You ran your first payroll, congratulations! Now it’s time to double-check everything, download what you need for your records, and handle any last-minute adjustments. This guide walks through what to look at after payroll runs and what to do if something needs to be corrected.
Missed the Deadline or Something Didn’t Go as Planned?
It happens. Maybe you missed your payroll cutoff. Maybe someone’s hours were entered late. Maybe a staff member was left off. Or maybe payroll processed and something just doesn’t look right.
Whatever the situation, most payroll issues can be corrected. Below you’ll find guidance for the most common scenarios and what to do next.
Running a Late Payroll
Running a Late Payroll
If you missed your payroll deadline, you’ll see a late payroll available in your Payroll tab. From there, you have two options:
Adjust the pay date to continue paying direct deposit
Pay employees manually and keep your original payday consistent
Most providers choose to pay employees manually so they can keep paydays consistent for their team.
Option 1: Adjust the pay date and keep payments as direct deposit:
From your Admin Dashboard, navigate to the Payroll Dashboard tab.
Click the late payroll to open the payroll flow.
Go through the payroll steps as usual
On the last page of the payroll flow, click on the pencil icon for the payday and select the date you would like your employees to receive their pay.
Click Approve to submit the payroll.
What to expect:
Your staff will still be paid through direct deposit. The main difference is the pay date may be later than originally planned.
Option 2: Pay staff manually and keep your original payday consistent:
From your Admin Dashboard, navigate to the Payroll Dashboard tab.
Click the late payroll to open the payroll flow.
On the Review Employee Pay step, select all the staff members you’re paying in this run.
Click Change payment method
Change the payment method to Manual and click Save.
Continue through the flow and click Approve to submit.
What to expect:
You will pay staff their net pay directly (outside of Playground via cash, check, etc.) and Playground will still handle the tax side of the payroll based on what you submitted.
💡 On the Confirm and Submit Payroll step, switch to Employee Amounts and use the Net Pay column to quickly see exactly how much each person should receive.
Running an Off Cycle Payroll
Running an Off Cycle Payroll
An off-cycle payroll is used when you need to issue payment outside your normal payroll schedule. This is common for:
Missed hours
Bonuses
Corrections
Paying a staff member who was accidentally left off
To run an off-cycle payroll:
Go to Payroll and click Create Payroll in the top right corner.
Select Off-cycle payroll.
Enter the appropriate period dates and pay date.
Review the off-cycle payroll options (such as supplemental earnings or deductions), if applicable.
On the Review Employee Pay page, click + Add earning type to enter the correct hours or payment amounts.
If you have contractors, complete the Review Contractor Pay section as needed.
Confirm everything on the Confirm & Submit Payroll page and click Approve.
🚨 Off-cycle payrolls do not automatically populate hours. Because they fall outside your regular schedule, you will need to manually enter the hours or earnings you want to pay.
Once submitted, taxes will process just like a normal payroll.
Resolve a Failed Payroll
Resolve a Failed Payroll
Sometimes a payroll fails because there weren’t enough funds in the connected bank account, or the bank account on file was closed or changed.
When this happens, the payroll will show as Failed in Payroll Home, and you’ll see a red banner at the top of the payroll summary.
There are two ways to resolve this, depending on how quickly you need employees paid.
Option 1: Retry the Payroll Using a Bank Account (ACH)
This is the standard retry option after adding funds or updating your bank account.
Add funds to your company bank account or update the bank account connected to Playground Payroll.
Go to Payroll Dashboard from your Admin Dashboard.
Click the payroll marked Failed.
Click Retry Payment from the red banner at the top.
Select Retry Payment With a Bank Account.
Choose the bank account you want to use.
Click Retry.
Make sure the selected account has enough funds to cover the full payroll liability amount shown.
🚨 Retrying via ACH can delay employee direct deposits by up to 3 business days and payroll functionality will only be restored once the ACH clears.
This is usually the simplest option if timing isn’t urgent.
Option 2: Send a Wire Transfer (Recommended for Time-Sensitive Payrolls)
If you need employees paid on time, a wire is the faster route.
Go to Payroll Dashboard
Open the payroll marked Failed.
Click Retry Payment.
Select Send Check a Wire (Recommended).
Confirm the $100 processing fee.
Click Retry to generate wire instructions.
Send the wire before 8 PM EST on the day the payroll fails ensure that employees are paid on time.
🚨 There is a $100 processing fee for wire payments. The wire must match the exact payroll liability amount shown. If the amount sent doesn’t match the liability exactly, it can delay clearing. Wires clear in 1 business day.
Resolve Failed Employee Payments
Resolve Failed Employee Payments
In this case, the payroll will show as Partially Paid.
This usually happens because:
The employee entered incorrect bank account information
The employee closed their bank account
The routing number was entered incorrectly
Both you and the affected employee will receive an email notification. There are two ways to resolve this.
Option 1: Retry to a New Bank Account
If the employee updates their banking details:
Have the employee log in and update their bank account information.
Open the Partially Paid payroll.
Click Retry Payment from the red banner.
Select Retry Payment With a Bank Account.
Choose the employee’s updated account.
Click Retry.
Payments retried this way will deposit in 2–4 business days.
🚨 It's best to ask the employee to delete the incorrect bank account and encourage them to use Plaid to verify their new account before adding it.
Option 2: Pay the Employee Manually
If the employee needs to be paid immediately:
Open the Partially Paid payroll.
Click Retry Payment.
Select Manual Payment.
Click Save.
The failed payment amount will be refunded to your company’s bank account within 1–2 business days. You’ll then pay the employee outside of Playground (cash, check, etc.).
This is usually the fastest option when someone needs to be paid right away.
Missed a Deduction or Adjustment
Missed a Deduction or Adjustment
If you forgot to add something, like a post-tax deduction, reimbursement correction, or similar adjustment, the simplest fix is usually to add it to the employee’s next payroll instead of trying to retroactively adjust the current one.
In most cases, applying the correction on the upcoming paycheck is cleaner and avoids unnecessary disruption to processing.
You can add a post-tax deduction directly from the employee’s profile before running the next payroll. Here is the guide on how to do that.
Need to Make a Change After Submitting Payroll?
Sometimes you catch something after payroll is already approved. Maybe a deduction was missed. Maybe an earning amount needs to be adjusted. Before you panic, here’s what you need to know.
Payroll can be reopened or canceled any time up until 11:00 AM Eastern on the approval deadline day. After that cutoff, funds begin processing and will debit from your connected bank account.
If you’re still within that window:
Go to Payroll Dashboard tab from your dashboard.
Click the three dots next to the payroll.
Select Re-open.
Open the draft payroll and make your changes.
Approve it again when you’re ready.
Once reopened, you can move through the payroll flow just like you did the first time.
If it’s after 11:00 AM Eastern on the approval deadline, the payroll can no longer be reopened in-platform. At that point, funds are already in motion. If you need help after the cutoff, reach out to the payroll team right away at [email protected].
View and Download a Payroll Summary
If everything went smoothly and you just want a record of what was submitted, you can quickly pull a payroll summary. This is helpful for your own documentation, sharing with an accountant, or just double-checking totals.
To view or print a payroll summary:
Go to Payroll Dashboard tab from your admin dashboard.
Click into the payroll you want to review.
The payroll summary page will open, where you can see employee totals, employer taxes, and overall payroll breakdowns.
Click Print Page in the top right corner if you’d like a printable version.
That’s it. You’ll have a clean summary of exactly what was submitted.
Print Employee Paychecks
If you’re paying staff manually and need to print checks, you can do that directly from the payroll you just ran.
Playground supports the DLT159 check format. If you don’t have check paper, you can either order from here, write checks by hand or deliver cash payments
To print employee checks:
Go to Payroll Dashboard tab and open the payroll you want to print checks for.
On the payroll summary page, click Print All Checks in the top right corner.
The checks will open as a PDF in a new tab.
Download the PDF and print on your check stock.
If you’re paying manually, just make sure you’re printing based on the Net Pay amounts shown in the payroll.
Confirm Payroll Status for Your Team
Once your payroll has been approved, it’s a good idea to take one more quick look at the summary to make sure everything processed the way you expected.
Head to the Payroll Dashboard tab, click into the payroll you just ran, and review the Employee amounts section. In the Status column, you’ll see whether each employee’s payment is marked as Paid or still processing.
This gives you a clear view of:
Who has been successfully paid
Which payment method was used
Net pay amounts
Any deductions or benefit contributions applied
If everything shows as paid, you’re all set.
If something looks off, or a payment hasn’t gone through as expected, don’t stress. That’s exactly what we’re here for. Reach out to our team through chat or email us at [email protected], and we’ll help you sort it out quickly.