Payroll in BambooHR

How do I manage payroll in BambooHR?

Purpose: This guide will provide an overview of BambooHR Payroll and the Payroll tab. You can also find information on what to do after payroll is process and what happens if you are late/miss payroll. 


Payroll Overview

More of a hands-on learner? Click here to enroll in a BambooHR Learning Course that will walk you through the Payroll Tab.


Payroll tab

You can find the Payroll tab at the top of any page in BambooHR. This tab is accessible to the Account Owner, Full Admin users, Payroll Admin, and custom payroll users with access. If you have multiple EINs, you need to select which EIN you want to view in the top left corner. It automatically defaults as the EIN you have most recently viewed. All users with access to the Payroll tab can see the basic payroll information for all EINs.

The Payroll tab will automatically default to show the pay date that is due next. You can see all recent past due, current, and future pay dates for all pay schedules associated with the EIN at the top. The displayed date for each calendar icon is the assigned pay date for the pay period. You can also see the next seven pay dates at once, but you can click the right arrow to see additional dates. Click on a different pay date to see the corresponding details.

The Payroll tab will show the following information:

  1. Multi-EIN dropdown: If you have multiple EINs, you can filter which EIN's payroll you are viewing by clicking this dropdown.
  2. Open TRAXPayroll: Clicking this button will allow users with access to SSO (Single Sign-On) into TRAXPayroll. See more details below. 
  3. Payroll Reports: Users with permissions can click Payroll Reports to view their approved payroll reports under the Reports tab in BambooHR.
  4. Off-Cycle Payroll: Click this button to create off-cycle payrolls in the instance of paying out a terminated employee, bonus payouts, etc. 
  5. Tax account setup alert: If you are missing any tax IDs you will receive an alert at the top of the Payroll tab. Clicking Setup Now will navigate you to the Company Tax page in Settings, where you can update the tax IDs. The alert will appear for 97 days, but as a reminder, you must update these before 60 days to avoid fees
  6. Pay date and the associated pay schedule
  7. Payroll History: The Payroll History button allows you to view important payroll data, including reports, reminders, and a timeline of payroll events from payrolls already processed in the past.
  8. Company-level payroll error banner: If there are any errors found within your company information, like invalid addresses, a banner will appear with a Fix Now button for you to update the information before you process your payroll. 
  9. People Being Paid: This tile will display the total number of people being paid on the current payroll run. If your employees have information errors that need to be fixed before running payroll, the People Being Paid tile will highlight orange. It will also display the ratio of people that are ready for payroll versus the total number of people on the payroll run. Click on the tile to manage employee payroll errors, and enable/disable employees from future payroll runs.
  10. Extra Pay: This tile will display the total extra pay amount for the pay cycle. Click on the tile to edit your employee's extra pay and upload extra pay in bulk. 
  11. Timesheets/Hours: If you have purchased BambooHR Time Tracking, this tile will show the number of timesheets that have been approved or that are awaiting approval. Keep in mind, this tile only shows timesheets for Hourly employees with Time Tracking enabled. Click on the tile to view timesheet and hours details related to the current payroll run. If you do not use BambooHR Time Tracking and add hours with an hourly time off policy, using the hours importer, BambooHR's open API, or through one of our time tracking partners, the tile will show as "Hours." It will show the number of hours that have been approved. Please note that manually added hours are automatically considered approved.
  12. Reminders: Those with access to the Payroll Tab can view and create reminders within this section to assist them in running payroll. You can add, edit, delete, mark reminders as complete, and mark reminders as incomplete. Each pay cycle will have its own list of reminders, even if there are multiple pay schedules in a pay cycle.
  13.  Updates since the last payroll: This section will only appear if the pay date is the next upcoming pay date for that pay schedule. Here you will find a list of changes and the associated employees who have had changes since the last pay date for the pay schedule. The list also shows the employee's profile picture, preferred name and last name, job title, and the category assigned to the changes on the employee in the report. If there are no changes, you will see a message letting you know there are no changes from your last payroll.
    1. Jump to Full Report will direct you to the Payroll Update Summary report, and the view will default to the specific pay schedule. From there, you can go through and review all payroll-related changes.
  14. Payroll information box:
    1. Name of pay schedule
    2. Start Payroll & Continue Payroll button
      1. This button will only appear on current payroll runs as long as there is at least one employee being paid. If you missed your payroll processing deadline this button will also turn into a Move Pay Date or Skip Payroll button.
    3. Payroll due date and time it is due (customer's time zone)
      1. If the payroll is unapproved and it is one hour before the due date time for that payroll, the pay date will get highlighted as orange.
      2. If the payroll is unapproved but still before the pay date for that payroll, the pay date will get highlighted as orange with a message to let you know it is past due.
      3. If the payroll is unapproved and the pay date for that payroll has passed, the pay date will get highlighted as red with a message to let you know you have missed the payroll cutoff deadline.
      4. In addition to the above, you will see a message about the upcoming, past due, or missed payroll next to the pay schedule.
    4. Pay cycle start and end date (pay period date)
    5. The pay date for the payroll
  15. Delete This Payroll: You can one-time delete unapproved payrolls by clicking Delete This Payroll at the bottom of the payroll information card. If deleting a scheduled pay cycle, a modal will appear, requiring you to type "DELETE" and confirm that you wish to delete the pay cycle. Once confirmed, the pay cycle will fall from the carousel, and the next scheduled pay cycle will be activated. Please note you must contact support to reactivate a deleted payroll.
  16. Pay Cycle ID: The pay cycle ID is a unique identifier for the current payroll run you are processing. The format of the pay cycle ID is displayed as "ID [Payroll ID] - [Pay cycle ID]". If you have a specific question about your payroll, this number will help our support team quickly identify the payroll you may have questions about.

If you have multiple pay schedules with the same pay date, you will see a number in the bottom corner of the calendar icon. When you click on that date, you will see the details for both pay schedules, as shown above. The pay schedules display in alphabetical order on the page.


TRAXPayroll Single Sign-On (SSO)

BambooHR Payroll integrates with TRAXPayroll to help deliver a complete payroll experience. While BambooHR is the primary payroll record keeper and the place where you will run payroll, you may find you need to log into TRAXPayroll for the following reasons: 

Eventually, these features will be a part of BambooHR Payroll.

To SSO into TRAXPayroll, click Open TRAXPayroll in the top right corner of the Payroll tab. This action automatically opens a new tab in your browser and logs you into your TRAXPayroll account. If you have multiple EINs, you will see a pop-up asking you which TRAXPayroll account you would like to access (see above). Select the desired EIN and click Open This Account.

Payroll Center v1 – Figma

If you have not granted a user access to SSO into TRAXPayroll and the user attempts to click the Open TRAXPayroll button, they will see the pop-up that's shown above.


What happens when the payroll gets approved?

Did you know you can run and approve payroll prior to your due date? This is a great option if you're going to be out of the office or if you have a busy week coming up. Just be sure that you take any date-specific data into account beforehand!

Upon the approval of payroll, the calendar icon will show a green checkbox. You will be able to see the Approved stamp along with the total payroll amount, the cash requirement, and the date the payroll will be processed. Once the date has passed, it will disappear from the navigation view, and the payroll that is due next will move to show first. You can view past payroll data via the Payroll History page. 

The Reminders section will still be visible. You may mark incomplete reminders as complete, edit or delete incomplete reminders, or delete completed reminders. 

If you need to reopen your payroll after approval, click Reopen This Payroll in the payroll information box. Clicking on this button will revalidate your payroll run and send you to the Edit page. Reopening payroll after approval will only be available until 10:00 AM PST on the day payroll is due. After the 10:00 AM deadline has passed, you may not be able to reopen approved payrolls. If you reopen payroll before 10:00 AM PST, you will still have until 12:00 PM PST of the payroll due date to make the final approval. 

If you reopen a payroll run, remember to approve it before the payroll processing deadline. If you miss the deadline, you are subject to incur late fees. 


What happens if I am late or miss payroll?

Paying your employees on time is of the utmost priority. Please keep in mind you must approve your payroll by 12:00 PM PT two days prior to the pay date. If you miss this deadline, there are a few options. Check out this help guide for more information.