Décimo Tercer Mes

The décimo tercer mes (thirteenth month salary) is a mandatory payment under Panama labor law, paid in three partidas per year. CifraHQ automates the entire cycle: the partidas exist on the statutory schedule, calculate themselves from your closed payrolls, stay up to date when periods change, and remind you before every payment date. Your only manual step is Review & Post.

Where to find it

Go to Payroll > Décimo.

Statutory schedule

Each calendar year has three partidas. They appear on the Décimo page automatically — you do not create them.

When the 15th falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the payment date moves to the preceding business day (for example, August 15, 2026 is a Saturday, so the partida pays on Friday, August 14). CifraHQ sets this automatically.

The first partida's window starts in the previous calendar year (December 16). After December 16, next year's partidas appear as well.

Décimo formula

For each employee, the partida amount is:

Décimo Base = Sum of décimo-affecting earnings in the window ÷ 12
CSS         = Décimo Base × 7.25%   (special rate — not the regular 9.75%)
Net Décimo  = Décimo Base − CSS

Earnings counted are those from closed Payroll periods overlapping the window, for concepts flagged Affects Décimo.

The décimo is exempt from Seguro Educativo. Only the CSS 7.25% special rate is deducted; no income tax is withheld on partida payments.

Example: An employee earned B/. 3,000 in the window:

Décimo Base = B/. 3,000 ÷ 12 = B/. 250.00
CSS         = B/. 250.00 × 7.25% = B/. 18.13
Net         = B/. 231.87

Partida lifecycle — automatic until the last step

What happens automatically

• When you close the Payroll period that completes a window, the partida calculates itself and you get a bell notification: "Partida N ready — X Employees, B/. Y." The period screen also shows a ready to post banner linking straight to the partida.
• When you reopen a period inside a window whose partida is calculated but not yet posted, the partida recalculates (or Returns to Scheduled if the window is no longer complete) and you are notified of the change. Reopening is blocked if the partida is already Paid.
• Every day, a background check keeps the schedule current, catches anything missed, and raises reminders 15 days and 5 days before each payment date, plus an Overdue alert if the date passes with the partida unpaid. Overdue partidas are flagged on the list.
• Employees terminated during the window are excluded — their proportional décimo is handled by the Termination wizard instead, so nobody is paid twice.

Review & Post

Open a Ready to post partida. The detail page shows when it was calculated, the totals, and one line per employee (window earnings, décimo base, CSS, net). When the amounts look right, click Review & Post. This:

• Posts the journal entry: debit Décimo Expense, credit CSS Payable and Wages Payable.
• Transitions the partida to Paid and locks it.

Disburse the payment through the same bank transfer process used for regular Payroll. To record the cash side, see Payroll Payments.

A Paid partida cannot be deleted or recalculated, and the Payroll periods in its window cannot be reopened. Reverse the journal entry first if you must correct it.

Manual partidas

New Partida still exists for exceptional cases, but the statutory dates are set by law — CifraHQ derives the window and payment date from the year and partida number. Duplicate partidas for the same year and number are blocked.

A Scheduled partida can also be calculated manually with Calculate at any time; the automatic recalculation keeps it accurate afterwards.

Décimo on termination

A terminated employee is entitled to the proportional décimo accrued in the current window up to the termination date. The Termination wizard computes it automatically, net of any partida amounts already calculated for that employee, so the liquidación and the partida never double-pay.

Tips

• Just close your payrolls on time. The décimo takes care of itself — closing the last period of a window is the trigger. There is no separate process to remember.
• Watch the bell. Ready-to-post, changed-amount, and due-date alerts all arrive as notifications. The reminders start 15 days before each statutory date.
• CSS at 7.25% is non-negotiable. The décimo rate is a special blended rate; it is not the standard 9.75%.
• No Seguro Educativo, no ISR withholding on partida payments.

Related: Payroll Payments · Terminations · Payroll Periods and Runs · Payroll Concepts · Employees