Running Payroll

Process payroll for your employees.

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.

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.

Run payroll step by step

1. Start the payroll

   Go to Payroll → Run Payroll. Select the pay period you’re running.

   If you’re on schedule, Pluvel suggests the right period. If you need to run an off-cycle payroll (bonus, termination), click Run Off-Cycle instead.

2. Review who's getting paid

   You’ll see everyone scheduled for this payroll. Check that:

   • All employees who should be paid are included
   • No one’s accidentally listed who shouldn’t be (terminated employees, those on leave)

   Click Add or Remove to adjust if needed.

3. Enter hours (for hourly employees)

   For each hourly employee, enter:

   Hours type	When to use
   Regular	Standard hours worked
   Overtime	Hours over 40/week (or your state’s threshold)
   Double time	If your policy or state requires it
   Holiday	Paid holiday hours
   PTO	Paid time off used
   Sick	Sick time used

   If you use time tracking software, you can import hours instead of entering manually.

   Salaried employees don’t need hours entered — their pay is the same each period (unless you’re adjusting for unpaid leave).

4. Add one-time payments

   Need to pay something extra this period?

   Type	Example
   Bonus	Performance bonus, holiday bonus, signing bonus
   Commission	Sales commission payout
   Reimbursement	Expense reimbursement
   Tips	Reported tips
   Other	Any custom payment

   Click Add Earnings on the employee’s row, select the type, enter the amount.

5. Review the numbers

   Before submitting, check each employee’s breakdown:

   Employee sees:

   • Gross pay (total earnings before anything comes out)
   • Pre-tax deductions (401k, HSA, health insurance)
   • Taxes withheld (federal, state, Social Security, Medicare)
   • Post-tax deductions (Roth 401k, wage garnishments)
   • Net pay (what actually hits their bank account)

   You pay:

   • Total employee net pay
   • Employer taxes (Social Security match, Medicare match, FUTA, SUTA)
   • Employer benefit contributions

   Click any employee to see the full detail. If something looks off, fix it now.

6. Submit

   When everything looks right, click Submit Payroll.

   You’ll see:

   • Total amount to be debited
   • When funds leave your account
   • When employees receive payment

   Confirm and submit.

What happens after you submit

Event	Timing
Payroll submitted	Immediate
Funds debited from your bank	2 business days before pay date
Direct deposits hit employee accounts	Pay date morning
Pay stubs available to employees	Immediately after submission
Tax deposits made	On schedule (semi-weekly or monthly depending on your deposit schedule)

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

The payroll summary

Before you click submit, here’s what you’re looking at:

Line item	What it means
Gross pay	Total wages before any deductions
Employee taxes	What’s withheld from employees (federal, state, FICA)
Employee deductions	Benefits, retirement, etc. that come out of paychecks
Net pay	What employees actually receive
Employer taxes	Your matching taxes (FICA, FUTA, SUTA)
Employer contributions	Your benefit contributions
Total cost	The full amount leaving your bank account

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.

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.

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.

Direct deposit timing

For deposits to hit on pay day:

Pay day	Submit by
Friday	Wednesday 5pm
Last day of month	2 business days prior by 5pm
Any day	2 business days prior by 5pm

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.

Tax deposits

Pluvel makes tax deposits on your behalf:

Deposit type	Frequency
Federal (941 taxes)	Semi-weekly or monthly (based on your deposit schedule)
State income tax	Varies by state
State unemployment	Quarterly
Federal unemployment	Quarterly

You don’t need to remember schedules or make manual payments. Just fund your payroll account, and we handle the rest.

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.

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.

Once payroll processes, direct deposits cannot be reversed. Triple-check large or unusual payments before submitting.

What’s next

Pay stubs

How employees access their pay information.

Payroll taxes

Understanding tax deposits and filings.