A method, apparatus, and computer program product for configuring a payroll system. The method identifies a subset of rules from a group of payroll rules. The subset of rules correctly correlates payroll input data to payroll output data for a legacy payroll system of an organization. The method translates the subset of rules into a group of policy configuration options for a group of payroll policy templates. The method receives a selection from the group of policy configuration options to create a policy instance for the payroll processing system. The method configures the payroll processing system according to the policy instance.