18-Sep-2026 · AI Teammate 001
Available in other languages 中文
Why set up a Pay Scale?
Some organisations do not agree a salary with each member of staff. They pay on a published or negotiated scale: the job sits at a rank, the rank covers a range of points, and each point has a rate that is revised for everybody at once.
Recording that as a typed salary per person means re-keying every staff member each time the scale is revised. A Pay Scale lets you enter the revision once.
This page walks the whole thing through: building the scale, putting staff on it, checking the payroll, and then living with it. For what each field means, see Pay Scale.
What you need
The Code and the Currency for the scale. Both are fixed once the scale is created
The published scale in front of you: every point, its label, and its rate
The ranks and the point range of each, e.g Clerical Officer, points 3 to 15
Confirmation that the staff you are moving onto the scale are paid in the same currency as the scale
Steps to set up a Pay Scale
Step 1. Create the Pay Scale
Go to Payroll -> Master Data -> Pay Scale -> Add New
Fill in Code, Name, Currency, and optionally Remark
Click Save
You land on the Edit page, which carries a nav bar over General, Rates and Ranks.
Check the Currency before you save. It cannot be changed afterwards, because Pay Items are validated against it. A Pay Item on a placement paid in a different currency will be refused.
Step 2. Enter the rates
Work one effective date at a time. For the first revision you enter every point.
Open the Rates section -> Add New
Fill in Point Number, Point, Effective Date and Pay Rate
Click Save, and repeat for each point
Point Number is the whole number that orders the scale. Point is the label you want displayed. For most points these are the same. Where the published scale has lettered points such as 33A, 33B and 33C sitting between 33 and 34, give each its own Point Number so the order is right, and put the published label in Point.
A second rate for the same point on the same date is refused - each point has one rate per effective date.
Step 3. Add the ranks
Open the Ranks section -> Add New
Fill in Code, Name, Min Point Number and Max Point Number
Click Save, and repeat for each rank
Use the Name you want to appear as the staff member's position, because picking a rank on a Movement copies the Name into the Position box.
Ranks are listed in Min Point Number order, so the finished list reads as the ladder of the scale. That list is worth a read before you go on - a gap or an overlap is much easier to fix now than after staff are on it.
Step 4. Put each staff member on a rank
The rank lives on the Placement Movement, so it is effective-dated along with everything else about the job.
Go to Staff -> Placement -> General section -> Movement
Open the Movement covering the period you are about to pay, or Add New to record a new one
Pick the Rank from the dropdown - entries read as scale code - rank name
The Position box is filled with the rank's name; edit it afterwards if you want different wording
Click Save
Points to note:
The dropdown offers ranks from active pay scales only
Leaving Rank blank is allowed - the Movement simply has no scale attached over that period
A new Movement starts with the previous Movement's rank already selected
Back on the Placement page, the Rank cell shows the rank in force today, and its menu lists every Movement with its rank
Step 5. Put the Pay Item on the scale
Go to Staff -> Placement -> Salary section -> Find the of the Pay Type -> Add pay item
Set the Effective Date
Tick On Pay Scale
A line appears beside the tick box naming the scale and rank that apply on that date, with the range, e.g MPS - Clerical Officer (points 3 to 15). A Point dropdown appears next to it, offering only the points inside that range.
Choose the Point
The Pay Rate box becomes read-only and fills with the rate resolved from the scale
Click Save
Changing the Effective Date or the Point refreshes the rate, because a different date can fall under a different Movement, a different rank, or a different revision of the scale.
To take a Pay Item back off the scale, untick On Pay Scale - the Pay Rate box becomes editable again and you type an amount as before.
Step 6. Check what you have
In the Salary section, a Pay Item on the scale shows a grey line under the amount reading scale code - rank name / point. That line is the quickest way to confirm the right rank was picked up
A red No Rate badge means the scale cannot price that item. Hover it for the reason - almost always either the Movement in force at that date has no rank, or the scale has no rate for that point on or before that date
Generate a Payroll Batch for one staff member and open the calculation panel. A pay item on the scale explains itself, e.g Pay Scale MPS point 5 effective 01 Apr 2025: 24,725.00
Living with the scale
Entering a revision of the scale
When the published scale is revised, you do not touch a single Placement.
Go to Payroll -> Master Data -> Pay Scale and open the scale
In the Rates section, pick the effective date of the revision you are building from the dropdown, or add the first rate on the new date to create it
The list now shows two columns: Pay as at the day before, and Pay w.e.f. the new date
Every point with no rate yet on the new date shows an Add Rate link, pre-filled with the point, its label and the old amount. Click it, change the amount, Save
Work down the list until no Add Rate links remain
Every staff member on the scale picks up the new rate from that date. Nothing else is needed.
Enter revisions before you run the payroll they apply to. A Payroll Batch that has already been calculated keeps its old figures until it is recalculated, and Backstage does not produce an arrears or catch-up line for a revision entered late. If a revision arrives after the fact, recalculate the affected batches, or pay the difference through a separate Pay Type.
Date revisions on the first of a month where you can. A Payroll Batch splits its period when a staff member's Pay Item changes mid-period, but not when a rate does, so a revision dated mid-month is applied across the whole period.
Giving an increment
Progression is never automatic - Backstage will not derive an increment from a join date or an anniversary.
Go to Staff -> Placement -> Salary section -> Add pay item
Set the Effective Date to the date the increment takes effect
Tick On Pay Scale and pick the higher Point, then Save
The earlier Pay Item stays as history. A Payroll Batch covering the changeover splits the period and pays each part on its own point.
Handling a promotion
A promotion is usually both a new rank and a new point, so it takes two records.
Add a Movement effective from the promotion date, carrying the new Rank
Add a Pay Item effective from the same date, On Pay Scale, at the new Point
Do the Movement FIRST, so the new rank's range is already in force when you pick the point.
The rank is read at the Pay Item's effective date, not at the payroll date. Adding the promotion Movement on its own does not change anyone's pay. Pay stays on the old rank and point until you add the new Pay Item. This is deliberate - it keeps a promotion from silently re-pricing pay before HR has decided the new point.
Setting ranks in bulk by import
The Movement sheet of the Placement import accepts two optional columns, PayScaleCode and RankCode, sitting after InternalGradeCode.
Go to Staff -> Placement -> Export the excel as the Template -> find the sheet "Movement"
Fill in PayScaleCode and RankCode on the rows you want to set
Import the file to the system
Points to watch:
Both columns must be present for ranks to be read at all. A sheet with neither is imported exactly as before, so older templates keep working
RankCode without PayScaleCode is refused. PayScaleCode on its own is ignored
A blank RankCode on an existing row clears that Movement's rank. If you only meant to edit something else, leave the exported values in place
Rows are matched to existing Movements by effective date: matched rows are updated, unmatched rows create a new Movement
The import refuses a row that would leave a scale-linked Pay Item with no rank, reported as Movement row 7 - .... It does not report the milder warnings you would see on screen, so check the affected placements afterwards
If a save is refused
Message
What to do
No rank is set on the movement in force on ...
The Movement covering that date has no Rank. Open it and pick one, or untick On Pay Scale and enter a rate directly.
No point was selected for pay scale ...
Choose a Point. If the dropdown is empty, the scale has no rates yet inside the rank's range - add them first.
Point 20 is outside rank Clerical Officer (points 3 to 15).
Pick a point inside the range, or move the staff member to the rank that covers the point they should be on.
Pay scale MPS is in HKD but this placement is paid in ...
The scale's currency and the placement's currency must match. Use a scale in the placement's currency.
... has no rate effective on ... for the selected point.
The scale has no rate for that point on or before the Pay Item's effective date. Add the missing rate - usually a revision that has not been fully entered.
Point 5 already has a rate effective ...
That point already has a rate on that date. Edit the existing rate rather than adding a second one.
This is the only rate for point 5, and a pay item is linked to it.
Add a replacement rate for that point before deleting or re-dating this one.
Rank Clerical Officer is set on a placement movement and cannot be deleted.
Clear the Rank on those Movements first. If the whole scale is being retired, untick Is Active on the scale instead.
Pay Scale MPS still has rates or ranks. Delete them first.
A scale in use is better retired by unticking Is Active than deleted.
If a Movement change is only warned about
Editing or deleting a Movement can leave a Pay Item somewhere it should not be. Backstage treats the two cases differently:
Refused - the change would leave a scale-linked Pay Item with no rank at all. Set a rank on the Movement covering that date, or take the Pay Item off the scale first
Saved with a warning - the Pay Item still has a rank, but its point now falls outside that rank's range, or it now pays on a different scale. The message is appended to Movement saved!
A warning is not an error and the Pay Item keeps working. It is telling you the staff member is now paid on a point their rank does not publish, which is usually worth correcting with a new Pay Item. Warnings are listed for up to five Pay Items; beyond that the rest are summarised as a count.