Running Payroll

It’s pay day. Your employees are counting on direct deposits hitting their accounts. The IRS expects taxes deposited on time. And somewhere in between, you need to make sure the numbers are right. Running payroll sounds intimidating, but once you’ve done it twice, it’s a 10-minute process. Here’s how it works.

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Before your first payroll

Make sure these are done:

• Company EIN and state tax IDs entered in Settings → Payroll
• Payroll bank account connected
• At least one employee added with complete information
• Pay schedule set (weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly)

Missing any of these? You’ll get a warning when you try to run payroll.

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Run payroll step by step

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What happens after you submit

You don’t need to do anything else. Pluvel handles tax deposits, pay stub delivery, and record keeping automatically.

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The payroll summary

Before you click submit, here’s what you’re looking at: Expect total cost to be 10-15% higher than gross pay. Employer taxes and contributions add up. A $5,000 gross payroll might actually cost$5,700.

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Off-cycle payroll

Sometimes you need to pay outside the regular schedule:

• Bonus payroll — Holiday bonus, performance bonus, spot bonus
• Final paycheck — Terminated employee’s last pay
• Correction — Fixing an error from a previous payroll
• Commission — Sales commission payout

To run an off-cycle:

1. Click Run Off-Cycle instead of the regular payroll
2. Select the payment type
3. Choose who’s included
4. Enter amounts
5. Submit

Off-cycle payrolls follow the same debit and deposit timing as regular payrolls.

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Editing after you submit

Before the processing deadline (typically 2 days before pay date):

1. Find the payroll in Payroll → History
2. Click Cancel
3. Make your changes
4. Resubmit

After the deadline: The payroll is locked. To fix an error:

• Overpaid someone? Deduct on next payroll or run an off-cycle correction
• Underpaid someone? Add the difference on next payroll or run an off-cycle
• Wrong tax withholding? Adjust the employee’s settings; it’ll correct over remaining pay periods

Major errors may need manual adjustment. Contact support if you’re not sure how to fix something.

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Direct deposit timing

For deposits to hit on pay day: If you miss the deadline, deposits hit the next business day after your scheduled pay date. Employees won’t be happy, so set calendar reminders.

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Tax deposits

Pluvel makes tax deposits on your behalf: You don’t need to remember schedules or make manual payments. Just fund your payroll account, and we handle the rest.

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Payroll history

Every payroll is saved forever:

1. Go to Payroll → History
2. See all past payroll runs
3. Click any payroll to see full details
4. Download reports (summary, individual pay stubs, tax liability)

This is your record for tax time, audits, and employee questions.

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Common payroll mistakes

Forgetting overtime. Hours over 40 must be paid at 1.5x (or higher in some states). If you enter 45 regular hours, Pluvel auto-calculates overtime — but only if you’ve set up overtime rules correctly. Missing the deadline. Payroll needs 2 business days to process. Submit late, and employees get paid late. They remember. Wrong work state. Remote employee in California but you have them set to Texas? Wrong taxes. Wrong withholding. Fix it before your next payroll. Ignoring the preview. That extra zero on someone’s bonus? The preview would’ve caught it. Always check before submitting.

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What’s next