Create & Manage Band Sets

Band sets are the foundation of Pave's Market Pricing feature, allowing you to define compensation ranges for roles across your organization. This guide covers everything you need to know about creating, configuring, and managing band sets.

Video on creating a new band set

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Table of Contents

1. What is a Band Set?
2. Band Set Types
3. Pay Types and Compensation Components
4. Creating a Band Set
5. Set Up Pay Zones
6. Managing Existing Band Sets
7. Best Practices
8. Frequently Asked Questions
9. Related Articles

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What is a Band Set?

A band set is a collection of compensation bands that define pay ranges for jobs or grades at your company. Each band specifies minimum, target, and maximum compensation values for different pay types (base pay, total compensation, equity, etc.).

Think of a band set as a compensation framework and workspace: it groups together all the pay ranges for your organization's roles, making it easy to ensure fair and competitive compensation across your workforce.

What is a Band?

A band is a single compensation range within a band set. Each band defines:

• The job or grade it applies to
• Pay ranges (min/target/max) for selected compensation types
• The location or pay zone that it is in

For example, a band might specify that Senior Engineers in your San Francisco office should receive $150K-$175K-$200K in base pay.

Band Set Types

Pave supports four types of band sets, each serving a different purpose in your compensation lifecycle:

Live Band Sets

Type: live

Purpose: Active compensation bands used in Team View and Total Rewards

Use when: You want employees and managers to see current compensation ranges

Live band sets represent your organization's official, published compensation structure. When you set a band set to "live," it becomes visible in:

• Team View: Managers can see where team members fall within their bands
• Total Rewards: Employees can view their position relative to their band ranges

Important: Only one band set can be "live" at a time. Publishing a new band set as live will automatically archive the previous one.

Merit Cycle Band Sets

Type: cycle

Purpose: Compensation bands tied to a specific compensation review cycle

Use when: You're running a merit increase or promotion cycle

Merit cycle band sets are created when you launch a compensation planning cycle. These band sets:

• Are automatically linked to the cycle's planning worksheets
• Can be edited during the planning process

Draft Band Sets

Type: draft

Purpose: Work-in-progress band sets not yet ready for use

Use when: You're experimenting with new compensation structures or planning ahead

Draft band sets are useful for:

• Testing different compensation approaches
• Building next year's bands before your planning cycle
• Collaborating with stakeholders before publishing

Archived Band Sets

Type: archived

Purpose: Historical band sets no longer in active use

Use when: You need to preserve past compensation structures for reference

Archived band sets are read-only and serve as a historical record. They're useful for:

• Auditing past compensation decisions
• Comparing how bands have evolved over time
• Reference when creating new band sets

Pay Types and Compensation Components

When creating a band set, you'll select which pay types to include.

Available Pay Types

Pay Type Configuration

For each pay type, you'll specify:

1. Range Type

• MIN_MID_MAX - Full range with target value (e.g., $120K / $150K / $180K)
• MIN_MAX - Range without explicit target (e.g., $120K - $180K)
• MID - Single target value (e.g., $150K)

2. Unit

• CASH - Dollar values
• SHARES - Number of shares or options
• PERCENTAGE - Percentage values (e.g., 15%)

Valid Combinations (44 total)

Note on Total Direct Comp (TDC):

Total Direct Comp is calculated automatically as: Base Pay + Variable Pay + Annual Equity (cash value). You cannot manually set TDC values—they are derived from the other pay types.

Example Configurations:

Creating a Band Set

Creating a band set is a 4-step process that configures your compensation structure and generates a template for uploading your data.

Overview

What you'll do:

1. Select HRIS matcher type
2. Choose pay types and band details
3. Decide whether to use grades
4. Download template and upload your data

You can:

• Go back at any point and see previous selections populated
• Exit and return to band set setup with selections saved
• Save when complete

Step 1: Select HRIS Matcher Type

Navigate to Market Pricing → Click Create band set

How should we match employees to their band?

Choose ONE of the 4 matcher types:

This determines how Pave automatically assigns employees to compensation bands based on your HRIS data.

Important: You will use ONE matcher type for all employees in this band set.

Step 2: Select Pay Types and Band Details

Choose which compensation components to include and how to structure them.

For these pay types, select Min/Mid/Max, Min and Max, or Mid:

• Base Pay
• Total Pay
• Variable Pay
• Total Direct Comp (calculated automatically as Base Pay + Variable Pay + Annual Equity)

For these pay types, select Cash or Shares, and Min/Mid/Max, Min and Max, or Mid:

• Total Equity
• New Hire Equity
• Annual Equity
• Refresh Equity

For these pay types (no min/mid/max option, numbers only):

• Target Variable Pay Percent
• Annual Bonus Percent

Range options:

• Min, mid, max - Full three-point range (e.g., $120K / $150K / $180K)
• Min, max - Two-point range (e.g., $120K - $180K)
• Mid only - Single target value (e.g., $150K)

Step 3: Select Whether Using Grades

Do you use grades?

Option 1: Yes

• You'll create grade-based bands
• Jobs valued similarly are slotted into grades
• One band per grade + pay zone (not per individual job + pay zone)

Option 2: No

• You'll create job-based bands
• One band per job + pay zone
• More granular pricing

Step 4: Download Template and Upload Bands

The wizard generates a CSV template based on your configuration.

Download Template:

Click Download template to get a CSV with these required fields:

Required fields:

• Function
• Family
• Ladder
• Track
• Rank
• Level
• Pay zone
• Selected HRIS Matcher fields (based on matcher type chosen in Step 1)

Optional fields:

• Title
• Band values for each pay type you selected

Fill in the template:

1. Open the CSV in Excel or Google Sheets
2. Fill in all required fields
3. Add band values (optional - can add later)
4. Save the file

Upload Bands:

1. Click Upload CSV
2. Select your completed CSV file
3. Review for errors (if any)

Upload Success:

• Success toast appears
• Band set is created

Upload with Errors:

If there are errors, you'll see:

1. List of errors in OneSchema

2. Example CSVs showing the issue

3. Options to:

   • Resolve errors directly in OneSchema
   • Download and fix in spreadsheet
   • Re-upload corrected file

Once resolved, you'll see the success toast.

After Creating Your Band Set

Next steps:

1. Set up pay zone HRIS matchers (see Manage Pay Zones article)
2. Configure job mappings for benchmarking (see Job Mapping article)
3. Apply data rules to pull market data (see Data Rules article)
4. Review and finalize bands (see Edit Bands articles)

If you uploaded without band values:

• Add jobs via Add Bands flow
• Set up benchmarking to pull market data
• Generate band values from benchmarks

Generating Band Values

After creating your band set structure, you can populate it with compensation values in three ways:

Option 1: Upload Band Values

Manually upload band values via CSV:

1. Go to Bands tab
2. Click Upload bands
3. Download the template CSV
4. Fill in compensation values (min/mid/max for each pay type)
5. Upload the completed CSV

Option 2: Benchmark and Use Market Data

Use benchmarking to pull market data, then create bands from those benchmarks:

1. Set up your job mapping (map jobs to survey data)

2. Apply data rules to pull benchmarks

3. Review benchmarks in the Benchmarking tab

4. Use bulk edits to create band values from benchmarks:

   • Align to market data - Set bands based on benchmark percentiles
   • Use benchmark as midpoint - Center bands around your benchmark

See Job Mapping, Data Rules, and Reviewing Benchmarks articles for details.

Option 3: Manual Entry

Enter band values directly in the grid:

1. Go to Bands tab
2. Click into any cell
3. Enter the compensation value
4. Values save automatically

Set Up Pay Zones

Pay zones allow you to adjust compensation ranges based on geographic location or cost of labor differences and ensure employees match to bands based on their location fields in the HRIS.

Once you've uploaded the band set, you'll need to finish adding in the pay zone HRIS matchers so employees match to bands.

Finishing Pay Zone Set Up

1. Navigate to your band set's Pay zones tab.
2. Edit each pay zone to add in the HRIS matchers.
3. Add in differentials (if relevant)

Differential Example:

Base band for Senior Engineer: $150K - $200K
San Francisco zone (1.15 discount): $172.5K - $230K
Austin zone (0.95 discount): $142.5K - $190K
Remote Tier 2 (0.85 discount): $127.5K - $170K

Managing Existing Band Sets

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Duplicate a Band Set

Create a copy of an existing band set to use as a starting point:

1. Open the band set you want to copy
2. Click the ⋯ menu in the top right
3. Select Duplicate
4. Enter a name for the new band set
5. The system copies:

• All bands and pay ranges
• Pay zones and matching rules
• Benchmarking configurations
• Enabled pay types

Use cases:

• Creating next year's bands based on this year's structure
• Testing "what-if" scenarios without affecting the live band set
• Building region-specific variations

Archive a Band Set

Move a band set to archived status when it's no longer needed:

1. Open the band set to archive
2. Click the ⋯ menu
3. Select Archive
4. Confirm the action

What happens:

• The band set becomes read-only
• It's removed from active band set lists
• Historical data is preserved for reporting and auditing

Note: You cannot archive a band set that's currently set as "live" or linked to an active merit cycle.

Delete a Band Set

Permanently remove a band set:

1. Open the band set to delete
2. Click the ⋯ menu
3. Select Delete
4. Confirm the action

⚠️ Warning: Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Consider archiving instead if you might need the data for historical reference.

You cannot delete:

• Live band sets (archive them first)
• Band sets linked to active or completed merit cycles

Download a Band Set

Export your band set data to CSV:

1. Open the band set
2. Click the ⋯ menu
3. Select Download
4. Choose which columns to include in the export
5. Click Download

The CSV includes:

• Job or grade information
• All pay type values (min/target/max as applicable)
• Pay zone assignments
• Benchmarking data (if applicable)

Use cases:

• Sharing compensation data with stakeholders
• Importing into other systems
• Creating backup copies
• Analysis in Excel or other tools

Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Use clear, consistent names that indicate:

• Time period (e.g., "2026 Q1 Bands")
• Department or scope (e.g., "Engineering Bands", "Global Sales")
• Purpose (e.g., "Draft - New York Expansion")

Pay Type Selection

Start minimal and add complexity as needed:

1. Begin with Base Pay and Total Pay
2. Add equity types if you grant equity
3. Include bonus types if you have formal bonus programs

Pay Zones

• Create zones that reflect meaningful cost-of-labor differences (≥10% variation)
• Don't create too many zones—complexity makes administration difficult
• Document your zone philosophy for consistency

Version Control

• Duplicate band sets before making significant changes
• Use descriptive names to track versions
• Archive old versions rather than deleting them

Publishing to Live

Before publishing a band set as live:

1. Review all pay ranges for accuracy
2. Verify pay zones are correctly configured
3. Confirm benchmarking data is current
4. Test with a small group if possible
5. Communicate the change to managers and employees

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I have multiple live band sets at the same time?

A: No, only one band set can be live at a time. Publishing a new band set as live will automatically archive the previous live band set.

Q: What's the difference between a draft band set and an archived band set?

A: Draft band sets are editable works-in-progress that can be published. Archived band sets are read-only historical records that were previously active.

Q: Can I change pay types after creating a band set?

A: Yes, you can add or remove pay types from the band set settings. However, removing a pay type will delete all associated data for that pay type.

Q: Can I import bands from an external system?

A: Yes, use the CSV upload feature during band set creation. Ensure your CSV matches the required format (downloadable template available in the upload interface).