Time needed to process a payroll

If you're paying your employees through direct deposit, you'll want to run your payroll at least 2 business days (excluding weekends and bank holidays) prior to your employee payday due to the standard Automated Clearing House (ACH) processing time. This will ensure that your employees will get paid on time.

Example timeline if your employees are paid on Friday:

• Wednesday: Run payroll by 5pm PT.  Funds are debited from your company's bank account. Funds are collected and processed with the bank.
• Thursday: Payments to the employees are initiated.
• Friday: Funds are deposited in the employee's bank account.

Note: If you're paying your employees with a check instead of direct deposit, the latest you can run payroll is on your employees' payday. Remember to print your checks and hand them to your employees.