Ways to get started
You can see recent runs, and start your next scheduled run right from your dashboard.
You can also get started in the Payroll menu.
Selecting an upcoming pay run (if applicable)
If you have multiple schedules, or if the run has already been processed, you'll see an extra step here called "Select an Upcoming Pay Run".
Need help with multiple schedules, or selecting an upcoming run?
Having multiple pay schedules allows you to employ different types of workers who get paid on different schedules. For example, an employer of both hourly and salary workers might pay hourly workers bi-weekly, and salary workers on the first and fifteenth of each month. This would mean having two pay schedules.
We'll cover the available schedule options, here. Otherwise, you can skip to Part 1) Hours↓
Need help creating a new pay schedule? We'll show you how→
Multiple pay schedules
If you have multiple pay schedules (or runs), you'll see a tile for each run, and you may have as many pay schedules as you need. Run tiles will include details about the schedule, including:
- The schedule name (customizable by you)
- The check date (this is the employee payday)
- The pay period (the timeframe of work performed that this compensation is for)
Run tiles will also include one of three actions at the right:
Run actions
Start: To select the pay run
Find the pay schedule you'd like to run, and click Start to select workers, and approve their hours.
Add More: To add an additional, one-time pay run
If payroll has already been processed for the period, you have the option to Add More. This allows you to process an additional pay run in the same pay period*, which can be helpful for commissions or bonuses that don't have the same taxation or deductions as an employee's regular pay.
*By default, additional runs will apply to the pay period and have the same check date. However, you can change these settings during this new run.
Note that the effective date for direct deposit in an employee's bank account may be later than the checkdate due to your payroll turnaround time.
Remove: To delete a payroll run that's already been processed
You can also Remove the completed run* and process it again from the beginning.
*Runs can not be removed after 11:30 pm EST, on the day before the payroll draft date.
What's next?
When starting a run, or adding to a run, the next step will be Hours, where you will select workers and approve their time.
Run Payroll: Hours
You can think of Hours as being divided into three sections:
- Payrun settings and progress bar
- Starting check #, filter, search, run totals, and Import Hours (through integration)
- Selecting workers, and entering hours and wages
When running payroll, you'll generally breeze through the first two sections before approving hours, but we'll cover them thoroughly.
Payrun settings and progress bar
Information about this run's pay period, check date, and pay schedule appear in the upper right. This is especially helpful for off-cycle, or special pay runs. What's a special pay run? We'll cover that next.
Special pay runs
When processing a special pay run, you may need to make changes* to the Pay Run Settings. This could include:
- Pay schedule selection
- Pay period adjustment
- Check date adjustment
- Direct deposit hold
- Employee deductions hold
*All changes made will revert back to default settings upon completion of this run. They will also revert if you log out of OnPay before completing this run.
Why would I need a special pay run?
Special pay runs can be things like year-end bonuses for employees, or non-recurring payments to freelancers or independent contractors. They typically run outside of the normal pay cycle, and shouldn’t have employee deductions for things like insurance, or 401(k).
Special pay run settings
In this panel, you're able to make changes in the following categories:
Pay Schedule
You can browse your existing pay schedules.
Pay period and check date
Adjust the pay period and/or check date as needed.*
*This will not affect the pay schedule, or how taxes are calculated.
Additional options
If you wish to pay employees by paper check, but they are enrolled in direct deposit, then you'll want to avoid automatically paying those employees by direct deposit. You can also hold all voluntary deductions for this pay run (involuntary deductions, such as garnishments or levies cannot be avoided). These holds can be helpful for bonuses or other payments that should not include deductions, or that you wish to issue in person instead of by direct deposit.
Import hours (through integration)
In OnPay, it's easy to quickly add employee hours on the fly, but if you've integrated time tracking software, a button with your time tracking software's logo will appear above your run totals. Use this to import employee timesheets for the pay period.
Note: Importing hours can overwrite existing hours and wages. Default preferences such as keeping or zeroing hours or cash amounts after pay runs, can be set in Company Preferences.
Starting check #, filter, search, and run totals
If you've written paychecks since the last pay run, whether they be to contractors, vendors, or employees, you can adjust the Starting Check # accordingly for accurate accounting in your company's ledger.
Filter Location to run payroll for (or to just select a few employees from) a single work location.
You can also search employees by name to include or exclude them them in this run.
Run totals will update as you select employees and enter their hours and/or update wages, which we'll cover after direct deposit and paper checks.
Direct deposit vs paper check
You'll see "Paper check" next to employees who don't have direct deposit set up.
Because most employers and employees prefer direct deposit, you may want to follow these steps to make paying your workers as effortless as possible. Payment can be split across multiple bank accounts, and employees have the option to add their own bank info. You'll have another chance to confirm employee payment methods in the "Review" stage.
More on applying for direct deposits and entering employee bank information
Selecting workers
Uncheck or check the box by any worker name to select which workers are to be included in this pay run. Pay run totals automatically update as you select workers.
In the below example, because only Fabian is selected, you see that it says, "Worker (1 of 3 selected)" at the top of the list of workers, and that the run totals in the upper right confirm that only one worker is included in this run.
You can deselect all, to then select only a few workers from a long list.
Tip: If only some workers are to be excluded from a run, you can use name search to find and deselect those employees.
Enter hours and wages
Once all workers for this run are selected, you can begin entering their hours. If you use a time-tracking software integration, you can import timesheets. You can also import a CSV file with employee hours. However you choose to enter hours, it's always recommended to double-check worker hours before running payroll.
Double-check all imported hours
If you've imported worker hours, and you have no additional pay items to add (like commissions or tips), you can click Next. However, we ALWAYS RECOMMEND you take a few minutes to double-check everyone's hours and pay before processing payroll, even for salary employees, to identify any errors in hours, or unwanted supplemental pay items and overrides.
Override rates and supplemental pay items
In the below example, Katy's wages stand out as unusually high — ten times that of everyone else. To see why, you'll need to edit wages (covered next).
Edit wages
Click the pencil () to adjust hours, adjust salary (not recommended), or add and edit other pay items for an employee.
Editing wages
Wages for the pay period can be edited for each employee. You can quickly jump to the next (or previous) employee, to edit everyone's wages with fewer clicks.
When editing wages, you can:
Apply override rates
Below, an "Override rate" has been added to Katy's pay. Overrides appear in a purple bar below the employee's regular rate, and will apply every time payroll is processed for this employee, until the override is removed. If this was entered in error, or no longer applies after the last pay run, it could make for an awkward situation were Katy's payroll to be processed like this.
Click the entered rate to change it, or the (X) to cancel it. This change will apply to this and all future runs. This is just one of the ways pay can be added to an employee's paycheck.
Instead of the purple override rate, you'll now see the employee's regular salary in blue.
Preview check
Click Preview Check to see all wages, withholding taxes, employer taxes, and deductions for an employee.
You can quickly browse to the next or previous employee's check preview to keep editing with fewer clicks, or click ◂Return to go back to "Enter hours and wages".
Add bonuses, commissions, and tips
Click Add/Order Pay Rows to add new bonus, commission, or other supplemental pay items.
Click Add Row.
Click Choose Pay Item, and select the pay item you'd like to add. Unless you enter a recurring amount (covered next) this will not add any pay to this (or any) pay run. Only the pay item (pay type) will be added, and only for this employee (we'll cover how to add an amount next).
Don't see the pay item you're looking for?
Learn about: Adding new pay items→
Click Done when finished adding rows. You may add as many as you need.
Pay types and recurring amounts
When adding a pay type to an employee's payroll, the "Recurring Amount" is optional. "Recurring Amount" allows you to decide whether this pay type is always for the same amount (like some commission payments or bonuses), or for a varying amount to be entered on-the-fly, while processing payroll (like tips, advances, or reimbursements).
Adding a pay type with no recurring amount
In the below example, we'll add a bonus pay item with no recurring amount. This pay type will allow bonus pay to be added for this or any other pay run for this employee. During any pay cycle, an amount can be entered here, and it will apply only to that pay run. If this field is left blank, no supplemental amount is paid.
Adding a bonus with a recurring amount
This example is the same as before, only this time, a recurring amount is entered. This pay type will allow a fixed amount of supplemental pay to be toggled "on" and "off", and it will apply only to that pay run.
Holding and overriding deductions and withholdings
Open More to hold or override active voluntary deductions (involuntary deductions, such as garnishments or levies cannot be held or overridden). You can also override, add, or make exempt from Federal and State taxes and withholdings.
Tip: You can also add to the paycheck memo line, which can be helpful for adding a personal message when paying a bonus or gift by printed check.
After entering hours and wages, It's time to review this payroll.
Click Next.
Run Payroll: Review
Always review a payroll run before approving it, checking:
- Company costs and employee withholdings
- All wages, deductions, withholdings, and taxes itemized by employee and type
- Errors and warnings
- Total payroll cost, debit, and direct deposit details
Company costs and employee withholdings
Get a detailed overview of all company costs and employee withholdings.
All wages, deductions, withholdings, and taxes itemized by employee and type
The pay run report shows all hours and wages by worker. Click column headers to get a closer look at each category. You can also filter by employee name.
Errors and warnings
Errors and warnings are triggered automatically based on conditional rules, like if an employee's check is significantly different than usual, or if state required tax information is missing
Pay run errors
You will not be able to submit payroll when pay run errors are present. For instance, if an employee's paycheck is for a negative amount, this would need to be corrected before submitting payroll by editing the worker's wages, and making sure all hours (or salaries) have been entered.
Warnings
OnPay will also warn you if we see anything unusual about this pay run.
Unlike errors, you can still submit payroll when warnings are present. You can even mute warnings, but that doesn't mean they're not very important.
With more and more employees living or working across state lines, many employers are surprised to learn that they have multi-state tax obligations. Read all warnings carefully before submitting payroll.
Total payroll cost, debit, and direct deposit details
At the bottom of the report are totals for your payroll cost, the payroll amount and debit date, and the direct deposit amount and date.
Submitting payroll
After a thorough review of the pay run, click Submit Payroll.
Run Payroll: Confirmation
After you've submitted payroll, you can print paper checks (for any workers who are not paid by direct deposit), view reports, or return to the dashboard.
Note: Paychecks for employees who've enrolled in direct deposit will not print, but you can always view and print all checks from your dashboard.
Cancelling the pay run
You can void a run right after you've submitted it, by clicking "Need to void a pay run?" Pay runs can also be deleted in the dashboard up to 11:30 pm EST on the day before payroll funds have been drafted from your company bank account.
For more general information on how the payroll process works, check out our resource center.
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