How to run payroll on schedule with a simple checklist

Running payroll yourself is fine until the week you're sick, on vacation or buried in something else. A checklist that creates itself every pay period means payroll never depends on memory.

1. One ticket per pay period

Each pay period gets its own record:

• Pay period ends (required)
• Payroll total
• Employees paid
• Notes for bonuses, corrections, new hires or anything unusual

2. Let a schedule create it

Set up a scheduled ticket that creates the next payroll ticket a few days before each period ends: weekly, every two weeks or monthly. It shows up whether or not anyone remembers.

3. The steps

1. Run payroll: submit hours and approve the payroll run.
2. Verify delivery: confirm deposits landed and pay stubs went out.
3. Paid: everyone was paid.

The verify step is the one that catches problems (a bank holiday, a changed account number) before your staff do.

4. Write down the surprises

Use Notes every time something's different. Next year, when someone asks why March was higher, the answer is there.

5. Keep it private

Make the stack private to the people who run payroll. Others in the company won't see it.

Using the template

The free payroll checklist template sets up the fields and three steps. Add a schedule, make it private and it runs itself. Wondering whether a to-do list could do this? Read shared to-do list or request tracker.