Managing Payroll Errors and Warnings

This guide outlines how to manage payroll errors and warnings in BambooHR. It provides an overview of potential errors that may occur during the payroll process, including pre-payroll errors like invalid company addresses and discrepancies in employee records. Users are prompted to resolve these issues before proceeding with payroll. The guide also details common errors encountered during the approval phase, such as the need to recalculate payroll due to multiple pay schedules or if another administrator has already approved it. Additionally, it addresses various warnings that may appear, such as excluded employees with approved hours and notifications about company holidays. Understanding these elements facilitates a smoother payroll experience.

Jul 9, 2026
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How do I manage the payroll errors and warnings while running payroll in BambooHR?

Purpose: This guide will provide context for the different types of errors and warnings that may arise during the run payroll process in BambooHR Payroll.

Table of Contents

Payroll errors
- Pre-payroll errors
- Approve payroll errors
Payroll warnings

Payroll errors

Errors may arise throughout the entire payroll process when running payroll in BambooHR. Below is a breakdown of the types of errors you may come across.

Pre-payroll errors

BambooHR Payroll works hard to ensure an accurate payroll for your company and employees. That is why we inform you of any potential payroll errors from the get-go on the Payroll tab. Most of these errors include invalid company addresses or discrepancies found on an employee record that is included in the pay cycle. Being able to fix these before you start your payroll will ensure an easy payroll experience.

If you click Start Payroll with existing payroll errors for an employee(s), a modal will appear for you to fix them without having to navigate away from the payroll experience. You will not be able to start payroll until you address them.

Check out this guide for more information on pre-payroll errors.

Approve payroll errors

We hope you can approve your payroll without a hassle, but errors are sometimes found during the validation step to ensure payroll accuracy. Below are some examples of errors that could happen when you go to approve payroll and what they mean.

Recalculate Payroll

This error applies to those who have multiple pay schedules or payroll runs. To ensure the tax and deduction calculations are accurate, you will need to calculate your pay cycles in order. If the current payroll you are trying to approve was calculated but not yet approved while another payroll was calculated, then this payroll needs to be recalculated. Simply click Recalculate Payroll to finish approving payroll, or go back to the Edit page.

View Approved Payroll

If you have multiple payroll administrators approving payroll, it is not uncommon for someone to beat you to it. If so, you will see this modal letting you know someone else has already approved payroll. You can click View Approved Payroll to navigate to the Payroll Reports page, where you can see the approved payroll.

Try Again

If your internet drops or your session times out, an error will display, prompting you to approve payroll again.

Payroll warnings

To make the payroll experience more insightful and accurate, warnings may surface on the Edit page while running payroll in BambooHR. Here are a few common warnings:

Excluded employees with approved hours

If an employee is removed or disabled from the current payroll run and has approved hours through BambooHR® Time Tracking or imported hours, BambooHR will display a warning at the top of the Edit page. A link to the Exclude Employees modal is available to add the employee back to the payroll if needed.

Company and banking holidays

If any company or holidays fall within the current pay period, you will see a notification with the holidays listed and a tip to add special holiday rates as extra pay.

Exempt employees with approved overtime (OT) or double time (DT) hours

This warning will let you know that approved hours for OT and DT have been found for an employee(s) with an exempt status for overtime and will not be paid for those hours.

Worked holiday, project, or shift differential hours with overtime (OT) or double time (DT) hours

This warning will let you know that there are combined rates with overtime or double time that should be reviewed to remain FLSA compliant.

Employees with no payable wages

BambooHR will let you know if there are employees who are included in the payroll run but do not have any payable wages attached to their records. This warning will appear with a list of employees when you click Calculate Payroll on the Edit page. You can either go back to the Edit page to make adjustments or continue to calculate your payroll run.

Go To Tax Account Setup

Upon opening and calculating payroll, BambooHR Payroll will validate active employee home and company addresses to ensure your company has the correct tax accounts. You will see this error if you are missing a required tax account based on where your employees work. Clicking Go To Tax Account Setup will send you to the Taxes section in settings, where you can set up the correct tax account.

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