Collaborate without compromising on payroll security using Zoho Payroll

Welcome to the next session of our Community Learning Series. 

Today we will throw some light on how Zoho Payroll lets you collaborate with your distributed workforce and stay in control of payroll operations without compromising on the security of your employees' data. 

As a Zoho Payroll user, your organisation will possess all the crucial information about your employees like bank account details, personal information, and salary details. Therefore, it is critical that this information stays secure. If it falls into the wrong hands, it can lead to identity theft or worse. This in turn can have adverse effects on your employees' trust and might damage your organisation's reputation. 

To show how you can take control of your payroll operations in a secure way, we'll look at the below organisational hierarchy as an example.

                                        

The following table lists the responsibilities for each role as part of the payroll processing team.  

                                                

From the table above, you can see that only the CEO requires complete access to all the modules. The remaining users need access only to specific modules based on their roles. 

As the payroll admin of the organisation, the CEO can set up multi-level access in Zoho Payroll and allow the users in the organisation to access only selected data and functions. This way the CEO can maintain centralised control yet present the same user interface for all of the staff to get their work done. Distinctive user roles help cross-department staff can work in synergy without compromising the security of payroll data. 

As your organization's CEO or payroll admin, here's how you can assign access for each of your user roles.

Log in to Zoho Payroll.

Under Settings, select Users and Roles. 

                                                     

Refer to our self-help resources for step-by-step guidance on creating multiple distinct user roles.

Once you have created all the roles within your organisation, let's define the permissions for each of the roles. 

Payroll staff:

Let's assume that the responsibility of your payroll staff will be to maintain and update payroll records, validate payroll inputs, and get the pay run ready. 

Your payroll staff will need to collect employee details and payroll inputs submitted through various sources, and then create a pay run with all the information collected. 

They will need access to the following modules:

• Employee module to maintain employee records.
  
• Pay run module to create and edit pay runs. 
  
• Preferences module to collect employee reimbursement and POI data 
  

   

                                               

   

Here you can allow the payroll staff to only view the basic employee details, but not create or edit them. This will ensure they cannot tamper with the employee data. 

In the pay run module, you can decide that they can only create and edit the pay runs, not approve or pay them. When you move on to setting the permissions for the other roles, you'll probably give the payroll admin approval access for any pay run and give the finance team permission to make payments to the employees. Each role has a unique set of permissions based on its duties and position in the hierarchy. 

                                

Now that the different roles have been set, the admin can invite users into the payroll organisation. 

Select Users under Users and Roles and start adding your employees under the different roles you have curated. All they have to do is accept the invitations they receive via email and create a Zoho account using the same email, and they are good to go.

Here's how the users will be seeing Zoho Payroll based on the roles that they've been assigned. 

HR staff:

Can add new employee details while onboarding new staff to Zoho Payroll.

Payroll staff:

Can enter payroll inputs of employees, create and edit pay runs.

HR manager:

Can approve salary revisions, reimbursements and proof of investments. Has access to all reports.

Finance manager:

Can create, edit and delete employee loans and record salary payments. 

External auditor:

Can access payroll, statutory and tax reports. 

So the roles have been created, the users are added, and the admin knows which actions each user can perform. We haven't mentioned user tracking yet, but that's another kind of accountability that's available. If a discrepancy occurs in the payroll system, the payroll admin can check the activity log report to see exactly which actions each user has performed. All of this helps you keep your payroll data safe with Zoho Payroll.

Do let us know in the comments below how you have customised the roles in your payroll organisation. 

Also, check out our previous post on a checklist to follow before hitting pay run here.

Until next time!

• Topic Participants

• Archana

  

• Recent Topics

• Add Hebrew & RTL Support to Feedback Widget

  Hello Zoho Desk Team, How are you? We are using Zoho Desk and would like to utilize the Feedback Widget. While Zoho Desk itself supports Hebrew and RTL, the Feedback Widget unfortunately does not. We kindly request that Hebrew and full RTL support be

• Merge Tickets Directly from Contact Page in Zoho Desk

  Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, We are writing to request a new feature that would allow users to easily merge tickets directly from the contact page in Zoho Desk. Currently, the only option to merge tickets is from the Tickets list view page, which can

• Different languages for users

  Hello, Do you plan to enable individual users to select their languages for interface? Currently language can be changed for everyone - it looks like a settings for a whole portal, which is not good when you are working internationally. Best regards,

• Kaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List

  Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore how

• 2025年 Zoho コミュニティ 活動の振り返り 🎉

  ユーザーの皆さん、こんにちは！コミュニティチームの中野です。 2025年も多くの学びと出会いがあったZoho コミュニティ。 本記事では今年の活動を振り返りながら、フォーラムの投稿・参加者の皆さん・イベントのハイライトをご紹介していきます。 目次 フォーラム：注目の投稿 フォーラム：多くの貢献をしてくださった方々 ユーザー交流会振り返り ワークアウト振り返り その他のトピックス 1. フォーラム：注目の投稿 本フォーラムでは様々な議論と知識の共有が行われました。 ユーザーの皆さんが日々の業務で直面する課題を投稿し、経験豊富なユーザーさん達が実践的な解決策を提供してくださいました。

• Customer Management: #3 Giving Customers Control & Privilege

  Rio, the founder of RenoTech Solutions, a fast-growing digital service company, found itself juggling a dozen different services for its clients. They handled one-time setup fees, recurring monthly invoices, and custom milestone-based billing for projects.

• Can I use a Standalone CRM Function as the Callback URL For Async Export Data API?

  I am creating an export job using this API https://www.zoho.com/analytics/api/v2/bulk-api/export-data-async/create-export/view-id.html There is a "callbackUrl" key in the CONFIG object. I tried copying the URL for a standalone function in CRM which can

• Books Api: listing expenses created after certain dates

  Is there any parameter I can add to the List Expenses endpoint that will let me look up expenses by when they were created?

• Add RTL (Right-to-Left) Text Direction Support Across All Zoho Learn Editing Interfaces

  Hi Zoho Learn Team, Hope you're doing well. We would like to request an important enhancement to Zoho Learn regarding support for right-to-left (RTL) languages such as Hebrew and Arabic. 🔹 Current Issue While the Knowledge Base Article editor provides

• Add Hebrew Support for Meeting Transcripts Provided by ZIA in Zoho Cliq

  Hi Zoho Cliq Team, Hope you're doing well. We would like to request the addition of Hebrew language support for the Meeting Transcript and Summary feature in Zoho Cliq. Currently the transcript and summary feature is available for recorded meetings and

• Remote Control Functionality During Screen Sharing in Zoho Cliq

  Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We would like to request the addition of remote control functionality during screen sharing sessions in Zoho Cliq. Currently, while screen sharing in Cliq is very useful, it lacks the ability for another participant to take control

• Real-Time Screen Annotation During Zoho Cliq Screen Sharing

  Hi Zoho Support Team, Hope you're doing well. We’d like to request the addition of real-time screen annotation tools during screen sharing sessions in Zoho Cliq video calls. 🔍 What We're Looking For: The ability for the presenter—and optionally, other

• Centralized Organization Information Management in Zoho One

  Dear Zoho One Support, I'm writing to propose a feature that would significantly improve the user experience and streamline data management within Zoho One. Current Challenge: Currently, managing organization information across various Zoho One apps requires

• Enhance Zoho One Conditional Assignment to Fully Reassign App Settings When Changing Departments

  Hi Zoho Team, We’d like to submit a feature request regarding the current behavior of Zoho One’s conditional assignment logic when moving a user between departments. 🔧 Current Limitation As it stands, Zoho One’s conditional assignment does not remove

• Ability to Filter Alias Mailboxes in Zoho Recruit

  Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you are doing well. We would like to request a feature enhancement regarding the handling of alias mailboxes in Zoho Recruit. Currently, when we connect an alias mailbox (e.g., jobs@domain.com) from our Zoho One account

• Automatic Department and Employee Sync Between Zoho One and Zoho People

  Dear Zoho Support, I'm writing to propose a valuable feature request that would streamline data management and improve user experience within the Zoho ecosystem: automatic synchronization between departments and employees in Zoho One and Zoho People.

• Add Attachment Support to Zoho Flow Mailhook / Email Trigger Module

  Dear Zoho Support Team, We hope you are well. We would like to kindly request a feature enhancement for the Mailhook module in Zoho Flow. Currently, the email trigger in Zoho Flow provides access to the message body, subject, from address, and to address,

• Prefered Bin Missing in android APP

  Andoroid app dosent show preferred bin in the picklist. The workaround support reccomend is to use the computre to create the picklist. it shuld be information to be shown aas basic for the pciker.

• Open Sans Font in Zoho Books is not Open Sans.

  Font choice in customising PDF Templates is very limited, we cannot upload custom fonts, and to make things worse, the font names are not accurate. I selected Open Sans, and thought the system was bugging, but no, Open Sans is not Open Sans. The real

• Function #1: Convert an accepted Estimate to Sales Order automatically in Zoho Books

  As you’re aware, Zoho Books provides a default option to have the estimates automatically converted to invoices once your customer accepts them. Many of you wanted a similar option for sales orders, so here’s a workflow that converts accepted estimates

• Write-Off multiple invoices and tax calculation

  Good evening, I have many invoices which are long overdue and I do not expect them to be paid. I believe I should write them off. I did some tests and I have some questions:  - I cannot find a way to write off several invoices together. How can I do that,

• Reusable Jira Connection for Multiple Zoho Projects Imports

  Hello Zoho Projects Team, We would like to raise a concern and submit a feature request regarding the Jira → Zoho Projects migration process, specifically around how Jira connections are handled. Current Behavior: When setting up a Jira connection for

• Zoho invoice doesn't support Arabic language

  I added a clause in the terms & conditions section in Arabic but it doesn't appear when I sent or print it.

• Recurring Invoice Placeholder Not Updating Billing Period

  Hi, I’m using Zoho Invoice Free and want the billing period to update automatically in recurring invoices. In Item Description I tried: Billing Period: %(m-6)% %(y)% to %(m-1)% %(y)% but even if the invoice date is in 2026, it still shows the period based

• Related list Mobile Device

  Hello, We use an the Zoho creator application to make reports linked to Accounts. On the computer: it's easy to go the Account and see all the created reports in the related list below On iPad/Phone ZOHO CRM APP: we cannot see the reports on those accounts

• Can't update the company address in zoho invoice

  Dear Sir/Madam, I want to update the company address in Zoho Invoice but failed. It popped out a sentence "Invalid value passed for Website". Please advice how to solve this problem. Thank you.

• Is there a plan to allow for the hierarchical organization of Customers / Companies in Zoho Billing?

  We have a few customers who have organizational structures that we haven't quite found a way to deal with in Zoho Billing. In CRM, these sub-companies (or subsidiaries or whatever you want to call them) all have another CRM account as the parent account.

• 【Zoho CRM】作業リスト機能リリースのお知らせ

  ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から、作業リスト機能リリースのお知らせ情報をご紹介します。 目次 作業リスト機能　概要 機能①　自分の未完了の活動 機能②　処理待ち 機能③　自分の作業リスト 作業リスト機能　概要 営業チームでは、CRM内に業務やデータが分散しているため、管理が煩雑になりがちです。この断片化は、機会の見逃しや生産性の低下につながります。 作業リスト機能は、タブを横断する業務項目をひとつのカスタマイズ可能なダッシュボードに集約し、業務を効率的に管理できるようにします。

• SalesIQとPageSenseの利用について

  初めての投稿で場違いだったらすいません。 弊社ではSalesIQを運用しているのですが、追加でPageSenseの導入もしたいと現場からの声があります。 両サービスともクッキー同意バナーが必要なサービスなのですが 弊社では同意無しに情報はとりませんという方針なので 2つ入れると2つバナーを出す必要がでてきます・・・ 両サービスを運用されてる方があれば運用状況とか教えてほしいです。 PageSenseについては詳細まで機能を理解してないなかでの質問です。

• Zohomail - The "All Messages" vs "In Box"

  Why do some new email message appear under the all messages view but not in my inbox? That's really annoying but to be fair I've experienced the same with gmail.

• Parent-Child Tickets using API or Deluge

  Hi Everyone, We are looking at the parent-child ticketing features in Zoho Desk. We want to be able to create a parent ticket at customer level and nest child tickets underneath. The issue we are facing is to be able to automate this. I'm checking the

• Customer ticket creation via Microsoft Teams

  Hi all, I'm looking to see if someone could point me in the right direction. I'd love to make it so my customers/ end users can make tickets, see responses and respond within microsoft teams. As Admin and an Agent i've installed the zoho assist app within

• Closing connected ticket after closing WA conversation

  Hi, At the moment, once someone sends a message to our WA number, a corresponding ticket is automatically created. After the question is answered, our support department closes the chat/conversation. However, after that, the connected ticket is still

• Note sync turn off

  Hi, Is it possible to turn off notes sync between task notes and the parent module? (Account/Deal)

• Basic Plan Active but Survey Creation Still Limited to 3 Surveys

  I have an active Basic (Monthly) subscription (valid period: Dec 24, 2025 – Jan 24, 2026), but the system still limits survey creation to only 3 surveys, which matches Free plan behavior. The subscription appears active in Portal Information, however

• Manage control over Microsoft Office 365 integrations with profile-based sync permissions

  Greetings all, Previously, all users in Zoho CRM had access to enable Microsoft integrations (Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks) in their accounts, regardless of their profile type. Users with administrator profiles can now manage profile-based permissions

• 2025 in Review: Powering Field Services Forward—One Feature at a Time

  As 2025 draws to a close, it’s time to pause and reflect on a year of meaningful progress at Zoho FSM. This year was all about listening closely to our customers and partners, building with purpose, and continuously improving the way field service teams

• Syncing with Google calendar, Tasks and Events

  Is it possible to sync Zoho CRM calendar, task and events with Google Calendar's tasks and events. With the increasing adoption by many major tool suppliers to sync seamlessly with Google's offerings (for instance I use the excellent Any.do task planning

• CRM x WorkDrive: We're rolling out the WorkDrive-powered file storage experience for existing users

  Release plan: Gradual rollout to customers without file storage add-ons, in this order: 1. Standalone CRM 2. CRM Plus and Zoho One DCs: All | Editions: All Available now for: - Standalone CRM accounts in Free and Standard editions without file storage

• How do I associate pricebooks to a customer?

  I setup a few pricebooks, that worked fine. But now the only thing I can do with it, when I enter a quote or sales order, I can select which pricebook to use, but I have to do this product by product every time I add one. Is there a way to connect a pricebook

• Next Page