Loading...
Help Center / Getting Started / Payroll Processing App Overview

Payroll Processing App Overview

Payroll Processing App Overview

Run payroll in-house with MangoApps as the system of record — an in-house payroll engine for gross-to-net calculation, deductions, multi-state tax compliance, and direct deposit. This app is in active development. Today it ships a Payroll Reports tool for admins and a read-only Payroll AI Agent that surfaces paycheck data; the full engine — deductions, tax calculation, payment distribution, and year-end filings — is planned and not yet available.


⚠️ Status & Roadmap — Read This First

Payroll Processing is a forward-looking marketplace app that groups together several features as they ship. Most capabilities described in the marketplace directory are labeled “Planned” and are not usable today. Please read this section before enabling the app.

What is actually built today

Capability Where it lives Status
Payroll Reports — generate CSV/PDF/JSON reports of hours and pay from approved timesheets Admin → Payroll (Admin::PayrollController) ✅ Built
Pay period settings — configure weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, or monthly pay periods Admin → General Settings → Payroll Settings ✅ Built
Payroll AI Agent — employees ask the Ask AI assistant about pay stubs, deductions, tax documents, and year-to-date totals Ask AI sidebar ✅ Built (reads from Payroll Connect data)
Location-based access control — admins can scope payroll report visibility by location IntegratedPermissionService ✅ Built

What is NOT built yet

The in-house payroll engine itself — calculating gross-to-net, running payroll, withholding taxes, issuing direct deposits, and filing year-end forms — is on the roadmap. These capabilities are listed in the app directory with supported: false, note: 'Planned'. Do not enable this app expecting to run payroll end-to-end today.

What to use today if you need payroll

If you need to run payroll now, use Payroll Connect to integrate MangoApps with an existing payroll provider (ADP Workforce Now, Workday HCM, Gusto, BambooHR, Paychex, or MangoPay). Payroll Connect is production-ready and is where paycheck data actually comes from today.


Payroll Processing vs. Payroll Connect — which do I pick?

This is the single most common question. The two apps solve different problems:

Question Answer
I already have ADP / Gusto / Workday / Paychex and want MangoApps to sync with it Use Payroll Connect. Production-ready today.
I want MangoApps to be our payroll system — calculate taxes, cut checks, file W-2s Use Payroll Processing — but note it’s in early preview. Track the roadmap below.
I just want employees to see their pay stubs in MangoApps Use Payroll Connect — it imports paychecks from your provider for self-service viewing.
I want admins to download payroll-ready hours reports from Timesheets Either app works — the Payroll Reports tool described below ships with this app.

The two apps can run simultaneously during a transition. Payroll Connect can be disabled once Payroll Processing is mature enough to run your active payroll.


Feature Evidence Table

Every capability in Payroll Processing, cross-referenced against the code. Legend:

  • Built — wired up and usable today
  • 🚧 Planned — listed in directory metadata as supported: false, note: 'Planned'
  • Not Available — not in the codebase, not on the near-term roadmap

Current capabilities

Feature Status Code Reference
Payroll Reports (index/show/download) ✅ Built src/app/controllers/admin/payroll_controller.rb
CSV / PDF / JSON report export ✅ Built PayrollReport::FORMATS in payroll_report.rb
PayrollReport model with totals, filters, metadata ✅ Built src/app/models/payroll_report.rb
Per-employee line items (regular / overtime / premium hours & pay) ✅ Built src/app/models/payroll_report_item.rb
Location-scoped report access ✅ Built Admin::PayrollController#require_admin_manager_or_payroll_permission
Report regeneration with synchronous processing ✅ Built PayrollReportService, Admin::PayrollController#regenerate
Report deletion (creator + admin) ✅ Built Admin::PayrollController#destroy
Pay period settings (weekly / biweekly / semi-monthly / monthly) ✅ Built BusinessPayPeriodSetting
Email notification when a report is ready ✅ Built PayrollMailer.report_ready
Employee paycheck self-service (read Payroll Connect paychecks) ✅ Built Employee::PaychecksController
Payroll AI Agent — 8 read-only tools ✅ Built src/app/services/agents/payroll_agent.rb
Agent tools: pay stubs, deductions, tax docs, YTD, compare stubs ✅ Built Agents::ToolRegistry::Payroll::TOOLS

Planned capabilities (roadmap)

All capabilities below are marked supported: false, note: 'Planned' in src/lib/marketplace_app_definitions/directory/payroll.rb. They describe the aspirational in-house payroll engine.

Category Feature Status
Gross Pay Import approved timesheets from Timesheets app 🚧 Planned
Gross Pay Regular / overtime / premium pay calculation 🚧 Planned
Gross Pay Salary, hourly, piece-rate support 🚧 Planned
Gross Pay Bonus, commission, one-time earnings 🚧 Planned
Gross Pay Retroactive and back-pay calculations 🚧 Planned
Gross Pay Multi-rate pay (differential rates) 🚧 Planned
Deductions 401(k), 403(b), HSA, FSA, commuter benefits 🚧 Planned
Deductions Roth 401(k) and other after-tax 🚧 Planned
Deductions Employer contribution matching 🚧 Planned
Deductions Wage garnishments with priority ordering 🚧 Planned
Deductions Custom deduction types with per-employee overrides 🚧 Planned
Deductions Benefits Management app auto-sync 🚧 Planned
Tax Federal income tax (IRS Publication 15-T) 🚧 Planned
Tax FICA (Social Security + Medicare) 🚧 Planned
Tax FUTA tracking 🚧 Planned
Tax State income tax, all 50 states 🚧 Planned
Tax SUTA per-state rates 🚧 Planned
Tax Local tax (city, county, school district) 🚧 Planned
Tax Multi-state allocation for remote employees 🚧 Planned
Tax W-4 and state equivalent forms per employee 🚧 Planned
Payments ACH direct deposit (same-day or next-day) 🚧 Planned
Payments Multi-account split deposit 🚧 Planned
Payments Printed check generation with MICR encoding 🚧 Planned
Payments Pay card / payroll debit card 🚧 Planned
Payments Paper pay stubs 🚧 Planned
Payments Digital pay stubs via self-service portal 🚧 Planned
Payroll Runs Scheduled runs on configurable pay periods 🚧 Planned
Payroll Runs Off-cycle / bonus / termination runs 🚧 Planned
Payroll Runs Preview mode with gross-to-net breakdown 🚧 Planned
Payroll Runs Dual-approval sign-off workflow 🚧 Planned
Payroll Runs Void and reissue for corrected paychecks 🚧 Planned
Payroll Runs Audit log per run (actor, timestamp, totals) 🚧 Planned
Compliance Form 941 quarterly federal return 🚧 Planned
Compliance Form 940 annual FUTA return 🚧 Planned
Compliance W-2 generation and electronic filing 🚧 Planned
Compliance 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC for contractors 🚧 Planned
Compliance State new-hire reporting 🚧 Planned
Compliance Workers’ comp classification and reporting 🚧 Planned
Compliance GL journal export (QuickBooks, NetSuite, CSV) 🚧 Planned
Integration Timesheets app feeds approved hours automatically 🚧 Planned
Integration Benefits Management app deduction sync 🚧 Planned
Integration Leave Management paid-leave consumption 🚧 Planned
Integration Compensation Management pay-change dates 🚧 Planned
Integration EPMS merit increase processing 🚧 Planned

Build scoreboard: ~12 capabilities built, ~44 planned. Treat this app as an early-preview placeholder for a future engine — with a useful admin reporting tool and a read-only AI agent available in the meantime.


What is the Payroll Processing App?

Payroll Processing is positioned as the in-house payroll engine inside MangoApps — the alternative to integrating with an external provider. When complete, it will consume approved timesheets from the Timesheets app, calculate gross pay, apply deductions, withhold federal and state taxes, and distribute payments via ACH direct deposit, printed check, or pay card — all inside MangoApps.

Today the app is an early-preview container that exposes:

  1. Admin Payroll Reports — a working reporting tool that pulls approved hours from the Timesheets data and generates downloadable reports in CSV, PDF, or JSON. This is what admins use for handing off to an external payroll processor, reconciling labor costs, or auditing hours. It lives at /admin/business/:id/payroll.
  2. Pay Period Settings — configure weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, or monthly pay periods with a reference start date and a pay-day offset. These settings drive report date ranges and the pay schedule surfaced to employees.
  3. Payroll AI Agent — a read-only Ask AI agent that lets employees ask about pay stubs, deductions, tax documents, pay schedule, and year-to-date totals in natural language. Source data today comes from Payroll Connect paychecks (PayrollConnectPaycheck), not an in-house payroll engine.

Core value proposition (when complete):

  • 🏛 System of Record — MangoApps is your payroll system, not a connector to one
  • 💵 Gross-to-Net — Calculate withholdings, deductions, and net pay inside the platform
  • 🗺 Multi-State Compliance — Federal, state, and local tax handling for distributed workforces
  • 🏦 Payment Distribution — Direct deposit, check, or pay card from a single run
  • 📄 Year-End Filings — W-2, 1099, Form 941, Form 940 generation and e-filing

How It Works (Today vs. Planned)

Today — Reporting and Self-Service (Built)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     TODAY'S PAYROLL SURFACE                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                         │
│   ┌─────────────┐        ┌─────────────┐        ┌─────────────┐        │
│   │  TIMESHEETS │───────▶│  APPROVED   │───────▶│   PAYROLL   │        │
│   │     APP     │        │    HOURS    │        │    REPORT   │        │
│   └─────────────┘        └─────────────┘        └──────┬──────┘        │
│                                                        │                │
│                              ┌─────────────────────────┼───────┐       │
│                              ▼                         ▼       ▼       │
│                         ┌─────────┐               ┌────────┐ ┌────┐    │
│                         │   CSV   │               │  PDF   │ │JSON│    │
│                         └────┬────┘               └───┬────┘ └──┬─┘    │
│                              │                        │         │      │
│                              ▼                        ▼         ▼      │
│                    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐       │
│                    │  Handed to external payroll provider      │       │
│                    │  (ADP / Gusto / Paychex / Workday / etc.) │       │
│                    │  or reconciled via Payroll Connect        │       │
│                    └──────────────────────────────────────────┘       │
│                                                                        │
│   ┌─────────────┐                                                     │
│   │   Ask AI    │───▶ Payroll AI Agent (read-only)                    │
│   │   sidebar   │     ├─ get_my_pay_stubs                             │
│   └─────────────┘     ├─ get_my_deductions                            │
│                       ├─ get_tax_documents                            │
│                       ├─ get_ytd_pay_summary                          │
│                       └─ compare_pay_stubs                            │
│                       (Source: Payroll Connect paychecks)             │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Planned — Full In-House Engine (Roadmap)

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   PLANNED END-TO-END PAYROLL RUN                         │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                          │
│   ┌────────────┐  ┌────────────┐  ┌────────────┐  ┌────────────┐        │
│   │ TIMESHEETS │  │  BENEFITS  │  │    LEAVE   │  │COMPENSATION│        │
│   │  (hours)   │  │(deductions)│  │ (balances) │  │   (rates)  │        │
│   └─────┬──────┘  └─────┬──────┘  └─────┬──────┘  └─────┬──────┘        │
│         │               │               │               │                │
│         ▼               ▼               ▼               ▼                │
│   ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐        │
│   │              GROSS PAY CALCULATION                         │        │
│   │   Regular + OT + Premium + Bonus + Commission + Retro      │        │
│   └──────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┘        │
│                              ▼                                           │
│   ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐        │
│   │              DEDUCTIONS & CONTRIBUTIONS                    │        │
│   │   401(k), HSA, FSA, garnishments, custom, employer match   │        │
│   └──────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┘        │
│                              ▼                                           │
│   ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐        │
│   │       FEDERAL + STATE + LOCAL TAX WITHHOLDING              │        │
│   │   IRS Pub 15-T • FICA • FUTA • SUTA • 50 states • locals   │        │
│   └──────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┘        │
│                              ▼                                           │
│                       ┌────────────┐                                     │
│                       │  PREVIEW   │  (gross-to-net breakdown)           │
│                       │  + DUAL    │                                     │
│                       │  SIGN-OFF  │                                     │
│                       └─────┬──────┘                                     │
│                             ▼                                            │
│   ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐        │
│   │                  PAYMENT DISTRIBUTION                      │        │
│   │     ACH direct deposit • Check • Pay card • Digital stubs  │        │
│   └──────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┘        │
│                              ▼                                           │
│   ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐        │
│   │                YEAR-END COMPLIANCE                         │        │
│   │       W-2 • 1099 • Form 941 • Form 940 • State filings     │        │
│   └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘        │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Roadmap Timeline (indicative)

        Early Preview          Planned Modules                 Target State
        ─────────────          ─────────────                   ────────────
 2026 ─┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
       │ TODAY                                                              │
       │ ▪ Payroll Reports (CSV/PDF/JSON)                                   │
       │ ▪ Pay-period settings                                              │
       │ ▪ Payroll AI Agent (read-only, reads Payroll Connect data)         │
       │ ▪ Employee paycheck self-service (via Payroll Connect)             │
       ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │ NEXT                                                               │
       │ 🚧 Gross pay engine (hourly, salary, OT, bonus, retro)             │
       │ 🚧 Deductions engine (pre-tax, post-tax, garnishments)             │
       │ 🚧 Benefits Management deduction sync                              │
       ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │ THEN                                                               │
       │ 🚧 Federal + FICA + FUTA withholding                               │
       │ 🚧 State tax (50 states) + SUTA                                    │
       │ 🚧 Local tax + multi-state allocation                              │
       │ 🚧 Payroll-run preview + dual approval                             │
       ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │ LATER                                                              │
       │ 🚧 ACH direct deposit + check + pay card                           │
       │ 🚧 Year-end filings: W-2, 1099, Form 941, Form 940                 │
       │ 🚧 GL journal export (QuickBooks, NetSuite, CSV)                   │
       │ 🚧 Leave + Compensation + EPMS tight integration                   │
       └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Ordering is indicative only. Specific availability dates are announced as modules ship. Businesses that need payroll today should use Payroll Connect.


Current Features (Built)

📊 Payroll Reports

The primary built feature. Admins generate period-scoped reports of hours and pay pulled from approved Timesheets data.

Feature Description
Date range Any start/end date; defaults to the current pay period from settings
Location filter Scope a report to one or more locations
Department filter Limit to specific departments
User filter Limit to specific employees
Include inactive Toggle to include terminated employees who worked in the period
Leave balances Optional inclusion of leave balances alongside hours
Rest violations Optional inclusion of rest-period violation flags
Formats CSV, PDF, or JSON
Regenerate Re-run a report after timesheet corrections
Email on ready PayrollMailer.report_ready notifies the creator

Line items per report (PayrollReportItem):

  • Regular hours / overtime hours / total hours
  • Regular pay / overtime pay / premium pay / total pay
  • One row per employee in the scoped period

How it’s used: Admins hand the CSV or PDF to their external payroll provider (ADP, Gusto, Paychex, Workday) — or to an accountant — to actually cut checks. Payroll Processing does not cut checks today; the report is the deliverable.

Access control (require_admin_manager_or_payroll_permission):

  • Admins and super admins see all reports for the business
  • Managers and custom-role users see only reports they created, or reports scoped to locations they have view:payroll permission on (via IntegratedPermissionService#accessible_locations_for)
  • Non-admins cannot include locations in a new report that they don’t have access to

⚙️ Pay Period Settings

Configure how pay periods are structured for the business. Drives the report date-range defaults and the pay schedule returned to employees via the AI agent.

Setting Options
Pay period type Weekly, Biweekly, Semi-monthly, Monthly
Pay period start day Day-of-week anchor for weekly/biweekly
Pay period dates Custom dates for semi-monthly / monthly
Pay day offset Days after period end that pay is issued
Include pending leave Whether pending leave affects current period totals
Reference start date Anchor used to compute current and next periods

Audit trail: Every change is logged via PaperTrail with the reason “Pay period settings updated by admin”.

Location: Admin → General Settings → Payroll Settings (older URL /admin/businesses/:id/payroll/settings 301-redirects here).


🤖 Payroll AI Agent

Read-only Ask AI agent available to employees when Timesheets is enabled and pay amounts are not hidden.

# Gating (from PayrollAgent.enabled_for_business?)
business.timesheets_enabled? &&
  !business.business_pay_period_setting&.hide_pay_amounts?

Eight tools (all read-only; RISKY_TOOLS is empty):

Tool Purpose
get_my_pay_stubs List recent pay stubs with date, period, gross, net
get_pay_stub_details Full breakdown of one stub (federal, state, FICA, Medicare, deductions, hours)
get_my_deductions Current deductions from the latest stub + Benefits Management sync
get_tax_documents Available W-2 / 1099 documents for a given year
get_payment_history Up to 26 recent payments, optionally filtered by year
get_pay_schedule Frequency + next 5 pay dates
get_ytd_pay_summary Year-to-date gross, net, taxes, and deductions
compare_pay_stubs Diff two specific stubs, or the latest two automatically

Important grounding note: The agent currently reads from PayrollConnectPaycheck — paychecks imported from an external provider via Payroll Connect. When the in-house engine ships, the agent is intended to read from native payroll records without changing its tool surface.

Fast path: “compare my last two pay stubs” is recognized as a direct tool call, bypassing the full agentic loop for speed.


🧑‍💼 Employee Paycheck Self-Service

Employee::PaychecksController at /employee/paychecks lists an employee’s paychecks and shows year-to-date totals per paycheck. Requires Payroll Connect to be enabled today — no standalone in-house paycheck model (Paycheck / PayStub) exists in the codebase.


Roadmap Features (Planned, Not Yet Available)

The marketplace directory lists ~44 planned capabilities across seven categories. Each is marked supported: false, note: 'Planned' in src/lib/marketplace_app_definitions/directory/payroll.rb — they are aspirational, not functional. The full list appears in the Feature Evidence Table above; grouped summary below.

💰 Gross Pay Calculation (6 planned)

Hourly, salary, piece-rate, overtime, premium, bonus, commission, retroactive, back-pay, and multi-rate pay computation from approved timesheets.

🧾 Deductions & Contributions (6 planned)

Pre-tax (401(k), 403(b), HSA, FSA, commuter), post-tax (Roth 401(k)), employer match, garnishments with priority ordering, custom deductions, and Benefits Management auto-sync.

🏛 Tax Withholding & Compliance (8 planned)

Federal (IRS Publication 15-T), FICA, FUTA, state income tax across all 50 states, SUTA, local tax, multi-state work allocation, and W-4 / state equivalent form storage.

🏦 Payment Distribution (6 planned)

ACH direct deposit (same-day/next-day), multi-account split deposits, printed checks with MICR encoding, pay cards, paper pay stubs, and digital pay stubs via self-service.

🔁 Payroll Runs (6 planned)

Scheduled runs, off-cycle/bonus/termination runs, preview with gross-to-net breakdown, dual-approval sign-off, void-and-reissue, and per-run audit logs.

📋 Compliance Reporting (7 planned)

Form 941 quarterly, Form 940 annual, W-2 generation and e-file, 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC, state new-hire reporting, workers’ comp classification, and GL journal export to QuickBooks, NetSuite, or CSV.

🔗 App Integrations (5 planned)

Timesheets (hours in), Benefits Management (deduction sync), Leave Management (PTO balance consumption), Compensation Management (pay-change effective dates), and EPMS (merit increase processing).


Integration Vision (Planned)

                        ┌───────────────────────────┐
                        │   PAYROLL PROCESSING      │
                        │   (in-house engine)       │
                        └────────────┬──────────────┘
                                     │
    ┌────────────┬──────────────┬────┴─────┬─────────────┬──────────────┐
    ▼            ▼              ▼          ▼             ▼              ▼
┌────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌────────────┐
│ TIME-  │ │ BENEFITS │ │   LEAVE    │ │ COMP-  │ │   EPMS     │ │  ASK AI    │
│ SHEETS │ │   MGMT   │ │ MANAGEMENT │ │  MGMT  │ │  (Merit)   │ │  (Agent)   │
└───┬────┘ └────┬─────┘ └─────┬──────┘ └───┬────┘ └─────┬──────┘ └─────┬──────┘
    │          │             │             │            │              │
    ▼          ▼             ▼             ▼            ▼              ▼
 Approved  Pre/post-    Paid-leave    Effective    Merit        Conversational
 hours     tax          consumption   pay-change   increase     paycheck Q&A
 feed run  deductions   on runs       dates        processing

Today only the Ask AI arrow is live (and it reads from Payroll Connect, not the in-house engine). All other integrations ship with the planned engine modules.


User Roles & Permissions

Role Today’s Capabilities
Employee Ask the AI agent about their own pay stubs / deductions / taxes; view their paychecks via Payroll Connect self-service
Manager All employee capabilities + generate Payroll Reports for reports they created or locations they have view:payroll permission on
Payroll-permissioned user Generate / view Payroll Reports for accessible locations (via view:payroll permission)
HR / Admin Full Payroll Reports access across all locations; configure pay period settings
System Admin App enable/disable in the marketplace; AI agent enablement via agent_enabled config

Privacy: The AI agent enforces “only show the user their own payroll information” in its system prompt, and tool scopes are user-bound (@user.payroll_connect_paychecks). It will not show another employee’s pay data.


Getting Started

For Admins (available today)

  1. Confirm Timesheets is enabled — Payroll Reports pull from approved timesheet data
  2. Navigate to Admin → General Settings → Payroll Settings and configure your pay period (weekly / biweekly / semi-monthly / monthly)
  3. Go to Admin → Payroll and click New Report to generate your first report
  4. Choose date range, format (CSV / PDF / JSON), and any location / department / user filters
  5. Download the report and hand it off to your external payroll provider

For Employees (available today)

  1. Open Ask AI in the sidebar
  2. Ask things like:
    • “What’s my year-to-date gross pay?”
    • “Show me my last pay stub”
    • “What deductions are on my paycheck?”
    • “When’s my next pay date?”
    • “Compare my last two pay stubs”
  3. View paychecks at My Profile → Paychecks (requires Payroll Connect enabled)

For Admins (when the engine ships)

Detailed setup guides will be published alongside each module as it goes GA. Track this article’s last_updated date and the app directory entry for status.


How This Compares to External Payroll Providers

Payroll Processing, when complete, will overlap significantly with dedicated payroll platforms. The value proposition is consolidation — running payroll inside the same system that already holds your employee records, timesheets, benefits, leave, and performance data, rather than synchronizing to a separate system.

Platform Strength Where Payroll Processing aims to fit
Gusto Intuitive UX and modern SMB focus Payroll Processing targets businesses that want payroll inside their existing employee platform, not a separate SaaS
ADP Compliance depth, enterprise scale, broad ecosystem Payroll Processing trades ADP’s breadth for integration depth with Timesheets, Benefits, Leave, and EPMS in one app
Rippling Unified HR + IT + finance, global payroll Closest conceptually — both unify HR and payroll; Rippling is global (160+ countries), Payroll Processing is planned for US-only at launch
Paychex Full-service administration, dedicated support Payroll Processing is self-service inside MangoApps; Paychex Flex layers on a managed-service tier that is not in scope
QuickBooks Payroll Tight accounting integration Payroll Processing plans GL journal export to QuickBooks so teams can keep QuickBooks as the book of record

Honest positioning: Until the engine modules ship, these products are not directly comparable. Use Payroll Connect to integrate with any of these providers today; revisit Payroll Processing when the gross-pay, deductions, tax, and payment modules are generally available.


Frequently Asked Questions

Q: When will Payroll Processing be available?
A: It’s in active development. Most capabilities are planned — specific availability dates are announced as individual modules ship. Businesses that need payroll today should use Payroll Connect to integrate with an existing provider.

Q: How is this different from Payroll Connect?
A: Payroll Processing runs payroll in-house — MangoApps is the system of record, calculates withholdings and deductions, and issues payments directly. Payroll Connect integrates with an external provider (ADP, Gusto, Workday, etc.) that does the processing. Use Payroll Processing to consolidate payroll inside MangoApps; use Payroll Connect to keep your existing payroll system.

Q: Do I need the Timesheets app?
A: For Payroll Reports (today) and for the planned engine: yes. Hours come from approved timesheets. The Payroll AI Agent also requires timesheets_enabled?.

Q: Which states will be supported?
A: All 50 US states plus federal are planned at launch. International payroll is on the longer-term roadmap.

Q: Can I switch from Payroll Connect to Payroll Processing later?
A: Yes. Both apps can be enabled simultaneously during transition. Payroll Connect can be disabled once Payroll Processing is running your active payroll.

Q: Why does the Payroll AI Agent currently pull from Payroll Connect data?
A: Because no in-house payroll records exist yet. The agent was built against PayrollConnectPaycheck so employees can ask about pay today. When the in-house engine ships, the agent is intended to transparently read from the native payroll records.

Q: Was this app removed and re-added?
A: Historically the payroll marketplace app was removed (see migration 20260215001817_remove_payroll_marketplace_app.rb) because Payroll Reports was a core admin feature, not a marketplace app. Payroll Processing is the new directional app — an aspirational in-house engine — distinct from both the old reports-only feature and Payroll Connect.



Payroll Processing is a forward-looking app under active development. Today, use it for admin payroll reports, pay-period settings, and the read-only Payroll AI Agent. For running actual payroll, use Payroll Connect with your existing provider until the in-house engine modules ship.

Ask AI Product Advisor

Hi! I'm the MangoApps Product Advisor. I can help you with:

  • Understanding our 40+ workplace apps
  • Finding the right solution for your needs
  • Answering questions about pricing and features
  • Pointing you to free tools you can try right now

What would you like to know?