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Run a payroll

The run form remembers your last pay schedule and payment method, and moves the dates forward automatically — each run starts where the last one left off.

1. Open the Payroll tabGo to Books & Payroll → Payroll and click "+ Run payroll." The run form opens right below.
2. Set the schedule and payment methodPick a Pay schedule and a Payment method: "Direct deposit (ACH)" or "Paper check." Only employees on the matching schedule show in the hours grid.
3. Check the datesPay period start, Pay period end, and Check date come pre-filled — carried forward from your last run and advanced to the next period. Adjust them if this run is different.
4. Note the next check numberIf you picked Paper check, a line under the dates shows "Next paper-check #" — the number the first check in this run will get.
5. Enter hoursUnder "Hours this period," fill in Regular, Overtime, Holiday, and Vacation hours per employee. Salaried employees show "salaried — full period" and need no hours. A Billable column appears for anyone with a commission rate.
6. Weekly runs split overtime for youOn a weekly schedule, typing more than 40 into Regular and tabbing out moves the excess into Overtime automatically. On other schedules you split it yourself, since overtime is figured per workweek.
7. Preview before anything savesClick "Next: review paychecks →." Nothing is saved yet — you get a batch total strip (gross / taxes / net) and a per-employee card with income lines, taxes withheld, and net pay. Step through with "← Previous" / "Next →."
8. Fix anything firstClick "← Back to hours" and the form reopens with everything you typed still in place.
9. Create the paychecksClick "Create paychecks ✓." This is the moment the run is saved — check numbers are assigned and taxes recorded.
10. Read the registerYou land on "Register — run #N": each employee's Gross, Taxes, and Net, a Total row, and the Employer burden line (your Social Security and Medicare match, FUTA, SUI, and the run's total cost). Reopen it anytime from the Pay runs table.
11. Watch the year-to-date tilesAt the top of the Payroll tab, "Payroll · year to date" shows YTD gross, Tax withheld, Net paid, and Pay runs — updated to include the run you just made.