payroll-run

name	Payroll Run
description	Prepare a payroll run and its remittances, with the checks that catch the errors people actually notice.
category	Payroll

Payroll Run

Payroll is the one output where an error is noticed immediately, by somebody who is directly affected by it, and remembered.

When to use

• A pay period is due.
• Somebody joins, leaves, or changes rate, hours or status.

Steps

1. Reconcile the roster first. Starters, leavers, and changed rates are where nearly every payroll error originates — not in the calculation.
2. Check the period boundaries. A leaver paid for a full period and a starter paid from the wrong date are the two commonest.
3. Calculate, then compare against last period line by line. Any movement that is not explained by a known change is an error until proved otherwise.
4. Check the deductions and remittances separately — the amounts owed to an authority have their own dates, and those dates go on filings.
5. Park for approval. Payroll leaves the company and moves money, so it waits for a person whatever the policy tier says.
6. Record the remittances as filings rows with their due dates the moment the run is prepared, not after it is paid.

Output

A payroll run ready for approval, a variance note against the prior period explaining every movement, and filings rows for each remittance with its statutory date.