Payroll errors begin before payroll runs
A missing timesheet, an unrecorded new hire or a terminated employee still on the list can become a missed first paycheck or an overpayment. Your payroll manager needs those problems in one ordered list before the run, not scattered across HR, timekeeping and email. This is for US companies with a live vacancy for a Payroll Administrator, Payroll Specialist, Payroll Coordinator, Payroll Clerk or Timekeeping Specialist.
What stays with your people
Pay is never calculated here. Gross pay, net pay, withholding, FICA, garnishments, benefit deductions and 401(k) deferrals remain inside the payroll system and with authorized people.
No return is filed. Payroll tax returns and reports to government agencies stay with the provider and the people responsible for them.
No one is paid from this desk. It cannot release wages or move money.
Pay questions go to someone who can see the pay stub. The question is categorized and routed, never answered from an incomplete view.
What stops being done by hand
- Follow-ups on missing timesheets are drafted for approval before the payroll deadline.
- Hours arrive in one consistent view even when the accepted source formats differ.
- The payroll manager sees exactly who has not submitted and which hours are missing.
- Changes from the prior period appear by employee with the known reason beside them.
- Overtime is checked against the FLSA workweek and the state’s daily rule; hours over standard, meal periods, absences and paid rest-break deductions are flagged.
- New hires and terminations are reconciled against HR before the run, with final pay flagged.
- The morning starts with one ordered anomaly list showing what must be cleared first.
- The payroll journal and ledger are compared after the run.
- Pay questions reach the person who owns the answer.
- The period-end pack is ready without another reporting exercise.
Works with what you already run
Time records can come from When I Work or Google Sheets, employee records from Gusto or BambooHR, and ledger figures from QuickBooks Online. The Payroll Desk is read-only and never writes to payroll. We can usually connect to systems with an API, a supported integration or a reliable export. We confirm access before proposing.
How the first two weeks go
Choose one payroll check, such as the pre-run anomaly list, for a fixed-price pilot. We confirm access first; your ten-business-day pilot then runs read-only on your own time, HR and payroll records. We use your job ad to split the duties the desk takes on from those your person keeps and check two or three numbers you watch at the start and end. Your payroll owner checks every anomaly against acceptance tests agreed on day one and makes the go or no-go decision. You keep the configured checking workflow, field map and operating guide in your own account.