Automate payroll processing workflows

Firm owners and payroll managers can automate recurring payroll processing — managing weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly pay runs, calculating source deductions, remitting payroll taxes, and emailing pay reports to clients.

Overview of the payroll automation chain

A complete payroll automation chain connects five setup steps in Assisterp:

1. Service template: Defines the payroll service template supporting reporting frequencies (Weekly, Bi-weekly, Bi-monthly, Monthly, Semi-monthly).
2. Job template: Defines recurring payroll calculation tasks, source deduction remittance deadlines, and billing items.
3. Pipeline & stage automations: Configures payroll stages and attaches automated tasks, email notifications, and auto-move rules.
4. Pipeline trigger: Listens for On Service Update matching payroll service tags (PAYROLL-BW, PAYROLL-M).
5. Client service: Attaching the payroll service to a client record to launch the schedule.

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Example real-life payroll processing pipeline stages

Below is a typical 6-stage pipeline layout used by accounting firms for recurring bi-weekly or monthly payroll runs:

[ Stage 1: Timesheet Collection ] ──► [ Stage 2: Wage Calculation ] ──► [ Stage 3: Direct Deposit ]
              │                                   │                                 │
      Auto-email client                   Auto-generate gross               Auto-create manager
      hours request                       & tax deduction tasks             audit signoff task
                                                  │
                                          (Auto-move on task completion)
                                                  │
[ Stage 6: Completed & Billed ] ◄── [ Stage 5: CRA Remittance ] ◄── [ Stage 4: Report Delivery ]
              │                                   │                                 │
      Auto-email invoice                  Auto-generate billing             Auto-email pay run
      & pay run summary                   invoice & PD7A task               summary to client

Stage 1: Timesheet & hours collection (entry stage)

• Goal: Pay period closes. Collect employee hours, overtime, bonuses, and commission data.
• Stage Condition: None (serves as entry point for all generated payroll pay run jobs).
• Automations:
  • Email: Automatically emails the client’s payroll contact using an email template (Payroll Hours Submission Request).
  • Task: Automatically creates the intake task Collect Employee Timesheets & Variable Pay Data.

Stage 2: Wage calculation & deduction processing

• Goal: Calculate gross pay, CPP, EI, income tax withholdings, and net pay.
• Automations:
  • Task: Automatically creates calculation tasks: Calculate Gross Wages & Overtime, Calculate CPP, EI & Federal/Provincial Tax Withholdings, and Generate Employee Pay Stubs.
  • Auto-move: On. Once staff check off all calculation tasks, the job automatically advances to Stage 3.

Stage 3: Direct deposit & EFT file approval

• Goal: Payroll manager reviews calculations and prepares direct deposit NACHA/EFT files.
• Automations:
  • Task: Automatically creates the review task Payroll Manager Audit & Direct Deposit File Approval.

Stage 4: Pay report delivery

• Goal: Deliver payroll registers and direct deposit summary reports to the client for confirmation.
• Automations:
  • Email: Automatically emails payroll summary reports to the client (Payroll Summary & Pay Run Notification).

Stage 5: CRA remittance (PD7A) & fee billing

• Goal: Remit source deductions to CRA by the 15th of the month and bill the client for payroll processing.
• Automations:
  • Task: Automatically creates the remittance task Remit CRA Source Deductions (PD7A).
  • Invoice: Automatically generates the payroll processing fee invoice.

Stage 6: Completed & billed

• Goal: Finalize pay run, deliver final receipts, and archive completed job.
• Automations:
  • Email: Automatically emails the payroll completion summary and invoice receipt to the client.

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Step 1: Verify the payroll service template

1. Open Settings > Templates > Service templates.
2. Select Payroll Processing (or add a new template).
3. Under Reporting Periods, enable Weekly, Bi-weekly, Semi-monthly, and Monthly.
4. Add meta fields if your firm collects pay run details (such as Pay Method or Direct Deposit Provider).
5. Select Save.

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Step 2: Create a payroll job template

Define what tasks generate for each pay run:

1. Open Settings > WorkFlow Setting > Job Templates.
2. Select the Service Templates tab and select Add (the plus icon).
3. Enter a Template Name (such as Payroll Bi-Weekly Processing Job).
4. In Job Name, use shortcodes (such as Payroll Run - [Client Name] - [Period]).
5. Set Job Start On (Days) (such as 3 days before pay period end) and Job Due On (Days) (such as 1 day before pay date).
6. Under Task, attach tasks for payroll processing (such as Collect Employee Timesheets, Calculate Gross Pay & Deductions, Generate Pay Stubs, and Remit Source Deductions).
7. Under Invoice, attach your payroll processing invoice template.
8. Select Save.

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Step 3: Configure payroll pipeline stage automations

1. Open Settings > WorkFlow Setting > Pipelines.
2. Select your Payroll Processing Pipeline.
3. Create the 6 stages described in the real-life workflow example above.
4. Attach stage automations (Email, Task, and Invoice).
5. Turn on Auto-move on Wage Calculation & Deduction Processing to automatically advance jobs once calculation tasks are complete.

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Step 4: Build the payroll pipeline trigger

1. Open Settings > WorkFlow Setting > Pipeline Trigger.
2. Select Add (the plus icon).
3. In Trigger When Start, select On Service Update.
4. In Pipeline, select your Payroll Processing Pipeline.
5. In Job Template, select Payroll Bi-Weekly Processing Job.
6. In Tags, select your payroll service tags (PAYROLL-BW, PAYROLL-M).
7. Select Save.

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Step 5: Assign payroll services to clients

1. Open Clients, select a client, and go to the Services tab.
2. Select Add New Service.
3. In Choose a service template, select Payroll Processing.
4. Set the Service Start Date for the first pay period.
5. Select Frequency (such as Bi-weekly) and tag (PAYROLL-BW).
6. Select Add Service.

Assisterp creates the recurring payroll schedule and generates actionable pay run jobs on your pipeline board according to the selected payroll frequency.