnity, DepositedPrima, DepositedIndemnity, and PendingDeposit.
  3. Click Recalculate to rebuild all balances from the Payroll run line history (useful after correcting past runs).

From the GL: Navigate to Accounting > Journal Entries and filter by the Payroll posting date. The cesantia accrual journal will show as a Payroll-type entry with lines referencing the Cesantia Expense and Cesantia Payable accounts.


Recalculating balances

If a past Payroll run was voided and reprocessed, the cesantia balances may be out of sync. Use the Recalculate button on the Cesantia Balances page to rebuild all employee balances from the current Payroll run line history. This does not create or modify GL entries - it only updates the CesantiaBalance ledger rows.


Employees with multiple contracts

If an employee has more than one active contract (e.g., dual employment), each contract generates its own CesantiaBalance row. The Quarterly Deposit batch includes lines per contract. This is rare but supported.


Related: Policy Setup - Quarterly Deposit - Balances page - Periods and Runs

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