# Assigning pay grades

> Academium SMS Help › Human Resource
> For: School Owner, School Admin, Accountant
> Web page: https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-assigning-pay-grades
> Last updated: 2026-10-06

Open **Payroll → Salary Assign**. Every active member of staff is listed, so you can give each one a pay grade.

Staff **without a pay grade** are called out, so nobody is left off payroll by accident.

## Good to know

- Assign a pay grade when someone joins, before the month's payroll is generated.
- To change someone's pay, assign them a different pay grade, or change the grade itself if everyone on it should change.
- One-off amounts for a single month, such as a bonus, are added when generating that month's payroll, not on the pay grade. See [Running payroll](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-running-payroll.md).

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