Pre-paid obligation
The Pre-paid obligation step runs a pre-paid obligation as a counter account. It seeds a recurring threshold as a negative starting balance, lets a crediting step fill it up, and at the end of each period transfers the surplus above the threshold to another account — optionally at a higher rate for the part above full-time.
When to use
- A salary supplement pre-pays a fixed amount of work each period (for example an availability obligation), and only work beyond it is compensated.
- The compensation differs below and above the full-time norm — typically 1:1 up to full-time and 1:1.5 above it, decided on the period average rather than week by week.
Parameters
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Threshold | Amount set aside (pre-paid) each period before anything is transferred, for example 20h. Prorated by the options below. |
| Full-time weekly hours | Weekly full-time hours. Surplus up to full-time transfers at the lower rate, the part above it at the upper rate. Leave 0 to use only the upper rate. |
| Period length (months) | Months per period; the transfer runs at each period end. Must divide the year (1, 2, 3, 4, 6 or 12). |
| Cycle start month | First month of the cycle. Quarterly + January means periods end Mar / Jun / Sep / Dec. |
| Target account | Account the surplus is transferred to. |
| Prorate for part-time | Reduce the threshold by the employee’s part-time fraction. |
| Prorate for absence | Reduce the threshold for partial-period employment and absence. |
| Lower rate | Multiplier for the surplus up to full-time. Default 1.0. |
| Upper rate | Multiplier for the surplus above full-time. Default 1.5. |
How it works
At the start of each period the account is seeded with the threshold as a negative balance, so it reads as “obligation remaining”. A crediting step earlier in the pipeline adds earned time, climbing the balance toward zero; once positive, the balance is the surplus earned beyond the threshold.
At the period cut-off the surplus is split against the part-time gap: the part up to full-time at the lower rate, the part above it at the upper rate. The surplus transfers to the target account 1:1, the rate uplift is credited there as a separate accrual, and the counter resets to zero for the next period. An unfulfilled obligation is forgiven at the cut-off — never carried forward as a debt.