I cannot change a payroll rule, rate or table that has already been used

Symptom

In Payroll › Configure, you want to change, archive or delete a method, a rate or a table and fiscaldoo refuses. In some cases the form only lets you write Valid until. In others, there is not even a button to change it.

Message

Seen in Empresa Demonstração, Lda, in November 2026.

With the Payroll Administrator profile

Meal allowance eligibility rule starting on 01/07/2026, when saving a change or in Actions › Delete:

“The eligibility rule “Subsídio de refeição: regra geral” has already started and cannot be changed or deleted. What happened: a rule that applied to payslips is never rewritten. How to fix it: close it with “Valid until” and register a new one starting the day after.”

Holiday allowance methods, in Actions › Delete:

“The holiday allowance method “Subsídio de férias: regra da empresa” has already started and cannot be deleted: archive it or close its validity.”

Minimum wage reductions, when saving a change:

“The RMMG reduction of Bruno Miguel Teixeira has already started and cannot be changed. What happened: a reduction that applied to payslips is never rewritten. How to fix it: end it (set “Ends on”) and register a new one.”

Payroll settings, in Actions › Delete:

“The payroll configuration of “Empresa Demonstração, Lda” cannot be deleted: the company has 32 payslip(s). What happened: the payslips were calculated with these choices and deleting them would put the defaults back without a trace. How to fix it: change the choices (the change is audited).”

Holiday calendars, in Payroll › Configure › Company › Holiday calendars, when opening Feriados 2026 — Continente and using Actions › Archive:

“The version and the legal reference of a holiday calendar are not written by hand, and a calendar with days is only archived by the national legal data. What happened: the calendar of a year already used by payslips is part of the legal record. How to fix it: ask the national legal data user to archive it, or create a new calendar. The attempt was recorded in the audit log.”

Income tax withholding tables, in Actions › Archive. This table does not belong to the Payroll Administrator profile:

“You do not have permission to change “IRS withholding table (PT)”. Who does it: National legal data, Administrator. […]”

With the Administrator profile

Income tax withholding tables, in Actions › Archive:

“Table(s) I cannot be archived: in force or already used in payslips. What happened: archiving it would let a draft or a corrective payslip be recalculated with another table. How to fix it: register a NEW table with a new start date and close this one's “Valid until” (a corrective payslip uses the table of the period it corrects).”

Social security rates (TSU), in Actions › Archive and Actions › Delete. In this version, the date still appears in the message as 2026-01-01, not as 01/01/2026:

“The rate of “GERAL” (from 2026-01-01) cannot be archived: it is in force or was used in payslips of its period. What happened: archiving it would let a draft or a corrective payslip of that period be recalculated with another rate. How to fix it: register a NEW rate with a new start date and close this one's “Valid until” (a corrective payslip uses the rate of the period it corrects).”

“The rate(s) of “GERAL” cannot be deleted: already in force (from 2026-01-01). What happened: a rate that applied to a period must stay for reproducibility — payslips point to it. How to fix it: close its “Valid until” or archive it.”

Legal update packages, in Actions › Delete:

“An installed package cannot be deleted. What happened: payslips may have been calculated with it. How to fix it: leave it as it is — a correction is a new version.”

Verified causes

• What has already started stays as it was. A payslip keeps the calculated result, but a draft or a corrective payslip for that period reads the rule again. If the rule changed, the same month would give another amount. So fiscaldoo judges by the start date: it is enough for Valid from to be in the past, even if the rule has just been created and no payslip has used it.
• The form locks itself. On Christmas and holiday allowance methods that have already started, the only field you can write is Valid until. So in these cases you may not see a message when changing: only when deleting.
• Legal tables and rates do not belong to the Payroll Administrator. For this profile, the Income tax withholding tables, the Social security rates (TSU) and the Legal update packages are read-only and have no New. They are maintained by the National legal data and Administrator profiles, and come with the legal updates.

The other payroll rules and settings (for example category minimums and amounts by legal source) have similar protections. Pending validation on screen: the messages of these other rules were not triggered in this round, so they are not quoted. Follow what each message asks.

What to check

1. The rule's Valid from date. If it has passed, the rule has already started.
2. Whether you want to correct the past or change from now on. Changing from now on is done with a new version. The past is not rewritten: it is corrected with a corrective payslip (Correct a payroll run).
3. The profile you logged in with. If the message says “You do not have permission” and names National legal data, the request is for that profile.

How to fix it

Rules and methods the Payroll Administrator manages

1. Open the rule in Payroll › Configure › Pay item setup (for example Christmas allowance methods).
2. Fill in Valid until with the last day the rule applies and save.
3. Go back to the list, press New and register the correct rule, with Valid from the day after.

On a Minimum wage reduction, in Payroll › Prepare, the closing field is Ends on.

Legal tables, rates and packages

Ask someone with the National legal data or Administrator profile to follow the message, or wait for the legal update (Legal updates). Do not delete or archive what is in force.

Holiday calendars

Ask someone with the National legal data profile to archive the calendar, or press New and create a new calendar.

Payroll settings

They cannot be deleted. Open Payroll › Configure › Company › Payroll settings and change the choice that needs to change. The change is recorded.

Expected result

• The old rule has Valid until filled in and stays in the list. In the example, the holiday allowance method saved Valid until = 30/06/2026 without a message, and the new method was saved with Valid from = 01/07/2026.
• Payslips and corrective payslips of earlier months keep using the old rule, and the following months use the new one.

When to contact support

• The rule has Valid from in the future and still says it has already started.
• You cannot save Valid until on a rule that the message tells you to close.
• A new law came out and the legal update with the rate or table has not arrived yet.

Information to send

• The menu, the rule name, Valid from and Valid until.
• The full text of the message, copied from the screen.
• What you want to change and from what date.
• The profile you logged in with.