The Timeline section allows administrators to define the key dates that control how a merit, bonus, and equity cycle progresses in SimplyMerit. These settings determine when managers must complete actions, when increases take effect, how proration is calculated, who is eligible, and when reminders are sent.
Budget Overview
At the top of the Timeline page, SimplyMerit displays a read-only summary of the current budgets for the cycle. This includes:
Merit Budget
Promotion Budget
Other Budget
Lump Sum Budget
Bonus Budget
These values are calculated based on settings entered earlier in Budget Amounts and Exceptions and are shown here for reference only.
Target Completion Dates
Target Completion Dates indicate when all manager entries and approvals should be completed for each compensation type.
You can set target dates independently for:
Salary
Bonus
Equity
These dates are informational and are commonly used to align internal expectations and reminder schedules, along with letting SimplyMerit Support and MorganHR know your scheduled dates.
Effective Dates
Effective Dates define when approved increases and payouts officially take effect, along with letting SimplyMerit Support and MorganHR know your scheduled dates.
Salary Effective Date – when new base pay becomes active
Bonus Effective Date – when bonus payouts are effective
These dates are commonly referenced in:
Compensation letters
Total Rewards Statements
Payroll coordination
Merit Proration
The Merit Proration section controls how SimplyMerit calculates prorated increases for employees who were not active for the full merit cycle.
Proration Options
You may enable one or more of the following:
Prorate by Hire Date if hired during the merit cycle
Prorate by Last Increase Date if increased during the merit cycle
Prorate by Month instead of day-level proration
Merit Cycle Dates
Merit Cycle Start Date
Merit Cycle End Date
Custom Proration Periods
You may optionally define custom proration periods using:
Company Code
Country
Start Date / End Date
Proration Method (e.g., Hire Date)
Percentage
This allows for highly controlled proration logic across different populations.
Bonus Proration
Bonus Proration works independently from merit proration and applies only to bonus calculations.
Available option:
Prorate by Date of Hire if hired within the bonus cycle
You must define:
Bonus Cycle Start Date
Bonus Cycle End Date
If bonus proration is disabled, all eligible employees are treated as fully eligible regardless of hire date.
Cutoff Date
The Cutoff Date determines eligibility for participation in the merit cycle.
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Employees hired after the cutoff date are:
Automatically assigned a 0% exception
Still visible in the system
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Optionally, you can enable:
Automatically Lock if Hired After Cutoff Date, which prevents managers from entering increases
This setting works in conjunction with Employee Exceptions and Alerts.
Reminders
The Reminders section allows administrators to schedule automated reminder emails to managers who have not completed their requests or approvals.
For each reminder, you define:
Reminder Date
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Cycle Type:
Salary
Bonus
Equity
Salary, Bonus, and Equity
Previously sent reminders are displayed for reference.
Summary
The Timeline page controls the operational flow of your compensation cycle by defining:
Key completion milestones for managers
Effective dates for pay changes
Proration logic for merit and bonus eligibility
Eligibility cutoffs for new hires
Automated reminder communications
These settings should be reviewed carefully before opening the cycle to managers, as they directly affect calculations, eligibility, and manager experience.
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