Toast Payroll: Payroll Posting Guidelines

• When must payroll be submitted by so my employees are paid on the check date?
• How can I ensure my employees are paid on time? 
• What happens if payroll is not submitted on time?

The due date of a payroll cannot be changed; the system automatically sets it to three business days before your selected check date. You can contact us to change a payroll's check date (or pay date). You can also move your check date for all payrolls if your pay periods consistently overlap your due dates. Select the blue chat dot in the lower-right corner of any Toast Payroll page if you'd like Toast to edit your check dates.

To ensure your employees' paychecks and direct deposits arrive on time, we recommend you submit payroll on the due date, three business days in advance of your check date. For example:

• If your pay date is Friday, post payroll by Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. CST or earlier.
• If your pay date is Monday, post payroll by Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. CST or earlier.
• The very latest you can post payroll and hope to receive payments on time is prior to 4:00 p.m. CST on the business day before your check date. If you do this, bank holidays, potential shipping delays, and other circumstances outside of Toast Payroll's control can cause your employees to not be paid on the check date, so we highly recommend following the timeline and due date schedule mentioned above.

Banking holidays may impact these guidelines. Typically, if a bank holiday falls on a check date, funds will be processed on the next business day. Take a look here for the list of federal bank holidays or check out Toast Payroll: Manage Federal Bank Holidays for how to manage bank holidays when it comes to posting payroll.

When you post three days in advance:

• We print and ship any live checks overnight allowing you to receive them prior to the pay date (see Toast Payroll: Create One-Time Live (Paper) Checks). This can assist in check distribution, although the check still cannot be cashed until the check date arrives.
• If our shipping partner must delay a package, checks still have a chance to arrive on time.
  • If Toast-printed paychecks will not arrive on time (Toast Payroll: Manage Toast-Printed Paycheck Delivery) and you still want to pay your employees on the check date, use Toast Payroll: Paycheck Package Delivery Delays to learn more.
• Payroll taxes will be debited from your account one business day prior to your check date. This assists with accounting procedures.

If you post payroll before 4:00 p.m. CST on the business day before your check date:

• Wages and checks are expected to arrive on time still.
• This is acceptable, but not recommended since we cannot guarantee results from our shipping partner.

If you post payroll after 4:00 p.m. CST on the business day before your check date:

• This may result in late payroll tax collection from your business and late payments to the tax authorities.
• Your company would be responsible for any penalty/interest fees assessed for late payroll postings.
• If Toast-printed paychecks will not arrive on time (Toast Payroll: Manage Toast-Printed Paycheck Delivery) and you still want to pay your employees on the check date, use Toast Payroll: Paycheck Package Delivery Delays to learn more. You may use self-printed paychecks as a substitute in this case, but you'll need to contact Customer Care to request this (learn more: Toast Payroll: Use Self-Printed Paycheck Delivery).

If payroll is posted at any other time or your forget to submit a payroll, direct deposits and checks may not arrive on time for the check date. For scenarios on when your staff may be paid depending on when you post, see Toast Payroll: Get Help With When Employees Are Paid.

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.