Departments group employees for reporting, budgeting and payroll summaries. Create them before adding employees so you can assign each person as you go.
Create a department
- Go to HR → Departments.
- Click Add department.
- Fill in:
- Name — what appears in reports and on the employee record.
- Code — a short identifier, useful when exporting.
- Parent department — leave empty for a top-level department.
- Click Create.
Nesting departments
A department can sit under a parent, which lets you model real structures:
Operations
├── Logistics
└── Warehouse
Finance
└── Payroll
Set the Parent department field when creating or editing. Reports roll figures up to the parent, so a payroll summary for Operations includes Logistics and Warehouse.
Editing and deleting
Open a department and click Edit to change its name, code or parent.
Deleting is safe: employees in a deleted department become unassigned rather than being removed, and the department can be restored by an administrator. You will see this warning before confirming.
Common questions
Can an employee belong to two departments? No. Each employee has one department. Use the hierarchy if you need a person counted under a broader unit.
Do I have to use departments? No, but payroll summaries and the employer cost report group by department. Without them every report is a single flat list.
What happens to payroll history if I move someone? Nothing. Finalised payroll runs store an immutable snapshot, so past payslips keep the department the employee had at the time.
Next
Continue with Adding employees.