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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2025-09-19
Steps: Process Payroll

Steps: Process Payroll

  • Enter or load payroll input for the pay period.
  • To ensure that all workers have tax code and National Insurance details for Payroll for the UK, access the
    UK Pre-Payroll - Workers without Tax and National Insurance Details
     report.
You can process on-cycle payroll to:
  • Calculate and complete payroll.
  • Generate payroll accounting entries.
You can run and complete pay calculations for pay groups with workers in both Canada and the U.S., provided all workers have the same period schedule. Run the settlement process separately for each country.
Even if the pay group is effective as of the period end, pay calculations still include:
  • Workers terminated in the middle of the pay period.
  • Workers who are on leave in the middle of the pay period.
Workday automatically generates accounting entries when you calculate on-cycle and off-cycle payroll results. It generates entries for accruals and accrual reversals as part of normal, on-cycle runs based on the accrual dates specified on the period schedule. See Setup Considerations: On-Cycle Payroll Processing.
Payroll for France doesn't support manual payments, or reversals.
Payroll for Ireland doesn't support reversals.
  1. Verify input data for the payroll calculation. Examples: Worker data, payroll input, absence, and compensation data.
  2. (Optional for Payroll for the UK) Process HMRC Notifications (UK).
    If you have an integration with HMRC, process HMRC notifications to receive any updates to worker tax details.
  3. For Payroll for Ireland, Process Payroll Notifications (IRL).
    Process incoming notifications to receive any updates to worker tax details.
  4. Process retroactive payroll. Workday recommends that you run the retro pay calculation at least once before running each on-cycle pay, including the initial payroll run. This enables you to maximize the number of supported retro events that Workday can process and forward to workers' regular pay results.
  5. Access the
    Retro Calculation Processing Report
     to verify retro pay results.
    You can use the report to take action on the results. Examples: You can suspend the results to exclude them from further processing, or cancel them to adjust retro entries.
  6. Manually or automatically start on-cycle payroll calculations. If you want updated payroll results continually throughout the pay period, consider enabling the continuous payroll calculation feature:
  7. (Optional) Lock pay group for auditing.
  8. Workday recommends that you verify and correct audit exceptions. See Reference: Payroll Audit Reports.
  9. Review and correct payroll results.
  10. Review and correct accounting results.
    To avoid completing pay calculations with journal errors, Workday recommends you address all errors when reviewing results.
    For Payroll for Ireland, calculate payroll and access the
    Run IRL Payroll Submission
     task to check for validation errors. If you don't do this and your completed payroll submission contains errors, Revenue won't accept the submission.
  12. (Optional) Recalculate pay results.
  14. Verify DSN results (FRA).
    Access the
    DSN Status for Group of Workers
     report and address any DSN errors before completing payroll.
  15. For off-cycle payments, view the
    Pay Calculation Results for Worker
     or
    Pay Calculation Results for Group of Workers
     report. Select
    Pay Calculation
    Complete
     from the related actions menu of the payroll result.
  16. For Payroll for Ireland, submit payroll information to Revenue.
  17. Reconcile payroll results and prepare external payments and declaration using the
    Payroll Reconciliation (Results/Payments)
     report.
You can view:
  • Payroll results for workers.
  • Posted accounting entries.
For Payroll for Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK, and the U.S.:
  • Run the settlement process to create settlement journal entries.
  • Run the check and advice printing process.
For Payroll for France:
  • Run the settlement process to create settlement journal entries.
  • Run the check and advice printing process to print payslips.