A payroll manager is the person who sets up payroll cycles and processes payroll runs: reviews the figures, syncs data, adds once-off payments, approves, and completes runs.
You don't need to make someone an administrator to let them run payroll. Create a dedicated role — for example, Payroll manager — that grants only the payroll permissions described below, without admin access to the rest of the system (Administrators already have full payroll access).
Before you start
The Payroll module must be enabled on your account, and your account must use compensation components.
To create or change roles, you need access to Settings > Roles & permissions.
Manage payroll isn't included in any default role. Until an administrator grants it, only administrators can see Payroll in the sidebar.
Set up a payroll manager role
Go to Settings > Roles & permissions.
Create a new role (for example, Payroll manager) or open an existing one. It doesn't need to be an administrator role.
Assign the role to the people who will process payroll.
On the Company tab, open Payroll and select Manage payroll. This gives access to payroll cycles and payroll runs, including their exports.
On the People tab, set Compensation visability. Manage payroll opens the Payroll section, but compensation data in payroll runs is shown only with View or Edit access:
View: the person can see compensation for everyone in the payroll run, regardless of their reporting permissions.
Edit: the person can also add one-off payments (once-off additional compensation and adjustments) for everyone in the payroll run, regardless of their reporting permissions, and edit or delete manual entries.
Click Save.
⚠️ Edit access to compensation without Manage payroll doesn't give access to payroll. Both are needed.
📌 For more about roles, see Setting up roles in the system.
What the payroll manager role can do
Manage payroll allows access to payroll cycles and payroll runs, including their exports. Once the role is saved and assigned, a person with it can:
create, edit, copy, archive, and restore payroll cycles;
open payroll runs and review all their tabs;
sync runs and view exchange rates;
approve runs, issue invoices, and complete runs;
export payroll cycles and runs.
There is no separate permission for approving or completing a run — Manage payroll covers the whole process.