> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bolto.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Running Payroll

> Pay schedules, payroll groups, approval deadlines, Auto-Pay, off-cycle payrolls, and payroll statuses in Bolto.

Once setup is complete and employees are onboarded, Bolto drafts each payroll for you automatically. You review, approve before the deadline, and Bolto handles payment, tax withholding, and filings.

***

## Pay schedules

A **pay schedule** defines when your employees are paid. Bolto supports these pay frequencies:

**Weekly · Biweekly · Semimonthly · Monthly · Quarterly · Annually**

Create schedules from **Payroll → Pay schedules** with a name, pay frequency, first payday, and first period end (semimonthly schedules also take a second payday). Opening a schedule shows every upcoming payday alongside its **approval deadline**.

## Payroll groups

Employees are organized into **payroll groups**. Each group is tied to one pay schedule and one funding bank account, and one group is marked as your default.

Each group's card shows the current pay period, gross/taxes/net totals, and a countdown to the approval deadline — all displayed in **US Eastern Time** so every viewer sees the same dates. You can create groups, move employees between them, and deactivate or reactivate them from **Payroll → Groups**.

***

## Regular (on-cycle) payroll

<Steps>
  <Step title="Bolto drafts the payroll">
    A draft is created automatically for each active group when its pay period starts. For hourly employees, **approved timesheet hours are pulled into the draft automatically**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and adjust">
    Open the draft to review per-employee earnings, reimbursements, and deductions. You can edit line items and add or remove employees.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Preview">
    Preview recalculates the full payroll — gross pay, taxes, and net — before you commit.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Approve before the deadline">
    Approving submits the payroll. Funds are debited from the group's bank account, employees are paid on payday, and Bolto handles the associated tax filings.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Approval deadlines

Every draft has an **approval deadline** — the payday minus your company's processing period, counted in **business days** (weekends and bank holidays excluded). Processing periods range from four business days down to one, depending on your company's configuration.

<Warning>
  If the deadline passes without approval, the draft becomes **Expired** and can no longer be submitted. To pay employees for that period, run an [off-cycle payroll](#off-cycle-payroll).
</Warning>

Bolto emails reminders **2 days and 1 day before each deadline**, calling out anything that needs attention (blocking employees, terminated employees, detected changes).

### What blocks approval

An employee blocks payroll approval if they:

* Haven't completed payroll onboarding
* Have no earning rate
* Have no bank account for direct deposit

The draft flags blocking employees so you can resolve issues (or remove them from the run) before the deadline.

***

## Auto-Pay

For groups made up entirely of **US salaried, exempt employees**, you can enable **Auto-Pay** on the group. With Auto-Pay on:

* Payroll drafts are pre-filled from each employee's primary pay rate and standard hours
* Runs with no detected changes are **submitted automatically** on the deadline day
* Auto-Pay **pauses for your review** whenever anything changed from the previous run — headcount changes, compensation updates, or additional earnings — or if any employee has unresolved issues

You remain responsible for reviewing runs and adding any variable compensation (bonuses, time off, adjustments). Groups containing hourly or non-exempt employees are not eligible.

***

## Off-cycle payroll

Use an off-cycle payroll for bonuses, corrections, or one-off payments outside the regular schedule. From **Payroll → Off-cycle**, provide:

* A payment name and reason
* The pay period start and end dates
* The pay date (bank holidays are excluded; the earliest available date reflects processing time)
* The funding bank account

Off-cycle options let you **tax all earnings as supplemental earnings**, and choose whether to **apply benefits** and **post-tax deductions**.

<Tip>
  An expired off-cycle draft isn't lost — move its pay date to a valid future payday to revive it.
</Tip>

***

## Payroll statuses

| Status             | Meaning                                     |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------- |
| **Draft**          | Editable, awaiting approval                 |
| **Expired**        | Approval deadline passed without approval   |
| **Voided**         | Cancelled before processing                 |
| **Approved**       | Submitted; funds not yet in motion          |
| **Processing**     | Funds moving                                |
| **Paid**           | Complete                                    |
| **Partially Paid** | Some payments completed                     |
| **Failed**         | Funding failed — contact support to resolve |

After approval, the payroll detail page shows a timeline from review period to payday, plus the status of associated tax filings. Past payrolls live in **Payroll → History**, with per-employee drill-downs and downloadable reports (see [Paystubs, Documents & Reports](/payroll/paystubs-documents-reports)).

***

## Paying contractors alongside payroll

If you also work with US contractors, you can add them to an on-cycle or off-cycle payroll run while it's in draft. See [Paying Contractors](/contractors/paying-contractors).