Toast Payroll: Add or Edit Earnings & Deductions

Last updated: Apr 8, 2026, 11:15 AM

Learn how to add and edit an employee's earnings and deductions for recurring or one-time use.

In this Article:

 

Recurring vs. One-Time Earnings and Deductions

A recurring earning or deduction will appear on every payroll run. Recurring earnings are typically the employee's pay types such as Salary, Regular (hourly), Tips, etc. Recurring deductions may be a meal deduction, health care, or a wage garnishment. These are added to an employee's profile. 


Before opening a payroll, additions or changes to recurring earnings and deductions must be populated under the employee's profile. If this is done after the Preview button has been pressed, changes will not appear on the payroll run.
 

One-time earnings and deductions only appear on individual payrolls. These could be bonus earnings, a uniform deduction, an annual fee, or something else. Add one-time earnings and deductions to each applicable payroll on the Employee Earnings step.


Note: Earnings and deductions cannot be added or edited within a quick calc. Quick calculations are used to record transactions from an employee from outside of Toast Payroll, typically for compliance to taxation laws. Because Toast Payroll cannot confirm the status of this transaction, the add and edit functions are unavailable. The quick calculation is appearing on payroll as an earning or deduction that the employee processed, and therefore must be included in payroll, even if it will not "take place" on the actual payroll itself.

 

This video covers the different actions you can take on the Employee Earnings step, including making one-time earning/deduction additions or edits.


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One-Time Earnings

Adding a One-Time Earning

  1. Navigate to Payroll. Select Preview to open and begin a payroll run.
  2. You may wish to take note of the items on the Preview Payroll step before continuing. Advance through this step by selecting Next.
  3. When you arrive on the Employee Earnings step, locate the employee and select + Add Earning.
    1. If an employee is missing from this payroll select Add employee. The only employees that will appear here are the ones within this pay group. 

      + Add Earning button on the Employee Earnings step of payroll

  4. Fill out the Earning Code and Hours/Amount. Select Advanced Options to further customize this earning, if necessary (commonly used to edit wage rates). Select Add earning to finish.

    Add earning details and advanced options


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Editing a One-Time Earning

You can use this process if you need to make a temporary payroll change.

 

  1. Navigate to the Employee Earnings step of a payroll and locate the employee with the incorrect earning.
  2. Select the overflow menu (...) to the right of an earning and choose Edit earning.

    Overflow menu > Edit earning option from the Employee Earnings step

  3. Make changes as necessary. Select Change earning once you've completed the edit.


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Recurring Earnings

Note: Since recurring earnings are almost always role-based, it is advised to only add recurring earnings through the Positions or Jobs pages. Click here to learn more or follow the steps below to review an employee's recurring earnings.
 

  1. Navigate to the Team page or use the Search employees bar. Select an employee.
  2. Select Recurring from the left side of the screen.
  3. Scroll below the graph to view each earning. When a payroll is opened, all active earnings will be brought into the Employee Earnings step of the payroll process. Active earnings are identified by by the Start Date and End Date.
  4. You may view a recurring earning's settings by selecting the blue eyeball icon next to it.

    Recurring earnings page with the blue eyeball icon highlighted

  5. As a reminder, recurring earnings are almost always role-based, but if you decide to add a recurring earning, select the Add+ button and fill out the following information before selecting Save:
    1. FEIN: Most employees work out of a single FEIN, but adjust accordingly.
    2. Position: Apply the correct position (group of attributes, not job they clock into) if an employee utilizes more than one. Most employees only have a single position.
    3. Earning: The correct earning code should appear here. The earning code will inherit properties such as hourly vs. salary, if it's a tipped earning, and how it should be taxed.
    4. Year: Use the current year so this earning is available for use whenever you need it.
    5. Start and End Dates: Adjust these dates to allow for recurring earnings. End dates can be set long into the future (year 2099) so they do not disappear from the employee's recurring earnings.
    6. Amount: Enter the amount that the earning should add to the individual's gross wages. Depending on if this is an hourly or salary code, this amount might be on an hourly or on a per pay period basis.
    7. Per Payroll Guaranteed Amount: This can be left blank. This feature is outdated and has no applicability.
    8. Check Frequency: Enter the frequency at which this employee receives their pay checks.


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One-Time Deductions

Adding a One-Time Deduction

  1. Navigate to Payroll. Select Preview to open and begin a payroll run.
  2. You may wish to take note of the items on the Preview step before continuing. Advance through the Preview step by selecting Next.
  3. When you arrive on the Employee step, locate the employee and select + Add Deduction.

    + Add Deduction button on the Employee Earnings step of payroll

  4. Choose the Deduction Type and select whether it is a percentage or flat amount. Enter the amount or percentage of gross pay. Select Add earning to finish.

    Add deduction details


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Editing a One-Time Deduction

  1. Navigate to the Employee step of a payroll and locate the employee with the incorrect deduction.
  2. Select the overflow (...) button to the right of a deduction and choose Edit Deduction.

    Overflow menu > Edit deduction option from the Employee Earnings step
     
  3. Make changes as necessary. Select Save deduction once you've completed the edit.
    1. There are additional options to select as well from the overflow menu such as pay via check (which will force a live check for the employee overriding any previous selection made for direct deposit, etc) or create additional paycheck (which is useful for things like bonus checks).
    2. The additional actions button has some more features as well such as reset payroll (which will remove any edits you have made in payroll and will return you back to the first step), add custom import (which allows you to upload a spreadsheet or earnings or deductions but only if Toast payroll has created a template for you to do so.  

 

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Recurring Deductions

Important note: If you've received a child support order, garnishment order, levy, or lien that directs an employer to withhold funds from an employee, send this information to us via the blue chat dot in the lower-right corner of any Toast Payroll page. Toast Payroll agents will set up this deduction to ensure the order is followed properly and the correct amounts are being withheld from the employee. If any worksheets or answer sheets are included with the court order, it is the customer's responsibility to fill those out and return them, if necessary. Toast Payroll cannot advise on how or whether to fill out those pages.

 

  1. Navigate to the Team page or use the Search employees bar. Select an employee.
  2. Select Recurring from the left side of the screen.
  3. Scroll below the graph and select the Deductions tab. When a payroll is opened, all active deductions will be brought into the Employee step of the payroll process. Active deductions are identified by by the Start Date and End Date.
  4. You may view a recurring deduction's settings by selecting the blue eyeball icon next to it.

    Recurring deductions page with the blue eyeball icon highlighted

  5. To add a recurring deduction, select the Add+ button and fill out the following information before selecting Save:
    1. FEIN - Most employees work out of a single FEIN, but adjust accordingly.
    2. Deduction - The correct deduction code should appear here.
    3. Vendor - This is used when a deduction is sent to a third-party vendor, such as a child support agency. Learn more here.
    4. Start and End Dates - Adjust these dates to allow for recurring deductions. End dates can be set long into the future (year 2099) so they do not disappear from the employee's recurring deductions.
    5. (%) Amount  - The amount or percentage of pay to be deducted with each payroll. Use either field to create this deduction, but not both (one will be left at 0).
    6. Limit/Goal - Enter the total amount that will be deducted over time. Leaving this as "-99" means there is no number and this field is blank (rather than using a 0 which could indicate otherwise).
    7. Adjusted Limit - Do not edit this field. Once the deduction has been saved, the Adjusted Limit will copy from the Limit/Goal (the total amount of the deduction). Then, each time this deduction is processed in a payroll, the Adjusted Limit will automatically reduce by the Amount or % Amount. This means you may use this number to track how much of the total deduction remains to be withheld. Once the Adjusted Limit hits 0, the recurring deduction will end.

 

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This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for advice.