Payroll Processing FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Payroll Processing.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Payroll Processing Overview.
Setup
Do I need the Timesheets app before Payroll Processing works?
Yes. All hours come from approved timesheets. If there are no approved timesheets for a pay period, the report for that period will have no data. Timesheets must be enabled and employees must have submitted and approved timesheets before you generate a payroll report.
Where do I configure pay periods, overtime, and pay dates?
Pay-period settings (weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, or monthly), the weekly overtime threshold, and the overtime multiplier are shared with Timesheets, Attendance, and Scheduling. Configure them once in General Settings > Payroll Settings — they apply across all four apps. The defaults are biweekly pay periods, a 40-hour weekly overtime threshold, and a 1.5× overtime multiplier.
How do I turn the Payroll Agent on or off in Ask AI?
Go to Payroll Processing > Settings and toggle the Payroll Agent checkbox. When enabled, employees can ask pay questions in the Ask AI sidebar. Only an admin or a Payroll Processing app admin can change this setting. The agent is also automatically disabled when Hide Pay Amounts is turned on in General Settings.
Permissions and access
Who can access payroll reports?
Administrators, managers, and users who have been granted the payroll permission through your organization’s role configuration. Managers and payroll-permission holders are scoped to only the locations they oversee — they cannot see pay data for employees outside those locations. Administrators see all locations. A Payroll Processing app admin can manage settings but is still location-scoped for report data.
Why can’t a manager see a report they didn’t create?
A non-admin user can only view a report if they created it or if all of the locations in that report’s filter are within the locations they have access to. If the report includes any location outside their scope, they are blocked. Have an admin regenerate the report filtered to just that manager’s locations, or grant the manager access to the additional locations.
What is step-up verification, and why am I asked to verify my identity?
Every time someone views or downloads pay amounts, the platform requires recent identity verification (a 15-minute window). This protects sensitive compensation data. Every view and download is also logged for compliance. If you are prompted, re-enter your credentials — the verification lasts 15 minutes before it is required again.
Day-to-day
What does a payroll report contain?
Each report is a per-employee register for a pay period or custom date range. Per employee it shows: hours worked, shifts count, hourly rate, regular hours, overtime hours, premium hours (with an itemized breakdown by premium code such as night or weekend differentials), regular pay, overtime pay, premium pay, and total gross pay. Optionally it includes leave balance, leave accrued, and leave used for the period. Report-level totals cover regular pay, overtime pay, premium pay, total gross, and an average effective hourly rate across all employees.
Does Payroll Processing calculate taxes or net pay?
No. All amounts are gross pay — regular pay plus overtime pay plus premium pay. Net (take-home) pay, tax withholding (federal, state, local, FICA), and deductions are not calculated or subtracted here. Export the gross-pay register and hand it to your bank, accountant, or payroll provider for the net-pay and tax steps. For full-cycle payroll with an external provider, use Payroll Connect instead.
Can I regenerate a report with updated data?
Yes. Open the report and choose Regenerate. The report is recalculated from the latest approved timesheets and current employee pay rates. You will receive an email notification when the regenerated report is ready, provided the Payroll report ready notification is enabled in Admin Console.
What export formats are available?
Reports export to CSV, PDF (print-ready, landscape), or JSON. The CSV export includes an itemized premium-pay breakdown column. Choose the format when you create the report.
How is overtime calculated?
Overtime is calculated on a weekly basis within each timesheet — not across the entire pay period. Hours in excess of the weekly overtime threshold (default 40 hours) in any 7-day week are overtime. Overtime pay equals the employee’s hourly rate multiplied by the overtime multiplier (default 1.5×). Both the threshold and the multiplier are configurable in General Settings.
When something looks wrong
“An employee’s report line shows $0.00 pay but they worked hours”
The employee has no pay rate on their compensation record. Payroll Processing flags missing rates as $0.00 rather than guessing a number, so finance can spot the gap. Set the employee’s hourly rate in their compensation record and regenerate the report — the corrected rate will be picked up.
“I enabled the Payroll Agent but employees say it’s not available in Ask AI”
Two conditions must both be true for the Payroll Agent to appear: (1) the Timesheets app must be enabled for your organization, and (2) the Hide Pay Amounts setting in General Settings must be off. If pay amounts are hidden, the agent is disabled automatically so it cannot surface data the organization has chosen to suppress.
“A manager exported the report and it has no pay columns”
If Hide Pay Amounts is turned on in General Settings, non-admin users see only hours and schedule information — pay amounts are hidden across all payroll surfaces, including exports. Admins still see full pay data. If this is not the intended behaviour, turn off Hide Pay Amounts in General Settings.
“The report says ‘failed’ — what went wrong?”
A report fails if the underlying data cannot be processed — most commonly because there are no approved timesheets for the selected date range or locations. Check that the Timesheets app has approved timesheets covering the period and that the locations you filtered by have active employees with timesheets. Then regenerate the report.
Licensing and limits
Does Payroll Processing require a licence?
Yes. It is a licensed marketplace app that is disabled by default. An administrator enables it per organization. It does not appear in the public app directory — it is visible only to organizations that have been explicitly licensed for it.
Are there limits I should know about?
- Export formats: CSV, PDF, JSON
- Pay-period frequencies: weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly
- Weekly overtime threshold: configurable, default 40 hours
- Overtime multiplier: configurable, default 1.5×
- Report pagination: 10 reports per page on the list view; 25 employees per page on a report
- Not included: net pay, tax withholding, direct deposit, and tax-form generation (W-2, 1099)
More help
- Payroll Processing Overview
- Ask AI — the Payroll Agent answers employee pay questions from these articles and from their own payroll data.