This article covers Step 1 of Patriot's payroll process — selecting a pay schedule, entering employee hours and money, and optionally paying contractors. This is a standalone article.
Video Walkthrough
The written instructions below cover all steps in the video.
Select a Pay Schedule
Go to Payroll > Payroll Tasks > Run a New Payroll.
In the Select a Pay Schedule dropdown, choose the appropriate pay schedule. If you have multiple pay schedules, select the correct one. To run a payroll outside your normal schedule, choose Off-Cycle.
For more information, see How Do I Run an Off-Cycle Payroll?
The payroll screen will populate with employees who are eligible for pay based on their status and effective date.
The pay period start and end dates will be pre-filled if you have completed your pay schedule setup.
Even if you have set up pay schedules you can always adjust the pay date on payroll Step 1, if needed.
Advanced Options
Before entering hours and money, you can use the Show Advanced Options link to skip deductions or contributions for this payroll, or to temporarily disable direct deposit.
How to Skip Deductions and Contributions
By default, all scheduled deductions and contributions are included in each payroll.
Click the Show Advanced Options link. A list of active deductions and contributions will appear.
Uncheck any item to skip it for this payroll.
Note: Unchecking a deduction or contribution will skip it for all employees, not just one.
All deductions and contributions will be re-enabled automatically the next time you run payroll.
How to Temporarily Disable Direct Deposit
Once direct deposit is activated in your account, direct deposit is automatically enabled for each payroll.
Click the Disable radio button to turn off direct deposit for this payroll. This will cause all employees to receive hand-written or printed checks instead.
Note: Disabling direct deposit will disable it for all employees, not just one.
Direct deposit will be re-enabled automatically the next time you run payroll.
Input Employee Hours and Money
Before entering payroll, confirm that the correct hour and money types are visible on the payroll entry screen.
To change which types appear by default, go to Settings > Payroll Settings > Hours & Money Types and select your frequently used hour and money types. To activate or deactivate a type, click Edit and check or uncheck the Active box.
Then enter hours and money for each employee:
Hourly employees — Enter the number of regular and overtime hours.
Use whole numbers for hours and convert minutes to decimals. Example: 4 hours and 30 minutes = 4.5.
See the Convert Minutes to Hours chart for a reference guide.
Employees with more than one pay rate will be listed separately so you can enter hours for each rate.
Salaried employees — The Pay checkbox is automatically checked and the employee is included in the payroll.
Uncheck the Pay checkbox to prevent a salaried employee from receiving their regular pay for this payroll.
If a salaried employee is assigned an accrual rule, you must enter hours for time off to accrue. Entering additional hours will not affect the employee's salary amount.
In most states, entering hours worked is not required for salaried employees. However, some states require hours for reporting purposes — in those states, work hours will be required.
Additional hours and money types — All active frequently used hours and money types appear on the payroll worksheet. To see additional types set up in your account, click Show All Hours and Money Types.
See also: How to Pay a Bonus in Payroll.
Supplemental tax rates — For certain money types (such as bonuses or commissions), you have the option to tax the amount at the supplemental flat rate set by the IRS instead of the employee's regular withholding rate.
Check the Supplemental Flat Rate Tax checkbox that appears under the selected money type.
For more information, see How to Tax Supplemental Pay.
Repeating money types — If a repeating money type has been set up on an employee's pay record (for example, a Housing Allowance), it will automatically appear on the payroll entry screen.
You can change or remove the dollar amount for that payroll if needed.
See How to Add Repeating Dollar Payments in Payroll for setup details.
FLSA overtime — Entering hours in the Overtime or Double Time boxes will automatically prompt the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) Overtime Designation page. See How to Indicate FLSA Overtime for W-2 Reporting in Payroll for more information.
How to Save Your Work
To stop the payroll process and finish it later:
Click Save Entries at the bottom of the payroll screen.
A Continue Your Payroll link will appear in the Payroll left menu as a reminder to complete the payroll.
While a payroll is saved but not yet submitted, you can make changes to:
Employee personal information, pay information, and all tax information (federal, state, local, and advanced settings)
Company information
Pending bank account verification
Bank account information
Direct deposit settings
Hour and money types (add, edit, or delete)
Company-level deductions and contributions (add, edit, or delete)
Employee-level deductions and contributions (add, edit, or delete)
How to Delete or Clear Entries
Click the Clear Entries link at the bottom left of the payroll screen to remove all inputs and start over.
You will need to clear payroll entries and start over if you need to make any of the following changes:
Update an employee's status (active, inactive, or any other status update for employees with HR)
Change an employee's pay frequency
Change an employee's pay type (salary vs. hourly)
Send time cards to payroll
Add or remove software products
Pay Contractors
If you have contractors set up in your account and want to pay them with this payroll:
At the bottom of the payroll entry screen, click Continue to Contractors and check the box to include contractors.
For each contractor you want to pay, select their:
1099 Type
Expense Account
Department (if you track departments)
Dollar amount to pay
For full details, see How to Pay 1099 Contractors in Payroll.
Proceed to Step 2 – Approve Payroll.