Direct deposit payroll software: the payment timetable behind pay day

What to establish about payroll with direct deposit before you buy

1. Get the funding deadline in writing. Every payment route has a point by which cleared money must be available, usually a number of days before pay day. Ask what yours would be, what happens if you miss it, and whether the deadline changes around public holidays.
2. Find out who is actually moving the money. Some products instruct your bank with a file you upload; others act through a payment provider and debit you first. The difference decides what happens to a failed payment, who tells you, and how quickly a correction can be made.
3. Ask what same day means here. Faster payment rails exist in several countries and products use the phrase loosely. Establish whether same day applies to every employee or only to corrections, whether it costs extra, and what the cut off time is in your own time zone.
4. Test a failed and a returned payment. A wrong account number, a closed account and a rejected payment are ordinary events. Ask to see what the product shows, who is notified, and how the correction is recorded, because this is the process your team will run under pressure.

Why the timetable matters more than the feature

Employees judge payroll on whether money arrives on the promised day. That day is set by the slowest link in the chain, which is usually the clearing timetable rather than the software. A product that files earlier does not make the bank faster; it gives you more room when something is wrong.

Pick a product whose deadline you can comfortably meet every period, not the one whose deadline is latest. Running to the last hour every month is how a missed pay day eventually happens.

Corrections and off cycle payments

Underpayments need a fast route and most products have one, often at a fee. Establish the cost, the cut off and whether an off cycle payment can be made without reopening the whole run. This is the feature you will value most and think about least during a demonstration.

Bank detail changes are a fraud target

Payroll diversion fraud works by changing an account number shortly before pay day, usually through a convincing email. The controls that stop it are verification of the change, a notification to the previous contact, and a rule that no change is made in the final days before a run. Ask what the product enforces rather than what it permits.

Common questions

What is direct deposit payroll software?

Payroll software that produces and, in many cases, executes the payment instruction that puts net pay into employees' bank accounts, rather than leaving you to make the payments separately.

How early do we have to fund payroll?

It depends on the payment route and the country, and the deadline is usually several days before pay day. Ask for the exact timetable, including public holidays, before you choose.

Is same day payroll real?

Fast payment rails exist in several countries, and products use them mostly for corrections rather than for whole runs. Ask what is covered, what it costs and what the cut off is.

How do we prevent payroll diversion fraud?

Verify every bank detail change out of band, notify the previous contact, and freeze changes in the days before a run. These are process controls the product should support and enforce.

Coverage by country

• Employer of record vendors covering Singapore
• Employer of record vendors covering Mexico
• Employer of record vendors covering Spain
• Employer of record vendors covering Colombia
• Employer of record vendors covering United Kingdom
• Employer of record vendors covering France
• Employer of record vendors covering Hungary
• Employer of record vendors covering New Zealand