The Drafts tab in Workstream Payroll saves any payroll you’ve started but not submitted, acting as a safe workspace to review and refine details before money moves.
Here, you can pick up in-progress payrolls, adjust hours or pay rates, and confirm accuracy using Preview, Cash Requirement, and Payroll Journal reports. You can also set paydays, select funding accounts, or delete drafts no longer needed.
This ensures you finalize payroll with confidence and compliance before submission.
To get here, go to Team View › Payroll › Drafts.
Edit or delete a payroll draft
Edit a payroll draft
If you’ve already started a payroll but haven’t submitted it, it will be saved as a draft. You can return to it anytime, as long as you’re within the deadline, to finish and make edits.
💡 The Drafts view has been redesigned to make payroll management more flexible and transparent.
Now, you can easily move between all payroll components, including Payments, Earnings and hours, Post-tax deductions (shown as Garnishments and Misc Post tax deductions on some accounts), Benefits, Taxes, and Total summary, all in one place.
Go to the Drafts tab and select the payroll draft you want to edit.
Workstream automatically checks for payroll errors. If we detect any, you’ll be prompted to fix them before continuing.
In the Payments tab, the table opens in Locked mode by default. This keeps data read-only and prevents accidental changes. To make edits:
Select Locked.
Select Unlocked (edit mode) to enable editing.
From here, you can:
Add Paystub note. This message appears on the employee’s paystub (e.g., for bonuses or compliance reminders).
Change the Payment method (Direct deposit or Manual).
To change a team member’s default rate (applies to future payrolls), select their name to open their profile. Update it there, as those changes will sync back to payroll automatically.
Select Refresh (or Refresh preview, which appears when your numbers are out of date).
Delete a payroll draft
Select the three-dot menu (•••) at the upper-right corner, then Delete payroll. In the Delete payroll? window, select Delete payroll to confirm. The window warns: "All data will be lost. This action cannot be undone."
Use AI to find and filter payroll data (Earnings and hours tab only)
In the Earnings and hours tab, you can use the Ask AI assistant to quickly locate or summarize payroll information without manually sorting through columns.
Type a plain-language request like:
“Show employees who worked more than 40 hours.”
“List employees under 18 and their total hours."
The assistant automatically applies filters and updates totals in real time, making it easier to spot compliance issues or reconcile data before submitting payroll.
Download reports to review before approving
When you’re working on a draft payroll, you’ll notice a three-dot menu (•••) next to each draft. Inside, you can download three different reports:
Download preview report - Shows a detailed breakdown of what each employee will earn and what will be withheld in the upcoming payroll. It includes gross pay, net pay, hours worked, reimbursements, and all tax deductions.
Download cash requirements report - Calculates the total amount of money your company needs to cover this payroll run. It adds up net pay to employees, employer taxes, employee tax withholdings, and deductions.
Download payroll journal - The accounting view of payroll. It summarizes payroll costs (gross pay, taxes, reimbursements, deductions) in a format that mirrors journal entries for your general ledger.
These reports are there to help you review and double-check payroll before you hit Submit. Think of them as safety nets, which lets you catch errors early, confirm the numbers look right, and make sure your company is ready to fund payroll.
When you select a download, the file is automatically saved by your browser as a CSV (.csv). You’ll find it in your Downloads folder, and you can open it in Excel, Google Sheets, or your accounting tools. Since these files contain sensitive payroll and tax information, be sure to share them only with HR, Finance, or Accounting as needed.
Set payday and funding account
When you open a payroll draft, you can adjust its settings before submission. These settings control how and when payroll is processed.
To edit settings:
In the draft, select the ⚙️ gear icon in the header, then Edit settings.
From here, you can update the following:
Payroll name: An optional label to help you identify this payroll run.
Pay day: Select the date employees will be paid.
Funding method: Choose how this payroll is funded.
Processing period: Determines how many business days before pay day you must approve payroll. This only shows for direct deposit.
Withdrawal account: Choose the bank account that will be debited for this payroll. This only shows for direct deposit.
Note: Your available options depend on the processing setup your company has with Workstream. Not all accounts will see every option.