Payroll Process Step 1 – Payroll Entry

Use the Payroll Entry screen to enter hours and dollars for your employees. (For more information, see Introduction to the Payroll Entry Screen.)

Start a new payroll.

Go to Payroll > Payroll Tasks > Run a New Payroll.

2. Select Pay Frequency: If you have multiple pay frequencies (e.g., Weekly, Biweekly), choose the appropriate one. The most frequent pay frequency is selected by default. If you have Patriot’s time and attendance software, your Payroll Entry sheet will already be filled in with the hours from your time cards when you Send Approved Time Cards To Payroll.

3. If your business has more than one location, you can filter employees by location and run payroll only for the locations you selected.

4. The period start and end dates will be pre-filled based on your last payroll. This is the date range of time worked. You can change these dates if needed. If you do not want to use pre-filled dates, click the “Show Advanced Options” link and choose “No” for “Prefill Payroll Dates.”

5. Enter the pay date. As with period start and end dates, the pay date will be pre-filled based on your last payroll, and can start with a blank field by choosing “No” to “Prefill Payroll Dates” under the “Show Advanced Options” link. This is the date your employees are scheduled to receive their pay. Note that the pay date must be after the latest of these three dates:

the date of your company’s most recent tax filing (if you are a Full Service Payroll customer),
the date of your company’s most recent payroll history entry, or
the date your company was set up in Patriot Software.

6. By default, the payroll includes all scheduled deductions and contributions. To skip deductions or contributions for everyone, click the “Show Advanced Options” link and a list will display. Check off each item to skip for this payroll.

7. If you offer direct deposit and want to turn off direct deposits to distribute live paper checks, change the “Enabled” button to “Disabled.”

Keep in mind, if using direct deposit, you must run payroll in time for your required ACH timing. Please read more about direct deposit timing, in our help article, Direct Deposit Funding and Timing Options.

All active employees will appear on the Payroll Entry screen, grouped by Hourly and Salary. If an employee is missing any required information, you must fill in the missing info before you can pay that person, but you can still run payroll for the rest of your employees.

Enter employee hours and money

To pay each hourly employee, enter the number of regular and overtime hours, plus any additional hours or money.
To pay salary employees, their “Pay” switch is automatically turned on and included in the payroll. You can uncheck the “Pay” checkbox to prevent a salaried employee from receiving their regular pay. You can check or uncheck the “Pay Salary” check box for all salaried employees at the top of the list.
- If a salaried employee is assigned an accrual rule, you must enter hours in order for time off to accrue. Entering additional hours will not affect the employee’s salary, but entering additional money will add to their total wages.
- In most states, you don’t have to enter hours worked for salaried employees, but you may choose to for tracking purposes. Some states do require hours entered for salaried employees for tax purposes.

Note: All active “frequently used” Hours and Money Types appear the worksheet. To see more money or hours, choose “Show All Hours and Money Types.” To change what appears here, go to Settings > Payroll Settings > Hours & Money Types and choose the Frequently Used Hour and Money types. To activate or inactivate hours or money, click “Edit” and check or uncheck the Active box.

Be sure to check out our help article, How to Pay a Bonus in Patriot Software.

If you have set up a Repeating Money Type for an employee, the additional dollar amount will automatically appear in your payroll entry screen. You can change or remove this dollar amount if needed.

You have the option to tax money at the supplemental tax rate determined by the IRS. Check the Supplemental Flat Rate Tax checkbox that appears under the selected money type. For more information on taxes for supplemental pay, see “How to Tax Supplemental Pay.“

Click “Save Entries” to save your changes at any time.

To stop the payroll process and finish it later, click Save Entries. If you save this payroll and leave this page, you will see a “Continue Your Payroll” link on the Payroll left menu, reminding you to finish this payroll. You can also click “Clear Entries” to delete all your entries on this page and start over.

You will be able to save your progress and make changes to:

Edit an employee’s personal information, pay information, all tax information (federal, state, local, and advanced settings).
Edit company information
Edit or cancel pending bank account verification
Edit bank account information
Edit direct deposit settings
Add/edit/delete hour and money types
Add/edit/delete company-level deductions and contributions
Add/edit/delete employee-level deductions and contributions

You will need to cancel payroll and start over if you need to make the following changes:

Edit an employee status to active or inactive, or any other status update for those with HR.
Edit an employee’s pay frequency
Edit an employee pay type (salary vs. hourly)
Send time cards to payroll
Add or remove software products

Pay your contractors.

If you have added contractors and want to pay them with this payroll, check the box at the bottom of the page and click “Continue to Contractors.” This will bring up the next “Step 1” page that lists contractors.

For each contractor you want to pay, select their 1099 Type, Expense Account, Department (if you track this), and the dollar amount to pay. For more details, see How to Pay 1099 Contractors in Payroll.