Processing a Regular Payroll

Purpose

This guide walks through running a regular payroll in UZIO, from opening the pay run to approval, and explains what is final once you approve. Payroll is processed per pay group, per pay period, from the Payroll Dashboard. Contractors are paid in a separate run; see Managing and Paying 1099 Contractors.

Who can do this: Any user whose role includes the Payroll permission. This is usually the Employer Admin, but other admin roles (for example, a Payroll Admin role) can be granted the same access.

In this article

• Quick steps
• Prerequisites
• Before you start: read your Payroll Dashboard
• Run a regular payroll (detailed)
• What happens after you approve
• Approval deadlines
• Correcting an approved payroll (voiding)
• FAQ

Quick steps

1. Payroll > Payroll Dashboard: pick the pay group and click View Regular Payroll (or Resume Regular Payroll to continue a draft).
2. Clear anything in the Payroll Action Center that blocks the run.
3. Step 1, Regular Pay Details: review the earnings grid (hours, amounts, payment method per employee), then Continue.
4. Step 2, Regular Payroll Summary: acknowledge the Payroll Health Check findings, check the totals and the Uzio Will Debit and Your Liabilities panels.
5. Approve Payroll by 5:30 PM EST, at least 2 business days before the pay date, for on-time direct deposit.

Each step is detailed below.

Prerequisites

• Payroll setup is complete, including a verified company bank account and pay periods for the pay group
• Every employee in the pay run shows Complete in Employees Payroll Setup
• For time-tracked employees: timesheets for the pay period are approved and synced to payroll. Approving a timesheet is not the same as sending it to payroll — see Where the hours come from below
• No tax reconciliation is in progress for the current quarter (this blocks starting payroll)

Where the hours come from

Payroll does not collect hours. It reads whatever Time Tracking has already sent it, so the work that decides your gross pay happens before you start the run.

Two separate things have to be true for a time-tracked employee's hours to appear in the grid:

1. The timesheet is approved for that pay period.
2. The pay period is synced to payroll. This is a per-pay-period toggle, not something that happens automatically when the last timesheet is approved.

Both steps, and what blocks each of them, are in Approving Timesheets and Syncing Hours to Payroll.

In the earnings grid, a time-tracking icon marks each employee whose hours came from Time Tracking. An employee you expected to see hours for, with no icon and no hours, has almost always not been synced rather than not worked.

Salaried employees who are not time-tracked are not affected by any of this. Their pay comes from their profile.

Before you start: read your Payroll Dashboard

The Payroll Dashboard is organized around your pay groups. Each pay group card shows:

• A countdown badge (for example, "3d"): days left until the approval cut-off.
• A Last Payroll panel: the previous run's pay period, pay date, who approved it, and its totals (Total Employees, New Hire/Separation, Gross, Net).
• A Current Payroll panel: the upcoming run's pay period, pay date, Cut off date, and totals.
• Buttons: View Regular Payroll, Payroll Cost Report, and Resume Regular Payroll (continues a run already in progress). A Resume Special Payroll button sits at the top right of the dashboard.
• A reports rail with the Payroll Register Report, Payroll Cost Report, Payroll Comparison Report, and View All.

The dashboard also hosts the Payroll Action Center, a panel of anomaly findings (Blockers, Critical, Warnings, Alerts) scanned daily across your payroll data, such as shared bank accounts or missing state tax withholding. Review it before you start a run. See Payroll Action Center and Payroll Health Check.

[Screenshot: Payroll Dashboard with Last/Current Payroll panels, countdown badge, and the Payroll Action Center; use demo data]

Critical setup gaps still block payroll. You will see "Please submit pending critical information to proceed further" for items such as a company bank account pending verification, missing state tax information for an employee's state, or pay periods not created for the pay group. Resolve these before initiating the run. See Troubleshooting: I Can't Start or Approve Payroll.

Run a regular payroll (detailed)

The pay run wizard has two steps: an earnings grid (Regular Pay Details) and a review-and-approve summary (Regular Payroll Summary).

Step 1: Regular Pay Details

1. From the Payroll Dashboard, initiate the run for the pay group, or click Resume Regular Payroll to continue one. The header confirms the Payroll No, Pay Group, Pay Period, and Pay Date.
2. Read the on-screen Things to Note:
• The run is a draft. Changes made to company or employee earnings after you start will not reflect in it. Cancel and restart the run to pick them up.
• Negative hours or amounts are allowed with a - prefix (for example, -40).
• The grid's column selection and sequence are customizable and auto-saved per payroll type. Your layout is remembered for the next run.
3. Review the earnings grid. Each employee row includes:
• An include checkbox. Uncheck it to exclude the employee from this run.
• A Payment Method dropdown (Check / Direct Deposit), editable per run. For employees enrolled in DailyPay earned wage access, this cell is locked (they must be paid through their DailyPay account). If you apply a check override to the run, a banner notes "Payment Method for DailyPay enrolled employees can not be changed." See Earned Wage Access (EWA) Integrations.
• An FLSA Classification column (Exempt or Non-Exempt).
• Hour and amount columns (Regular Wage, Overtime, Double Overtime, Gross Pay, and more). Choose which appear via the Columns control. A time-tracking icon marks employees whose hours synced from Time Tracking, and a Total row sums the grid. A Qualified Overtime column shows the FLSA overtime premium UZIO calculates for W-2 Box 12 Code TT. See Managing Qualified Overtime.
• A filter panel narrows the grid by Employment Status, Pay Type, Employment Classification II, State of Residence, and Work Location. Useful for large pay groups when you only need to check one segment.

[Screenshot: Regular Pay Details grid with include checkboxes, Payment Method dropdown, and Columns control; use demo data]

1. Use the grid toolbar as needed: Supplemental Tax, Earnings Data Import, Deduction Data Import, Pay Stub Note, Block Income Tax(es), and Non-Discretionary Earning Period. Each is explained in Payroll Grid Tools. Everything on the toolbar applies to this run only. If your company has Deputy time tracking connected, a Sync Timesheets from Deputy button also appears (regular payroll only). It is disabled with "Timesheets from Deputy are already synced" once that period's timesheets have synced, and shows the last sync date and time underneath.
2. Click Continue. You can also use Back to Dashboard to park the draft, or Cancel to discard it.

Step 2: Regular Payroll Summary

1. Work through the Payroll Health Check, the pre-approval anomaly scan at the top of the summary: "Payroll health check complete — N findings for your review. Review and acknowledge before approving. Unreviewed anomaly findings will be recorded in the audit trail." Review each finding and click Acknowledge on those you have verified. See Payroll Action Center and Payroll Health Check.
2. Review the employee summary table: Name, Hours, Gross Pay, Deductions, Taxes, Non Paid Earnings, Net Pay, and Employer Contributions per employee, with a Payroll Total row.
3. Review the All Taxes panel: itemized federal and state taxes (federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, employer Social Security and Medicare, FUTA, and state items such as state income tax, SDI, ETT, SUI).
4. Review the money movement panels:
• Uzio Will Debit: Direct Deposits, Employee Taxes, Employer Taxes, and the Total UZIO pulls from your bank account.
• Your Liabilities: Check Payments, Uzio Managed Benefits (employee and employer), Other Deductions (employee and employer), and their Total. These are amounts you remain responsible for paying.
5. Verify with the reports before approving: Payroll Cost Report, Payroll Register XLS, Payroll Register PDF, Payroll Comparison, and Census & Payroll Report. The Census & Payroll Report consolidates employee census, payroll, and tax and withholding data into a single file built for insurance carriers and benefits administrators.
6. Note the on-screen deadline: "To pay your employees with direct deposit on {payday} you'll need to approve payroll by 5:30 PM EST on {deadline day}. If the deadline is missed, contact our support team."
7. Click Approve Payroll and confirm. Read the confirmation carefully. Approval is final on your side:

[Screenshot: Regular Payroll Summary with Payroll Health Check, All Taxes, Uzio Will Debit and Your Liabilities panels, and the Approve Payroll button; use demo data]

What happens after you approve

• Money movement. UZIO debits the direct deposit total from your bank account. Taxes and garnishments are debited with the run or transferred directly to the agencies when due, depending on your impound setting. See Understanding the UZIO Tax Payment Process. As the screen notes: "Please ensure that you have sufficient funds." You still write the checks for anyone paid by check. See Printing Employee and Contractor Checks.
• Confirmation email. You receive an email summarizing the submitted payroll. This confirmation is sent for Regular runs only. Special, Adjustment, Void, Prior, and Tax-Reconciliation runs do not send one. If your company does not impound taxes and garnishments, the email's total-debit summary includes a footnote on when those debits will hit your account.
• Direct deposits are prepared and transmitted automatically. There is nothing more to trigger.
• Pay stubs become visible to employees in their portal and the UZIO Mobile App on the pay date.
• QuickBooks Online. If connected, the approved payroll syncs to QBO as a journal entry. See Setting Up the General Ledger and Exporting Payroll Journal Entries.
• Time off. PTO accruals tied to payroll post to employee balances.

What is final, and what is not

Approval deadlines

If you are past the deadline, UZIO still lets you approve, with options:

• Process normally. Direct deposits may arrive late. Contact UZIO Support at support@uzio.com for options to expedite the fund transfer.
• Pay by check for this period instead.
• Same day. If the pay date is today, approving requires wiring funds by 12:00 PM EST. Contact UZIO Support immediately after approving for wiring instructions.

If a payroll is not approved by its cut-off, UZIO sends a reminder email each day to your company's admin and payroll users until the run is approved or the period is skipped.

Correcting an approved payroll (voiding)

Voiding is not a self-service action. At your request, UZIO voids the paychecks of one, several, or all employees in an approved payroll; what to send is described in Payroll History. Voiding reverses each selected paycheck (gross pay, taxes, and deductions) by creating a new Void payroll, and, if the pay date has already arrived or passed, automatically reverses PTO accruals in Time Off. It does not recover money already deposited. You handle that on the employee's next paycheck or through an agreed repayment.

FAQ

When does UZIO debit my bank account? On approval, UZIO pulls the direct deposit total plus employee and employer taxes (the Uzio Will Debit total on the summary), unless your company does not impound taxes, in which case tax debits follow the agency schedule. Make sure the funds are available. See Understanding the UZIO Tax Payment Process.

Can I enter net pay instead of gross (gross-up) in a regular run? No. Gross-up is available only in a Special Payroll. See Grossing Up Net Pay.

How do I pay a 1099 contractor? Contractors are not paid in this run. They are a separate payroll type with no withholding, run from Manage and Pay Contractors. See Managing and Paying 1099 Contractors.

A pay period's pay date already passed. Where did it go? An unapproved period whose pay date has passed is skipped. Pay those employees with a Special Payroll.

Still stuck?

To cancel or change an approved payroll, expedite a late direct deposit, or arrange a same-day wire, please reach out to us at support@uzio.com or call +1-571-601-1752. Include your company name, the Payroll No, the pay group, the pay date, and what needs to change. For a late approval, call rather than email: the direct deposit clock is running.

Related articles

• Payroll Setup Overview
• Payroll Grid Tools: the toolbar on the Regular Pay Details step
• Payroll Action Center and Payroll Health Check
• Troubleshooting: I Can't Start or Approve Payroll
• Managing and Paying 1099 Contractors
• Running a Special Payroll
• Making Employee Payroll Updates
• Approving Timesheets and Syncing Hours to Payroll: where a time-tracked employee's hours come from
• Reviewing Past Payrolls and Requesting a Void (Payroll History)
• Earned Wage Access (EWA) Integrations: Zayzoon, PayActiv, and DailyPay: DailyPay locks on the run grid