What it does

Administrators define benefit categories (vacation, sick leave, a conference allowance) and allocation rules that fund them automatically on a schedule. Balances can also be granted in bulk, or adjusted manually with a documented reason.

Who it's for

Institution administrators own the category catalog for their institution. Program administrators configure allocation rules and run bulk allocations and adjustments for their programs.

How it works

Categories. Each category has a name, code, color, and icon. Its unit type controls how balances behave: time (minutes, displayed using a configurable day length), currency (to the cent), or quantity.

Policy settings. These cover approval, receipt requirements, and negative balances. They also cover partial days, blackout dates, notice and duration rules, a maximum request amount, and which roles and programs may use the category. Categories can be deactivated, reordered, and soft-deleted.

Allocation rules. A rule funds accounts automatically. You define:

Target — everyone, specific roles, specific training levels, or named individuals.
Amount and cadence — one-time, monthly, quarterly, or annual, with the allocation date or month/day.
Proration — none, by start date, or by training level.
Rollover — whether unused balance carries into the next period, with an optional cap and an optional expiry in months. Balances can also reset on each new period instead.
Effective window — when the rule starts and stops applying.

Bulk allocation and adjustments. Administrators can grant an amount to a chosen set of people in one batch. Accounts are created automatically for anyone who doesn't have one. The result reports exactly who succeeded and who failed, with reasons. Manual balance adjustments on a single account always require a written reason and post to the transaction ledger like any other entry.

Before you start

You need institution-admin access to create or edit categories. Program admins can create and edit allocation rules for their own program.
Decide the unit type (time, currency, or quantity) before you create the category — you cannot change it once accounts exist under that category.

Do this

Open the category manager (/admin/benefits/categories) and select the Financial or Time Off tab → you should see the existing categories for that unit type.
Select New Category → the category form opens with Name, Code, Icon, Color, Unit Type, and policy fields.
Fill in each field in the form. Set the policies you need — approval required, receipt required, negative balances, blackout dates. Select Create Category → you should return to the list and see the new category.
Open the allocation rules page (/admin/benefits/financial/allocations or /admin/benefits/time-off/allocations) and select New Rule → the New Allocation Rule dialog opens.
Choose the Category, Target, Amount, Frequency, and rollover settings. Select Create → the rule appears in the rules table with Active status.

You're done when

The new category appears on its Financial or Time Off tab with the unit type and policies you set.
The allocation rule shows Active in the rules table and will fund accounts on its configured schedule.

Boundaries and limits

A category cannot be deleted while accounts exist under it. Deactivate it instead to stop new use.
Bulk allocation batches are limited to 500 people per run.
Single adjustments and bulk allocation amounts must be between 0 and 1,000,000 units. Adjustments are rate-limited. Rapid repeated adjustments are refused for a short time.
Adjustment permission is enforced server-side. Users without admin rights over the account's program cannot post adjustments.
Maximum request amount, notice days, and max consecutive days are stored on the category for admins to see. Blackout dates, receipt rules, and the negative-balance rule are enforced in request forms and at final approval.
Category and rule listings are capped at 1,000 rows per query. This bounds very large catalogs.

Common questions

Q: What's the difference between a category and an allocation rule? A: The category defines the benefit and its policies. The rule defines who gets funded, how much, and how often. One category can be funded by several rules.

Q: Can unused vacation carry over to next year? A: Yes, if the rule allows rollover. You can cap the amount and set an expiry in months, or reset balances each period instead.

Q: Someone new joined mid-year — do they get the full annual amount? A: It depends on proration. Rules can prorate by start date or training level, or not at all.

Q: Why did my bulk allocation report failures? A: The result lists each failed person with a reason. Fix the issue and re-run for just those people. Successes aren't repeated.

Benefit Categories and Allocation Rules