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Beam Machine Payroll, Audit, Controls, and Advisory Workflows

Detailed SOPs for pay runs, labour workflows, audit engagements, controls monitoring, and specialist advisory modules.

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Running Payroll, Audit, Controls, and Advisory Workflows

This page shows specialist users how to run pay cycles, labour records, audit engagements, control reviews, and advisory modules while staying honest about what is live today.

Product: Beam Machine
Module: Payroll, Audit, Controls, and Advisory
Role: Payroll User, HR User, Auditor, Reviewer, Advisory Specialist
Difficulty: Intermediate to Advanced
Time: 18 minutes first read
Last Updated: 2026-03-10
Version: Current Beam Machine app build in this repo

Before You Start

What are these workflows?

These are the higher-control parts of Beam Machine where operational processing, evidence, review, and specialist delivery intersect. On paper, this would be your payroll run file, labour case pack, audit file, control matrix, remediation tracker, statutory pack, valuation model folder, and transfer-pricing document set.

The modules are real in the current route tree, but some of the more advanced automation and intelligence described in backlog material is still future work.

When do you use this?

Use this page when you need a deeper SOP than the top-level manual provides for payroll, HR and labour, audit, controls, or specialist advisory work.

Use it especially when the work needs evidence, controlled status changes, or defensible review history.

Where do you find these workflows?

Primary path: Use Payroll, HR & Labour, Audit, Controls, Practice, Statutory, ESG, Valuation, and Transfer Pricing in the left sidebar.
Reference: Use 98-screen-map.md for route-level detail.

How to run the workflows safely

Create a pay run

  1. Open Payroll > Pay Runs.
  2. Confirm employee master data first.
  3. Select the pay frequency.
  4. Set the period start and period end.
  5. Create the pay run.
  6. Review employees, leave, anomalies, and pre-clearance items around it.

✅ Checkpoint: The pay run should represent the correct people and period before anyone treats it as ready.

Work labour processes

  1. Open HR & Labour.
  2. Choose the correct area such as employment equity, skills development, CCMA, disciplinary, or grievances.
  3. Capture the matter in the correct category.
  4. Keep follow-up and evidence attached where possible.

✅ Checkpoint: Labour matters should be visible and reviewable without digging through email chains.

Create an audit engagement

  1. Open Audit > Engagements.
  2. Create or review the engagement.
  3. Enter the client entity ID, engagement name, audit type, fiscal year end, and budget hours where required.
  4. Confirm the engagement record before moving into findings or workpapers.

Current audit types exposed in the UI include:

  • External Audit
  • Internal Audit
  • Review Engagement
  • Agreed-Upon Procedures

Advance an engagement phase

  1. Open Audit > Engagements.
  2. Find the correct engagement.
  3. Click Advance Phase.
  4. Confirm the action only after checking the current evidence and work status.

✅ Checkpoint: Phase advancement changes status and audit trail. Treat it as a controlled action, not a casual click.

Use the rest of the audit workspace

Use the supporting audit routes as the engagement matures:

  • Findings
  • Working Papers
  • Walkthroughs
  • Audit Plans
  • Monitoring
  • Field Evidence
  • PBC Assembly
  • Evidence
  • Remediations

Run control reviews

  1. Open Controls.
  2. Review Risks.
  3. Review the Control Matrix.
  4. Use Gaps to track remediation.
  5. Use Compliance to monitor control status more broadly.

✅ Checkpoint: Do not manage risk, evidence, remediation, and review in disconnected places if the current module can keep them linked.

Use specialist advisory modules

  1. Use Practice for clients, engagements, timesheets, and billing.
  2. Use Statutory for directors, shareholders, deadlines, B-BBEE, and resolutions.
  3. Use ESG for emissions, targets, and reports.
  4. Use Valuation for valuation lists and valuation-model direction where available.
  5. Use Transfer Pricing for engagements and document packs.

Stay honest about backlog versus live product

  1. Use the live module behavior for user manuals and SOPs.
  2. Do not document the advanced continuous monitoring, evidence graph, AI, automation, or optimization behavior from the root Auto_todo files as if it is already live.
  3. Treat those files as roadmap direction until the features are genuinely in front of users.

Common Questions & Issues

"The backlog describes much smarter behavior than the page I can see"

Why this happens: The root Auto_todo files describe future capability beyond the current user-facing build.

Fix: Document the visible workflow only and use 99-functionality-gap-map.md for planned or partial areas.

"We advanced the audit phase because the engagement looked close enough"

Why this happens: Status movement is treated like an admin task instead of a review decision.

Fix: Advance phases only when evidence and work status support the move.

"Payroll, HR, controls, and advisory all use separate side files"

Why this happens: Specialist teams often keep their own parallel tracking tools.

Fix: Use the live Beam Machine record as the process anchor wherever the current module supports it.

What's Next

Related Pages

SA Compliance Reference

  • Payroll workflows may support PAYE, UIF, SDL, leave, and labour-related recordkeeping obligations.
  • Audit, controls, statutory, ESG, valuation, and transfer-pricing workflows may support South African governance, assurance, and tax-related obligations depending on the engagement.
  • Use the current live modules as the operating truth and confirm broader compliance process requirements with your firm’s formal methodology where needed.

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