Use and manage Payroll on AutoPilot®

With Payroll on AutoPilot® enabled, payroll will run automatically one day before your payroll deadlines. If you want to run all your payrolls manually, disable Payroll on AutoPilot®.

Important reminders

Contractor payments: These are not supported with Payroll on AutoPilot®.
- If you need to pay contractors in the future, adjust the check date when paying them.
Commission-only employees on autopilot: You'll still need to enter their commission before the payroll runs—they're set to a $0 salary so they won't be paid if no commission is entered.
Multiple bank accounts: Payroll on AutoPilot® will process from the 'default' bank account on file, unless a different bank account is chosen. Learn more here.
Editing a Payroll on AutoPilot®: This will automatically disable it—you'll need to process the payroll manually with the updated details.
Some actions taken in Gusto will automatically turn off your Payroll on AutoPilot®: If your autopilot setting was disabled without your knowledge, click the applicable dropdown below to determine why.
Using the Expenses feature: You must approve all expenses before Autopilot runs, one day before the payroll deadline.
Using Time Tracking and AutoPilot® together: Gusto does not recommend using these features together because it does not give time for managers and admins to review and approve hours before processing payroll.
- If used together, the hours clocked using Time Tracking will override the default hours hourly employees have.

Select whether you have one or multiple pay schedules below to learn how to turn on the feature.

Turn Payroll on AutoPilot® on or off—for companies with a single pay schedule

Make sure your workers have the following settings:
- All workers are set up with direct deposit payments.
- For hourly employees, setting up default hours is mandatory, otherwise AutoPilot® will not work for hourly employees.
Click the Payroll section and select Payroll settings.
Under the Pay Schedule section, click edit next to "autopilot".
Toggle to On or Off.
Click Save.

Once payroll is processed, you'll receive an email notification.

You have 24 hours to make changes to your payroll or cancel it if needed. Once you make the changes, click Save Changes for Later and your changes will apply to the next payroll.

Turn Payroll on AutoPilot® on or off—for companies with multiple pay schedules

Payroll on AutoPilot® and multiple pay schedules

If your account is already on autopilot and you add a new pay schedule, only the first pay schedule will remain on autopilot. The newly added pay schedule will not automatically have autopilot turned on. Update the autopilot settings to Both Salaried and Hourly employees as instructed below in order to turn this on for both payroll schedules.

Set up Payroll on AutoPilot®—for customers with more than one pay schedule

Click the Payroll section and select Payroll settings.
Under the Pay Schedule section, click Edit next to "autopilot".
Click Enabled
Click which payroll schedule should have autopilot enabled:
- Both Salaried and Hourly employees
- Just Salaried employees
- Just Hourly employees
Click Save.

Edit a Payroll on AutoPilot®

Click the Payroll section and select Run Payroll.
Choose the current pay period and select Run Payroll.
Edit any details and save the changes.
Manually submit the payroll—it will not automatically process otherwise.

If your payroll deadline has already passed, you cannot edit the payroll. You may still have the option to cancel or reverse a payroll as needed.

Actions that will disable Payroll on AutoPilot®

If your Payroll on AutoPilot® setting was disabled without your knowledge, here are some actions that will turn off the settings automatically:

Employee changes their payment method from direct deposit to check.
- If you're using multiple pay schedules and an employee setting is changed that disables Payroll on AutoPilot®, this will affect everyone on that same pay schedule but not affect the other pay schedule.
  - For example: If an hourly employee disables Payroll on AutoPilot® (has a Check payment method or is set with no default hours), the autopilot will be disabled for all hourly employees on this same pay schedule. However, the salaried employees on the other pay schedule will not be affected and will remain on autopilot.
A new employee is added to the account with either a Check payment method and/or no set default hours for hourly workers.
- New hires will have a unique "new hire payroll" that needs to be processed manually in addition to your regular payroll on autopilot.
Company changes that result in signing new forms, and/or completing state tax setup items, or changing the company bank account.
- Check the Home page for these notifications.
Once Payroll on AutoPilot® is disabled, you'll receive an automated email notifying you of this change.