Payroll Run Pre-Flight

Payroll batch submitted for approval. Run completed and reconciled. GL posted. Direct deposit confirmations tracked.

Before you start

Payroll provider configured (Gusto, Rippling, ADP)
Employee changes documented (raises, bonuses, terminations)
Approval workflow for payroll
Employee roster with current pay rates
Pending changes for the cycle (new hires, raises, termination, bonuses)
Time-tracked hours for hourly employees

The steps

Reconcile roster against HRIS — Verify: every active employee in HRIS is in payroll, every terminated employee is removed (final pay processed), every new hire is set up correctly. Mismatches now prevent paid-after-termination errors.
Apply approved changes — Process: raises (effective date matches payroll cycle), bonuses (gross amount, tax treatment), promotions (new rate, new title), terminations (final pay, severance, accrued PTO payout per state law).
Verify hourly time records — For hourly employees, confirm: time-tracking submitted, approved by manager, no anomalies (excessive overtime without approval). Push back on unapproved overtime — both for budget and labor compliance.
Validate tax and benefit deductions — Confirm: tax tables current, benefit deductions matching enrollment, garnishment orders in effect, retirement contributions (401k, etc.) per employee election. Tax errors compound over time.
Run payroll preview and review variances — Generate the payroll preview. Compare to last cycle: any unexpected variance >5% per employee or in totals? Investigate before finalizing. Common causes: missed change application, time-tracking error, incorrect tax setup.
Submit for approval — Send the payroll batch to the approver (CFO or designated). Include: total amount, employee count, change summary, any flagged items. Don't run payroll without approval — corrections after run are messy.
Post-run: reconcile and post to accounting — After the run completes, reconcile: bank debit matches payroll total, GL entries posted (gross pay, employer taxes, employee taxes, benefits). Confirm direct deposits hit on time.

If it goes wrong

Terminated employee paid one cycle after termination

Termination triggers immediate payroll removal. Audit weekly. Manual recovery of overpayment is awkward — prevention is better.

Tax setup wrong, employee shorted on net pay

Audit tax setups quarterly. New hires especially — tax forms reviewed within first paycheck cycle.

Variance review flagged miss after run was final

Variance review BEFORE submission. Don't trust 'looks fine' — always run the comparison.

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