You've configured your payroll schedule, set up your drivers' pay items and deductions, and now you're ready for the good stuff: getting your drivers paid!

With Driver Pay Management in AscendTMS, you can approve pay items, manage payroll, generate settlement sheets, and email them directly to your drivers, all from one convenient place.

And here's the best part: Much of the process can be automated, leaving you with less paperwork and more time to focus on running your business.

In this guide, we'll walk you through the entire Driver Pay Management process, from approving pay items to sending settlement sheets. We'll also introduce a few handy tools that make managing payroll even easier.

Before you can process driver payroll, your drivers' Load-Based Pay Items must be approved. This ensures the amounts being paid have been reviewed and are ready to move into Driver Pay Management.

The good news? AscendTMS gives you three ways to approve Driver Pay Items, so you can choose the approach that works best for your business.

You can use these methods independently or combine them to create an approval process that fits your company's workflow.
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Want to eliminate manual approvals? AscendTMS can handle that for you! 😎
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Using the Automated Workflow Engine (AWE), you can configure rules that automatically approve your drivers' load-based pay items when certain conditions are met.
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To get started, navigate to Settings. Locate the Company Settings section, then select Automated Workflow Engine.

​Scroll down until you locate the Driver Pay-related AWE rules.

There are two AWE rules specifically designed to automate Driver Pay Item approvals, along with an additional rule that can work alongside them.

When enabled, this rule automatically approves a load's Driver Pay Items whenever that load is sent to Accounting.

This rule automatically approves Driver Pay Items when a load reaches your selected status or statuses, without requiring the load to be sent to Accounting.

There's another handy AWE rule worth mentioning:

Automatically Send Load to Accounting When Load Status Is Set To...

This rule isn't specific to Driver Pay. Its primary purpose is to automatically send loads to Accounting when they reach a selected load status.

However, when combined with the first Driver Pay approval rule, you can automate both processes!

For example, let's say you configure AscendTMS to automatically send loads to Accounting when their load status changes to Delivered. If you've also enabled the rule to approve Driver Pay Items when loads are sent to Accounting, both actions happen automatically.

If you refer to review your drivers' pay items before approving them, open the applicable load and navigate to its Financials tab.

From here, you have two options:

Approve all driver pay items associated with the load at once.

Select an individual pay item and approve it separately.

If you'd rather review and approve pay items across multiple loads and drivers, this option is for you!

Navigate to the Accounting tab and select Driver Pay Mgt. From there, select the Approve Load Pay Items for Driver Pay tab.

Here, you'll find your active loads that have Driver Pay Items assigned to them.

By default, the list includes Live loads, but you can also include Archived or Cancelled loads using the available filters.

You can narrow down your results using:

Once you've found the loads you want to review, click the + icon next to a Load ID to expand the row and view its Driver Pay Items.

You can then:

When you're ready, click Mark Items as Approved.

And just like that, your Driver Pay Items are approved and ready for payroll!

Your Driver Pay Items are approved, your scheduled payments and deductions are ready, and now it's time to get those drivers paid! 🚛

With Driver Pay Management, you can review everything owed to your drivers, manage individual pay items and deductions, and mark payments as complete, all from one convenient screen.

Navigate to the Accounting tab and select Driver Pay Mgt.

At the top of the Driver Pay Management screen, select the Payroll Period you want to work with.

You'll notice a lock icon next to each payroll period:

Keep in mind: Payroll processing functions are only available for Open Payroll Periods.

By default, AscendTMS displays all drivers associated with the selected payroll period.

If you wish to focus on a specific driver, or a group of drivers, use the Selected Driver(s) filter to narrow your view.

Once your driver(s) are selected, click the + icon next to a driver's name to expand their payroll details.

Here, you can review their approved pay items, scheduled payments, and applicable deductions before processing payroll.

Once you've reviewed your drivers' pay items and deductions, you're ready to mark them as paid.

AscendTMS gives you several options:

Once you've made your selections, click the green Mark as Paid button.

The selected items will now reflect a Paid status.

You'll also notice a running total in the upper-right corner of the screen showing the amount marked as Paid for the selected payroll period.

These two statuses serve different purposes:

And that's it! You've reviewed your drivers' payroll and marked their payments as complete.

Next up: Generating and Emailing Driver Settlement Sheets!

You've reviewed your drivers' pay, marked everything as Paid, and now it's time to get those settlement sheets into their hands!

AscendTMS makes it easy to generate, review, and email Driver Settlement Sheets directly from Driver Pay Management.

Immediately after clicking Mark as Paid, AscendTMS gives you the option to View/Email Settlement Sheets, making it easy to move straight into the next step!

You can also access settlement sheets anytime by navigating to the Accounting tab, clicking Driver Pay Mgt. and selecting the appropriate Payroll Period.

From there, select the driver (or drivers) you'd like to generate settlement sheets for, then click the blue View/Edit Settlement Sheets button.

Next, you'll have the option to preview the settlement sheets for your selected drivers.

Simply click the View Settlement Sheet link to open and review the applicable settlement sheet.

Take a moment to make sure everything looks good before moving forward.

You'll also have the option to email yourself a copy for your records.

Once you're satisfied, click Continue: Body.

Next, you'll have the opportunity to customize the email message that accompanies your drivers' settlement sheets.

You can edit the email body to include any additional information you'd like your drivers to receive.

Have a message you use every payroll period? Save it as a template! That way, you won't have to type the same thing every time.

Once everything looks good, click Continue: Send Email to email the settlement sheets to your selected drivers.

And just like that, your Driver Settlement Sheets are on their way! 🎉

No downloading individual documents, no juggling attachments, and no extra trips to your email inbox.

Your drivers get their settlement sheets, and you get one more thing checked off your payroll to-do list!

Beyond approving pay items, processing payroll, and sending settlement sheets, Driver Pay Management includes several handy tools to help you stay organized and keep your payroll records in order.

At the top of the Driver Pay Mgt screen, you'll find several additional options:

Need to take a closer look at a specific driver's payroll information?

Click the + icon next to their name to expand their payroll details.

From here, you'll find several additional options:

These tools make it easy to review payroll details, track activity, and access important driver information without jumping between multiple screens.

Load-based Driver Pay Items must be Approved before they'll appear in the payroll processing screen.

Check the load's Financials tab or navigate to Accounting → Driver Pay Mgt → Approve Load Pay Items for Driver Pay to review any items awaiting approval.

Approved means a Driver Pay Item has been reviewed and is ready for payroll processing.

Paid means the item has been marked as paid within AscendTMS.

Remember, marking an item as Paid does not automatically transfer money to your driver.

The Payroll Period may be Closed.

Look for the lock icon next to the selected period. If it's closed, the period must be reopened before additional payroll processing can take place.

Absolutely! From the Approve Load Pay Items for Driver Pay tab, you can select pay items across multiple loads and drivers, then click Mark Items as Approved.

You can also approve all Driver Pay Items associated with a single load directly from its Financials tab.

You sure can! Select the applicable pay items and deductions across multiple drivers, then click Mark as Paid.

Just be sure to review your selections before processing.

At least one pay item or deduction must be marked as Paid before you can generate a settlement sheet for that driver.

Once you've marked an item as Paid, you can use the View/Email Settlement Sheets option to continue.

Yep! 😎

AscendTMS's Automated Workflow Engine (AWE) allows you to automatically approve Driver Pay Items based on load statuses or when loads are sent to Accounting.

Just remember to click the green Save button within each rule you configure!

Absolutely! When emailing settlement sheets, you can customize the email body and even save your message as a template for future payroll periods.

Some Driver Pay Management functions require specific User Permissions.

If you're missing an approval or payroll processing option, check with your AscendTMS administrator to make sure your permission group includes the appropriate Driver Pay permissions.

And that's a wrap! You've approved your drivers' pay, processed payroll, and sent those settlement sheets on their merry way. Not too shabby, eh? 😎

With AscendTMS Driver Pay Management, what used to involve spreadsheets, paperwork, and a whole lot of back-and-forth can now be managed from one convenient place.

And with automated approvals, scheduled pay items, and built-in payroll tools, your next payroll run can be even easier than the last.

Now go enjoy that extra time you've earned. You've got freight to move! 🚛💨