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Run Payroll in the New Experience (Beta)

Learn how to run payroll using Workstream’s new spreadsheet-style payroll experience.

Updated this week

Workstream’s new spreadsheet-style payroll experience lets you review and edit payroll faster and more clearly. You can update hours, earnings, and reimbursements directly in the table, and easily switch between employees and contractors.

Below is an overview of what’s changed and how to use the updated workflow.​
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📌 This feature is currently in BETA.
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This Beta layout is available to select users. If you don’t see it in your account, you’re still using the current payroll flow. Refer to the standard Run regular payroll in Workstream article.


​👉​ Want a quick walkthrough before you get started? View the interactive payroll spreadsheet demo.

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What's new

✔️ Follow a guided 3-step payroll workflow

The new workflow walks you through payroll in three clear steps:

  1. Earnings & Hours
    Review and edit hours, earnings, reimbursements, and entries in a familiar spreadsheet view. Data updates as you go, and you can switch between Employees and Contractors tabs.

  2. Preview
    Review payment methods, deductions, benefits, and run gross-to-net calculations.
    Any changes made here are automatically saved.

  3. Approve & Submit
    Finalize and submit payroll once everything looks correct.

You can move forward or backward between steps anytime before approval.

✔️ Create payroll the same way as before

There are no changes to how you start a payroll:

  • Upload hours from a file, or

  • Enter hours manually

  • Choose whether to apply Workstream time off and/or approved Workstream time entries

This update focuses on the editing experience. Your existing setup still works the same.

✔️ Edit payroll directly in the spreadsheet

The largest improvement is the spreadsheet-like editor:

  • Edit hours and amounts for all earnings and reimbursements directly in the spreadsheet.

  • Imported values will show as imported and can't be edited to maintain data integrity.

  • Need to fix imported data? Simply add an adjustment (positive or negative) with notes.

  • Employees and contractors now live in separate tabs, making it easy to review and update each group.

✔️ Manage contractor payments easily

Contractor payments now use the same spreadsheet-style editor as employee earnings.

You can adjust amounts, add reimbursements, and review pay status in one place.

How to run payroll in the beta experience

⚠️ Employee data updates

In this release, changes to team member information, such as tax withholding, payment method, or home address, will not automatically update in an existing payroll draft.

To apply updated information, delete the draft and recreate the payroll.

Good news: an "Employee Sync" button is coming soon. This feature will allow updates to sync automatically without recreating the draft, so keep an eye out in the next few weeks.

Step 1: Earnings and Hours

The Earnings and Hours step is where you review and update everything that affects employee and contractor pay for the current payroll. Think of it as your main workspace.

1. Choose who to review (Employees or Contractors)

At the top left, you’ll see two tabs:

  • Employees

  • Contractors

Pick the one you want to work on. Each group has its own table so things stay organized.

2. Understand the spreadsheet layout

Each row represents a team member, and each column represents a type of pay:

  • Gross Amount

  • Hourly Hours / Rate / Amount

  • Salaried Hours

  • Overtime, PTO, sick leave (or whichever earnings you’ve chosen to show)

You can scroll horizontally to see more columns.
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The bottom row shows totals for the entire payroll.

3. Review the "Pay Status" column

Next to each name is a Pay status, which helps you quickly see who is ready to be paid:

  • Ready – This person has all the required information and their pay can be processed.

  • Blocked – Something is missing (tax info, bank details, etc.).

    • If someone is blocked, click their name → go to their profile → fix the missing info → refresh payroll.

This prevents mistakes before you submit.
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4. Expand a team member’s row to see their entries

If a person has multiple jobs or multiple earnings entries, you’ll see a number like (2) next to their name.
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Click the arrow (▸) to expand their row. This opens all of their earnings entries for the period. This is helpful for employees working multiple locations or job titles.
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5. Compare imported vs. editable entries

Some rows will appear locked and show a small icon with a tooltip like “Workstream time entry”. These are entries imported from:

  • Workstream Time Tracking

  • Workstream Time Off

  • Other connected systems

Imported entries:

  • Can't be edited directly

  • Always include a note showing the source

  • Show exactly what was recorded in your timekeeping system

This keeps your payroll aligned with the data you've already approved.
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Fix imported entries

If the imported hours or amounts are wrong, you can add an adjustment:

  • A positive adjustment increases pay

  • A negative adjustment reduces pay

This keeps the original (imported) data intact while allowing corrections.
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6. Add or edit earnings manually

If your team member didn’t have imported time, or you need to add additional pay, you can enter values directly:

  1. Click into the cell you want to change.

  2. Type the hours or amount.

  3. Press Enter.
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When adding a new entry, you’ll be asked whether to:

  • Use the assigned rate (their standard pay rate), or

  • Enter the amount manually

The system will calculate the missing fields for you.

7. Use spreadsheet tools

Above the spreadsheet, you’ll see helpful tools:

Ask AI ✨

Ask for filtered views like:

  • “Show employees with overtime over 40 hours”

  • “Show minors with more than X hours”

AI will automatically filter your table for you.

Team Member (Grouping tool)

Group the table by:

  • Team member

  • Location

  • Job

  • Location + Job

  • Or turn off grouping

This can help you quickly review departments or roles.

Columns

Choose which pay types you want visible.


You can:

  • Show/hide entire pay categories (Hourly, Salaried, Overtime, PTO, etc.)

  • Customize sub-columns (Hours, Rate, Amount)

This is helpful if your payroll includes many pay types.

Download CSV

Export the whole table if you want to audit or review outside the system.

Notes filter

Quickly show:

  • Rows that include notes (e.g., imported entries)

  • Rows without notes

This is useful when checking adjustments or verifying imported data.

8. Click “Preview” to continue

You don’t need to save anything. Changes are saved automatically.

Click Preview in the upper right to move to the next step: reviewing gross-to-net calculations.

You can still come back to this page anytime before you approve payroll.

Step 2: Preview

The Preview step is where you double-check your payroll before submitting it.

Nothing is final here, you can still go back and edit anything.

This step helps you confirm:

  • How each person will be paid

  • Their total earnings

  • Any deductions, benefits, or taxes

  • Your overall payroll cost​

1. Start on the "Payments" tab

When Preview opens, you’ll see the Payments tab first.
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Each row is a team member, and each column shows key payment details like:

  • Primary location and job

  • Employment status

  • Payment method (Direct deposit or Manual)

  • Total earnings

  • Additions & deductions

  • Optional paystub notes

This view is designed to be quick to scan. Think of it as your “summary list.”
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2. Fix any blocking errors (if you see them)

If something prevents payroll from moving forward, you’ll see a View errors button at the top.

This can look intimidating, but don’t worry, the system tells you exactly what to fix.

When you click View errors, a window explains:

  • What the issue is

  • Why it matters

  • How to fix it

  • A button that takes you directly to the right page

Once errors are fixed, return to Preview and recalculate if needed.
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3. Review Locked and Unlocked views

At the top right, you’ll see:

Locked (default)

  • You can look around without making changes.

  • Good if you just want to review.

Unlocked (edit mode)

  • Use this if you want to update:

    • Payment method

    • Paystub notes

    • Deductions

    • Benefits

    • Contractor payment amounts

4. Use grouping and search to review faster

Preview includes tools to help you quickly spot issues:

Group

Organize the table by:

  • Location

  • Job

  • Payment method

  • No group

This helps you check things like:

  • “Are all direct deposit employees correct?”

  • “Is everyone at Location A accounted for?”

Search

Type a name to jump directly to someone.

Download CSV

Export your Preview data if you prefer reviewing offline.

5. Click "Next" to continue

Before moving on, make sure that:


• Totals look correct
• No blocking errors remain
• The preview has recalculated
• You’re confident with the results

Click Next to continue to the final step, Approve & Submit.

You can return to Preview anytime before approval.

Step 3: Approve and Submit

Once everything looks correct, you can submit payroll.
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The system will validate entries and flag anything that needs attention before submission.

Related Articles
Run regular payroll in Workstream
Run off-cycle payroll in Workstream
Review your submitted payroll
Finalize and submit payroll
Explore the Payroll report templates
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