Approving a Payroll Run
How to review Sterling's payroll prep and approve it for processing through Gusto.
Every Wednesday morning, Sterling prepares your payroll and creates an approval request in the Command Center. You review the gross pay, deductions, and net pay for each employee, then click Approve. Sterling submits it to Gusto, and your team gets paid on Friday via direct deposit.
How payroll works in Nightshift
You do not run payroll manually. Sterling, your HR and payroll agent, does the heavy lifting:
- Wednesday 8:00 AM — Sterling pulls hours, rates, and deductions from Gusto, cross-references with ServiceTitan data, and prepares a payroll summary
- You review and approve — The approval request appears in Command Center > Control
- Sterling submits — Once approved, Sterling sends the payroll to Gusto for processing
- Friday — Your team receives their pay via direct deposit
Your job is step 2. Everything else is automated.
Step-by-step: approving payroll
Open the Command Center
Navigate to Command Center in the top nav, then click the Control tab. You will see a pending approval card from Sterling labeled "Payroll Run."
Review the payroll summary
Click the payroll card to expand it. You will see a complete breakdown:
- Employee list — every person on this payroll run
- Gross pay — total earnings before deductions, broken down by employee
- Hours — regular hours and overtime for each hourly employee
- Deductions — taxes, benefits, retirement contributions, and any garnishments
- Net pay — the take-home amount for each employee
- Employer costs — your payroll tax obligations and benefit contributions
- Total payroll cost — the full amount that will come out of your account
Compare to last period
Sterling includes a comparison to the previous pay period. Look for anything unusual:
- Did someone's hours jump or drop significantly?
- Are there new employees or missing employees?
- Did overtime spike?
- Are the tax deductions consistent?
If something looks off, click Reject and add a note explaining what needs to change. Sterling will revise and resubmit.
Approve the payroll
If everything looks correct, click Approve. You will see a confirmation dialog summarizing the total payroll amount and the pay date. Confirm to send it to Gusto.
After approval, Sterling submits the payroll to Gusto. You will see a green "Submitted" status on the payroll card. Gusto processes the direct deposits, and your team gets paid on Friday.
Understanding the numbers
| Metric | What it means | Healthy range | |---|---|---| | Gross Pay | Total earnings before any deductions | Should be consistent with headcount and hours worked | | Effective Tax Rate | Combined payroll tax percentage (employer + employee) | 22-30% of gross, depending on state and benefit elections | | Net Change vs. Last Period | How much total payroll changed from last time | Less than 5% change unless someone was hired, left, or worked significantly different hours | | Overtime Hours | Hours beyond 40/week for hourly employees | Monitor closely — consistent overtime may mean you need to hire | | Employer Cost | Your additional cost beyond gross pay (taxes, benefits, workers comp) | Typically 15-25% on top of gross pay |
What if something is wrong
Reject with a note
Click Reject on the payroll card and type a note explaining the issue. For example: "Jake's hours look too low — check if his timesheet was submitted" or "Missing Sarah — she started this pay period."
Sterling revises
Sterling reads your note, makes the correction (or flags what needs manual intervention), and resubmits the payroll for your review. You will see a new approval request in Control.
Approve the revision
Review the updated numbers and approve. The process continues as normal.
The payroll timeline
Timing matters for payroll. Here are the key deadlines:
| Day | Time | What happens | |---|---|---| | Wednesday | 8:00 AM | Sterling preps payroll and creates approval request | | Wednesday | By end of day | You should review and approve (or reject) | | Thursday | 10:00 AM | Hard deadline — payroll must be approved for Friday deposit | | Thursday | If not approved | Sterling escalates via notification and iMessage | | Friday | Payday | Direct deposits hit employee bank accounts |
If you miss the Thursday 10:00 AM deadline, payroll may be delayed by one business day. Sterling will let you know if this happens.
Payroll history and records
After a payroll run is approved and processed, it appears in the People > Payroll History section. You can review past runs at any time:
- Total cost per period — what you paid in gross, taxes, and benefits
- Employee-level detail — what each person earned
- Year-to-date totals — running totals for tax planning
- Comparison charts — how payroll costs are trending month over month
Sterling also tracks important compliance dates — tax filing deadlines, benefits enrollment windows, and required postings. If a deadline is approaching, you will see it as an alert in the Brief and the Command Center.
Tips for smooth payroll weeks
- Review on Wednesday — do not wait until Thursday. The earlier you approve, the more buffer you have if something needs adjustment.
- Check overtime trends — if the same employees consistently work overtime, it may be cheaper to hire. Sterling can model this for you.
- Watch for new hires — if you recently added someone in Gusto, verify they appear in Sterling's payroll prep. New employees sometimes need a manual check on their first run.
- Keep Gusto current — Sterling pulls from Gusto data. If pay rates, benefits, or tax withholdings change, update them in Gusto first. Sterling picks up the changes on the next prep cycle.