Toast Payroll: Missed Employee or Missed Pay on Payroll

If an employee or hours were missed on a payroll that has already been submitted, Toast Payroll has three ways to pay the missed wages: record a payment, create an off-cycle payroll, or make an addition to a future payroll.

In this Article:

• Before You Begin
• Quick Fix: Choose How to Pay the Missed Employee
• Is This the Right Article for My Problem?
• Missed Employee or Missed Pay Overview
• Option 1: Record a Payment and Manually Pay the Employee
• Option 2: Run an Off-Cycle Payroll
• Option 3: Add the Missed Pay to a Future Payroll
• Special Cases: Forgot Tips, Commission, or a Pay Rate Change
• Frequently Asked Questions
  • Will the employee see this as a separate payment or combined with regular payroll?
  • Can I use Quick Calcs for multiple employees?
  • What if the payroll has already been submitted to the bank?
  • How long does Quick Calc take to reach the employee?
  • I forgot to add tips before submitting payroll. What do I do?
  • I forgot to add hours, a commission, or a pay rate change. Can I edit a submitted payroll?
  • How do I do a Quick Calc for a salary employee who was missed?
  • I missed an employee — should I run an off-cycle payroll for just one person?
• Before You Contact Customer Care
• Related Articles

Before You Begin

Applies to: Toast Payroll

Permissions needed:

• HR+ user — required to record a payment, request an off-cycle payroll, and add earnings to a future payroll
• Payroll Admin — can also perform all the above

What you'll accomplish: The employee will be paid for the wages, hours, or tips that were missed on a previously submitted payroll, with the correct earnings, deductions, and taxes recorded in Toast Payroll for accurate W-2 reporting.

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Quick Fix: Choose How to Pay the Missed Employee

Use this table to choose the option that fits your situation. The article walks through each option in detail below.

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Is This the Right Article for My Problem?

These two issues sound similar but need different fixes. Confirm which one matches your situation before continuing.

• Use this article when: A payroll did run and was submitted, but an employee was left off it, hours or tips were missed for one or more employees, or a pay rate or commission did not get added before you submitted.
• Use Toast Payroll: Missing Payroll when: The whole payroll is no longer visible on your Pay Cycle Dashboard, you missed the submission deadline and the payroll disappeared, or you need Toast Payroll to restore a payroll with a new check date.

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Missed Employee or Missed Pay Overview

Every so often, an employee or some earnings or tips are mistakenly left off a payroll run. Toast Payroll cannot add earnings or tips to a payroll that has already been submitted, but there are three options to pay your employee:

• Option 1: Record a payment — pay the employee right away outside Toast Payroll, then record the payment so it appears on tax records.
• Option 2: Off-cycle payroll — run a separate payroll outside your normal cycle, processed in 4 business days.
• Option 3: Future payroll — add the missed pay to the next scheduled payroll.

The right choice depends on how urgently the employee needs to be paid, how many employees are affected, and whether you want to reduce the number of separate paystubs the employee receives.

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Option 1: Record a Payment and Manually Pay the Employee

Best for: A single employee who needs to be paid right now and cannot wait until the next regular payroll.

Timeline: Pay your employee as soon as you are ready (cash, manual check, or payment app). Record the earnings via the "record a payment" off-cycle feature. Make sure it's in the same quarter so taxes and W-2 records stay accurate.

Also asked as: "How to issue a manual check for missed hours," "I need to write a check for someone whose hours were missed last week," "I missed an employee on payroll yesterday and I need to pay her — can I run just her today?"

What this means: The "record a payment" feature does not generate funds for the employee — you pay them outside Toast Payroll. It records the wages, deductions, and taxes for tax purposes, then attaches to an off-cycle payroll so the totals are reflected on Form W-2 and the Payroll Summary report.

Steps:

1. In Toast Payroll, navigate to Payroll. 
2. Select One time payment from the right side of the screen.
3. Select Record a payment > This quarter.
4. Before you can select Next, you must attest that this payment may result in receiving a tax notice. This tax notice informs you that payment has been made to an employee with a check date in the past within the current quarter.
5. On the next screen, begin by filling out the Name of payment field. You might include why the payment was missed and/or who it's being paid to; be specific so you can determine what the off-cycle was for at a later date.
6. If you have more than one pay group, select the applicable Pay group. If you only have one, it will already be selected for you.
   1. If you need to pay more than one pay group (or record a payment for a set of employees who belong to different pay groups), you will need to create more than one off-cycle.
7. Just below those two fields, choose if you want to include All employees or Select employees on your off-cycle. If you change your mind later, you can still add or remove employees during the Employee Earnings step. Read the applicable section in Toast Payroll: Employee Earnings Step to learn more.
   1. If you choose Select employees, a new drop-down menu will appear allowing you to checkmark each employee that should be included.
8. You'll now see a couple new fields. First, select the Paid date. Based on the functionality of this feature, you're only allowed to select a Paid date that is in the past, but still in the current quarter. The Pay period field will be automatically set based on your selected pay date.
9. Select Next. The page will reload with your created off-cycle payroll. You'll land on the Employee Earnings step where you can add in any earnings or deductions you need to process.
10. Follow the typical payroll steps from here to calculate the payroll, review your work, and submit the off-cycle.
11. After it's been submitted, check the Employee Detail report for the net amounts you can base your payment(s) off of.

Expected outcome: The payment is recorded in Toast Payroll and attached to a "record a payment" off-cycle. When that off-cycle posts, the wages, deductions, and taxes appear on the employee's paystub and on the Employee Detail report.

Check out more details in Toast Payroll: Set Up and Configure Off-Cycle Payrolls.

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Option 2: Run an Off-Cycle Payroll

Best for: Multiple employees were missed, or a large correction is needed.

Timeline: Four business days from form submission to check date. Submit the off-cycle request before 4:20 p.m. ET on the cutoff day to keep the four business day processing window.

Also asked as: "I need to run an off-cycle payroll," "Can I run an extra payroll for someone I missed?," "I need to run an offcycle payroll for missed hours."

What this means: An off-cycle payroll is a separate payroll calendar outside your regular pay cycle. You can create an off-cycle payroll on your own and then run it like a normal payroll.

Steps:

1. In Toast Payroll, navigate to Payroll. 
2. Select One time payment from the right side of the screen.
3. Select Schedule a payment > Off-cycle > Next.
4. On the next screen, begin by naming your off-cycle in the Name of payment field. Be specific so you can determine what the off-cycle was for at a later date.
5. If you have more than one pay group, select the applicable Pay group. If you only have one, it will already be selected for you.
   1. If you need an off-cycle for more than one pay group (or for a set of employees who belong to different pay groups), you will need to create more than one off-cycle.
6. Just below those two fields, choose if you want to include All employees or Select employees on your off-cycle. If you change your mind later, you can still add or remove employees during the Employee Earnings step. Read the applicable section in Toast Payroll: Employee Earnings Step to learn more.
   1. If you choose Select employees, a new drop-down menu will appear allowing you to checkmark each employee that should be included.
7. Next, choose How you would like to pay employees.
   1. Selecting Pay through Toast will move funds through Toast Payroll. This can include payments through paper checks (unless you use the self-written paycheck delivery option), direct deposit, or the Toast Pay Card. This option comes with a four business day payment processing window, i.e. four business days from today is the soonest you can set a check date. You'll see this reflected in the next step.
   2. Selecting Record manual payments will not move any funds. The expectation is that the company is paying the employees outside of Toast Payroll, maybe using cash, a payment app like PayPal or Venmo, or via a different form of compensation like a gift card. You can process a manual payment immediately; it is not dependent on the four business day payment processing window.
   3. Both options will create paystubs and file taxes for each involved employee.
8. You'll now see a couple new fields. First, select the Pay date. If you are creating the off-cycle after the sweep at 4:20 p.m. CST, you will need to set the pay date out five business days. The Pay period field will be automatically set based on your selected pay date.
9. This is uncommon, but if the off-cycle should contain the recurring deductions that a regular payroll applies, select Advanced settings and enable the toggle for Pay like a regular payroll. This will import all standard recurring deductions for any employee on this off-cycle.
10. Select Next. The page will reload with your created off-cycle payroll. You'll land on the Employee Earnings step where you can add or remove employees and add in any earnings or deductions you need to process.
    1. Pro tip: Consider the Bulk add earnings feature under the +Add drop-down menu. This allows you to add the same earning code and amount to all the employees you select in the side bar.
11. Follow the typical payroll steps from here to calculate the payroll, review your work, and submit the off-cycle. If you selected Pay through Toast in step 7, funds are delivered on the check date as long as you followed standard payroll protocol, meaning the payroll was submitted before 4:20 p.m. CST four business days before the check date.

Expected outcome: The off-cycle payroll posts and funds are delivered on the check date if you followed standard payroll protocol (submitted before 4:20 p.m. CST, four business days before the check date). The earnings appear on a separate paystub from the regular payroll.

Note: Off-cycle payrolls require a four business day processing window. If the employee needs payment sooner, use Option 1 (Record a Payment) and pay them outside Toast Payroll, then record the payment using the provided steps.

For the full off-cycle reference (off-cycle policy, cancel an off-cycle, etc.), see Toast Payroll: Set Up and Configure Off-Cycle Payrolls.

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Option 3: Add the Missed Pay to a Future Payroll

Best for: No urgency, and you want the fewest separate paystubs for the employee.

Timeline: The next scheduled payroll run.

Also asked as: "How do I add 8 hours of work to this payroll that was missed from last payroll period?," "Can I add missed hours to an employee on payroll?"

What this means: Missed earnings are added directly to the next regular payroll's Employee Earnings step. The employee receives the missed pay on the same paystub as their regular earnings for that pay period.

Steps (in the present — set a reminder):

1. On the Toast Payroll dashboard, select + > Add Payroll To-Do.
2. Fill out the following:
   • FEIN: Choose the FEIN the employee was missed under.
   • Related To: Select an employee.
   • Payperiod: Choose the payroll the Payroll To-Do should be added to.
   • You can skip the Position field, but Toast Payroll recommends adding a Title or Message with more context.
3. Fill out the rest of the fields:
   • Earning Type: Select the applicable earning code.
   • Hours: If the earning is based on the employee's hourly wage, enter the amount of hours.
   • Amount: If the earning is a flat amount, enter that amount.
4. Select Submit to finalize.

Note: If you do not need a reminder, you can skip the Payroll To-Do and go straight to the steps below when the next payroll is open.

Steps (in the future — add the earnings to the open payroll):

1. Open the payroll run for the next pay period.
2. On the Preview Payroll step, you will see your Payroll To-Do (if you created one).
3. On the Employee Earnings step, locate the employee and select + Add Earning.
4. Select the correct Earning Code, then add either Amount or Hours, depending on which earning you chose.

Expected outcome: The missed earnings appear on the next regular paystub alongside the employee's regular earnings for that pay period.

For more detail on Payroll To-Dos and Adding Earnings, see Toast Payroll: Get Started With Payroll To Dos and Toast Payroll: Add or Edit Earnings & Deductions.

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Special Cases: Forgot Tips, Commission, or a Pay Rate Change

If you submitted payroll without including tips, a commission, a one-time bonus, or a pay rate change you intended to apply, the same three options apply — choose based on urgency:

• For tips that were missed on a submitted payroll: Use Option 1 (Record a Payment) with a Tips Paid earning code if the employee needs the tips right away. Otherwise, use Option 3 to add the tips to the next regular payroll.
• For a commission, bonus, or one-time earning that was forgotten: Use Option 1 if it must be paid right away, Option 2 if multiple employees are affected, or Option 3 to add it to the next regular payroll under the appropriate earning code.
• For a pay rate change that was forgotten: First, apply the new pay rate to the employee's profile so it takes effect on the next regular payroll. To make up the difference between the old and new rate for the missed pay period, use Option 1 (Record a Payment) with the difference recorded as a one-time earning, or Option 3 to add the difference on the next regular payroll.

Note: A submitted payroll cannot be recalled or edited after it has been submitted. Customer Care cannot reverse a submitted payroll except in narrow cases (for example, an off-cycle that was created in error and has not yet hit the bank). If you need to ask whether a recall is possible for your case, contact Customer Care via the blue chat dot in the lower-right corner of any Toast Payroll page.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Will the employee see this as a separate payment or combined with regular payroll?

The employee will see this as a separate payment if you used Option 1 (Record a Payment) or Option 2 (Off-Cycle), because each generates its own paystub. The employee will see the missed pay combined with their regular earnings on the same paystub if you used Option 3 (Add to a Future Payroll).

Can I use the "record a payment" option for multiple employees?

You can record payments for multiple employees by adding each employee during this workflow, but their payments will need to be entered manually. If they are all owed the same amount, you can use the Bulk add earnings feature on the Employee Earnings step to speed things up. 

What if the payroll has already been submitted to the bank?

If the payroll has already been submitted, you cannot modify it. Use Option 1 (Record a Payment), Option 2 (Off-Cycle Payroll), or Option 3 (Add to a Future Payroll) to pay any missed wages. A submitted payroll cannot be recalled or edited.

How long does the "record a payment" feature take to reach the employee?

The timing depends on how and when you pay the employee — the feature itself does not move money. You record a payment when you manually send or distribute wages outside Toast Payroll (typically in the form of cash, a check from your business bank account, or a payment app). The employee receives the funds as soon as you hand them the check, cash, or payment-app transfer. The "recording a payment" feature attaches to an off-cycle so the wages, deductions, and taxes are recorded for tax reporting.

I forgot to add tips before submitting payroll. What do I do?

If you forgot to add tips to a payroll that you already submitted, the payroll cannot be edited. To pay the tips:

• • Use Option 1 (Record a Payment) to pay an employee outside of Toast Payroll and then record this payment with a Tips Paid earning code if the employee needs them right away.
  • Use Option 2 (Off-Cycle Payroll) if multiple employees are affected
  • Use Option 3 (Add to a Future Payroll) if the employee can wait until the next pay period.

Also asked as:

• • "I forgot to send the tips for payroll"
  • "I forgot to approve tips and ran payroll"

I forgot to add hours, a commission, or a pay rate change. Can I edit a submitted payroll?

A submitted payroll cannot be edited or recalled by you. To make up missed hours, a commission, or a pay rate change: choose Option 1 (Record a Payment) for one urgent employee, Option 2 (Off-Cycle) for multiple employees or larger corrections, or Option 3 (Add to a Future Payroll) when timing allows.

Also asked as:

• • "Can I recall the payroll I submitted?"
  • "I forgot to add something to an employee's pay on this payroll — how can I edit?"
  • "Forgot to change pay rate for my employee but submitted payroll. How do I add the mistake to payroll without having to wait until the next run?"

How do I record a payment for a salary employee who was missed?

The "recording a payment" feature works the same way for a salary employee as it does for an hourly employee, with one difference: When you get to the Employee Earnings step and you need to select an Earning Type, choose a salary earning code, then enter the dollar amount in the Amount field (rather than entering hours). You can check an employee's salary by navigating to their profile. Verify the amount before adding additional earnings.

Also asked as:

• • "How do I do a quick calc for hours missed for a salary employee and attach to the next payroll?"

I missed an employee — can I run an off-cycle payroll for just one person?

You can run an off-cycle payroll for a single employee. Create the off-cycle for a single employee just like you would for multiple. If the employee needs payment in less than four business days, use Option 1 (Record a Payment) instead, since off-cycles require a four business day processing window.

Also asked as:

• • "I need to run an off-cycle payroll for one employee for missed hours"
  • "I missed paying an employee on my last pay run — can I run an off-cycle payroll?"

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Before You Contact Customer Care

Before reaching out via the blue chat dot in the lower-right corner of any Toast Payroll page, gather:

• The employee's name, employee ID, or position.
• The pay period the missed pay applies to (start and end dates).
• The amount and type of missed pay (regular hours, overtime, tips, commission, bonus, salary).
• Which option you have already tried (redording a payment, off-cycle, future payroll), if any.
• For a direct deposit failure: the employee's name and the date of the failed direct deposit.

Customer Care assistance is required for these cases:

• Recording a payment in a past quarter. If a payment needs to be recorded in a previous quarter, this will most likely require amendments to the previous quarter's tax filing.
• A direct deposit failure. If an employee's direct deposit information was invalid and they did not receive their wages, contact Customer Care to determine next steps.
• Guidance on which option fits your case. If you are unsure whether to record a payment, use an off-cycle, or add to a future payroll, Customer Care can review your situation.
• Recall of a submitted payroll. A submitted payroll generally cannot be recalled. In narrow cases (for example, an off-cycle that has not yet been processed by the bank), Customer Care may be able to help.

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Related Articles

• Toast Payroll: Set Up and Configure Off-Cycle Payrolls
• Toast Payroll: Missing Payroll
• Toast Payroll: Payroll Processing and Paystub FAQ
• Toast Payroll: Create One-Time Live (Paper) Checks

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