Before you can pay your employees, you need to create a pay run for the relevant pay period. A pay run defines the time period you're paying for and can be set to automatically create future pay runs.

Creating a new pay run

To create a pay run:

Select Home or Payroll from the navigation menu
Select + Create Pay Run
Complete the pay run creation form:
- Pay Run Name: Give your pay run a descriptive name (e.g., "Week ending 15 Jan 2026")
- Start date: Enter the first day of the pay period
  - Only timesheets and other information dated on or after this date will be included in the pay run
- Recurring: Select this to automatically create a new pay run each time you complete one
  - This saves you from manually creating a pay run each pay period
  - You can delete automatically created pay runs if needed
Select Create

You'll be taken directly to your new pay run, where you can begin reviewing employee details.

Accessing your pay runs

You can access pay runs in two ways:

Option 1: Home

Select Home from the navigation menu
If you have an active pay run, you'll go directly to it
If you don't have an active pay run, you'll see the pay run creation form

Option 2: Payroll

Select Payroll from the navigation menu
You'll see two sections:
- Upcoming pay runs: All unprocessed pay runs
- Previous pay runs: All completed pay runs (select any to view details)

Understanding pay run details

Once you've created a pay run, you'll see the following information on the pay run details page:

Pay run information

Pay date: The final day of the pay period when the pay event occurs
Pay period: The date range (inclusive) that determines what's included in the pay run
Payment setup: Shows if payment settings are correctly configured
- Must show "ready" before you can process the pay
- If not ready, go to Company Settings and Manage Payment Setup to make adjustments
Pay run type: The regular cadence (Weekly or Fortnightly)
- This is set in your organization settings
- Contact PaySauce support to change the frequency
Status: Shows "Draft" for unprocessed pay runs

Overview

Number of employees: Total employees included in the pay run
Gross amount: Total earnings before deductions (updates as you make changes)
Tax amount: Total tax component for all employees
Net amount: Total amount to be distributed to employees after tax

Breakdown summary

Gross amount: Total earnings before deductions
Withholdings: Total tax withheld from gross amount
Net amount: Total to be distributed after deductions

Employee pay details

A list of all employees showing:

Name
Gross pay: Amount earned before deductions
Tax: Tax withheld
Other deductions: Any additional deductions
Net pay: Amount the employee will receive
Work Pattern Comparison: How closely the employee worked according to their expected pattern
- 100% means they worked exactly as expected
- Below 100% means they worked less than expected
- Above 100% means they worked more than expected
- Variances don't necessarily indicate a problem but may be worth checking
Award Comparison: The difference between what the employee is being paid versus strict award rates
- Shows "N/A" for employees paid according to the award or "no award" employees
- A variance may indicate the pay needs review