A GIRO bulk payout lets you pay every employee's net salary in one file uploaded to your bank, instead of keying in a transfer for each person. It's the standard way Singapore SMEs run salary payments — and it's separate from CPF GIRO, which auto-pays your CPF contributions.
This guide explains how salary GIRO works, how it differs from CPF GIRO, and what to get right.
What is a GIRO bulk payout?
A bulk payout (also called a bulk GIRO or salary crediting file) is a single file listing each employee's net pay and bank account details. You upload it to your bank's corporate portal, approve it, and the bank credits every employee on payday — one upload instead of dozens of transfers.
Salary GIRO vs CPF GIRO
These two are easy to confuse:
| Salary GIRO (bulk payout) | CPF GIRO | |
|---|---|---|
| Pays | Your employees' net salaries | Your monthly CPF contributions |
| To | Each employee's bank account | The CPF Board |
| How | You upload a bulk-payout file to your bank | A Direct Debit auto-deducts after you submit via CPF eZpay |
This guide is about salary GIRO. For paying CPF, see the CPF eZpay guide.
How to pay salaries via GIRO
- Finalise the payroll run so each employee's net pay is correct (after CPF, SHG and any deductions).
- Confirm bank details for every employee — account number and bank.
- Generate the bulk-payout file in your bank's format.
- Upload it to your bank's corporate portal (e.g. DBS IDEAL, OCBC Velocity, UOB Infinity).
- Approve the batch — usually by a second authoriser — before the value date.
Bank file formats
There is no single national format — each bank accepts its own bulk-payout layout. Your payroll software needs to produce the file your specific bank expects, which you then upload. Generating the wrong bank's format is a common stumbling block.
Common pitfalls
- Wrong or missing bank account details — the top cause of bounced payments. Verify them before generating the file.
- Wrong value date — uploading after the bank's cut-off can delay payday.
- Unapproved batch — many banks need a second approver, so the file sits pending until someone signs off.
Catching missing bank details before the run is exactly what a pre-run readiness check is for — see the monthly payroll cycle.
How AimmPayroll generates the GIRO file
AimmPayroll produces the GIRO bulk-payout file from your reviewed payroll figures, flags any employee missing bank details before you create the run, and keeps salary GIRO and the CPF eZpay file consistent from the same numbers. Start free for up to three employees, or see pricing (GIRO is included from the Starter tier).