Payroll Processing Step 1: Starting payroll and adding batches



Objectives:

Learn how to start payroll and add a new batch to payroll.

what's in this article?

Instructions for how to start payroll and how to add a new batch.

💡 Good to know: Everything regarding payroll is driven by batches in AllPay. When your company is set up in AllPay, batches will be defined groups of employees being paid in similar ways. For example, your salaried employees can have a different payroll batch than your hourly employees, or biweekly employees versus weekly employees.

Most of the time, your payroll will have batches already built and included as a part of your company's regular scheduled calendar. There is no added cost for having additional batches in a payroll run, since payroll is billed based on a number of payments in processing, not on a number of batches.

This is a part of our Intro to Payroll Processing and Manual Entry guide, which also covers manually keying in payroll data, using Batch Totals, running a pre-process register, and closing a batch and submitting payroll.

AllianceHCM tips: Keep an eye out for tips from our experts!

Starting payroll and adding batches

First, log in to AllPay and choose Payroll Control from the Payroll module.

Payroll Control has three steps. Step 1–Confirm lets you ensure your check dates are correct and available for editing.

If you need to change the check date or create a new check, you can do that by clicking on the Change Check Date button.

This new Current Check Date window shows any check dates that are open and editable. For example, we can see the October 14 check date is open.

You can also add a check date if you need another date. Click on the Add Check Date button.

Fill in the Check Date, as well as the Period Begin and Period End fields and then Save to create a new check date.

Back in Payroll Control, let’s move on with our check. Click on Save & Verify Options.

Then click on Start Payroll Now.

This takes you on to Step 2–Entry in Payroll Control. Here you’ll also see a summary of Expense Reimbursements and Time Off Requests, if your company utilizes these functions.

You’ll notice as well toward the bottom that it says there are no batches scheduled for this check date.

AllianceHCM tip: Remember, most of the time your payroll will have batches already built and included as a part of your company’s regular procedures.

But if you don’t have a batch already added, click on Add New Batch.

Let’s explore the fields in the Add New Batch window. This screen can be used to specify the settings that will be used for both the batch itself and the checks that are created within the batch.

Batch and Batch Description are to identify the batch. For example, we will use “BW” in the Batch field and “Biweekly” in the Batch Description field.



Period Begin and Period End dates define the time period for this batch.

Default Check Type will define what type of checks will be created in this batch. For example, we will use “Regular” for a standard paycheck.

Having the Leave batch empty option checked will create a blank batch with no shell checks for any employees.

Selecting the Create checks in the new batch option will let you add employees to the batch.

Frequency can reflect what payroll frequency employees may be a part of.

Pay Group can be used to define groups of employees according to your company needs, such as employees at different types of stores.

Employee Filter can be customized according to your company needs so that you can easily choose a specific group of employees to add to a batch. The Employee Filters can be set up according to any data on the Employee tab in AllPay. Examples of an Employee Filter may be all employees in a specific state, or all employees reporting to a certain manager, or all employees under the age of 21.

Employee Type is a broad classification of employees.

The Apply Base Auto Pays? option controls whether employees marked to auto pay “Salary” or “Hours” will be automatically paid when the batch is started.

The Apply Employee Auto Pays? option controls whether items from the employee auto pay screen will be automatically posted onto employee paychecks.

We’re going to add a biweekly batch for regular checks and apply base auto pays, as well as employee auto pays.

Once we have that set, we’ll click on Add Batch.

It may take a moment for everything to load, but you’ll see your information in a new section on the Step 2–Entry page.

Now you're ready for adding payroll data, either by manually inputting it or importing it.

And that’s it! You’ve reached the end of this guide about starting payroll and adding batches. If you need additional payroll processing support, please see the full list of sections in the Intro: Payroll Processing and Manual Entry guide.

Remember, if you have any questions, you can always reach out to AllianceHCM experts by phone at 281-875-1818, or you can contact your dedicated Customer Service Representative (CSR), who is listed on your AllPay dashboard. We’re happy to help and look forward to supporting all of your payroll needs.