Managing Extra Pay on the Payroll Tab

This guide assists Account Owners, Admins, and payroll users in managing and uploading extra pay in BambooHR. It outlines the process for importing one-time extra pay before payroll, detailing available pay types and how to request custom types. Users can navigate to the Payroll tab, access the Extra Pay page, and manage uploads. The guide includes steps for handling errors, using the Upload Extra Pay feature, and filling out a data template. It also provides information on standard pay types, including 1099 extra pay for contractors, and offers options for creating custom pay types. Users are encouraged to review employee records post-upload to ensure accuracy. The guide emphasizes the importance of adhering to payroll cycles when uploading extra pay.

Jul 9, 2026
Knowledge

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How do I manage and upload extra pay in BambooHR?

Purpose: This guide will walk the Account Owner, Full Admin(s), Payroll Admin(s), and customer payroll users with access through managing extra pay and importing one-time extra pay in BambooHR before starting payroll. In this guide, we have also detailed the available extra pay types and how to request custom pay types.

Table of Contents

Extra Pay page
- Extra Pay box and managing uploads
- Invalid extra pay error
Upload extra pay
- Data Cleaner page
- Filling out the data template
Available extra pay types
- 1099 extra pay types
  - What if I pay a contractor cash outside of payroll and need to record it?
- Custom pay types

You can also add one-time extra pay directly in Payroll or on the employee profile!

Extra Pay page

To view, manage, and import extra pay prior to running your payroll, navigate to the Payroll tab, locate the correct pay cycle, and click on the Extra Pay tile. This tile will display the total amount of extra pay added to each employee record through the employee's Pay Info tab or by upload within the active pay schedule.

Clicking on the tile will bring up the Extra Pay Page, where you can view the following information and perform the following actions:

Filter: You can filter the Extra Pay table by employee name or pay type.
Extra Pay table: The Extra Pay table will show the employee name, pay type, and amount for each employee with extra pay assigned to their record. If an employee has multiple extra pay types, a list of each pay type and the associated amount will appear on the employee record.
Edit/delete extra pay: Hover over the employee record and click on the pencil icon to edit or delete an employee's extra pay. If the payroll has started, the pencil icon will be disabled, and you will need to make updates to extra pay on the Edit page while running payroll. If an employee has multiple pay types, a pencil will appear next to each pay type for you to edit individually, as long as the payroll hasn't been started. Upon clicking on the pencil icon, a window will display where you can change the pay type from a dropdown menu and the amount allocated. If you need to delete the pay type, click Delete This Extra Pay. Be sure to save any changes before returning to the Extra Pay page.
Upload Extra Pay option: Need to add one-time extra pay in bulk? Click Upload Extra Pay to download the extra pay template and upload multiple extra pay records at once. See below for more details.
Extra Pay box: The Totals and Uploads tabs are available for you to quickly view a breakdown of the total for each pay type and manage your extra pay uploads for the active pay schedule. See the 'Extra Pay box and managing uploads' section below for more information.

The only way to add pay to this page is to upload one-time extra pay. You can also add extra pay for an employee on their Extra Pay tab in BambooHR. Remember, you can only apply extra pay added to the employee profile to future pay cycles that are not opened, unless you reset the current payroll and date the extra pay for the current pay cycle. If you reset the current payroll run to include the extra pay changes, all extra pay will remain on this page regardless of how you added the extra pay.

Need to review employee data before running payroll? You can also access the People Being Paid page from the Extra Pay page. Just click on the People Being Paid tab!

Extra Pay box and managing uploads

Within the Extra pay box, there is a Totals and Uploads tab. On the Totals tab, you will see the total amount of extra pay for each pay type included in the active pay schedule. A number will appear next to each type, representing the total employees with that pay type attached to their record. The Totals tab will also display the overall total.

You can manage extra pay uploads by navigating to the Uploads tab within the Extra Pay sidebar. From here, you will see a list of your recent files for the active pay cycle, including the time and date of the upload and the total amount of extra pay for the employees included in the file.

This amount will be the total of employees included in the payroll from the upload file and will reflect any edits to the entries made on either the Extra Pay page or the Edit page of payroll. After an upload, if an employee is moved to a different Pay Schedule and they are no longer included in the payroll, the one-time extra pay that was uploaded for that employee will be moved and displayed on their next payroll in the new Pay Schedule.

When a customer clicks on Manage Uploads within the Uploads, a modal displays a table of information including all extra pay upload files. A row exists for each uploaded file with the file name, date/time of the upload, and the total amount of extra pay.

Hovering over a row of uploaded extra pay will display a trash can icon giving allowing you to delete the entire file’s worth of uploaded extra pay. When the trash icon is clicked, you are required to confirm that you want to delete the extra pay.

Invalid extra pay error

If an extra pay error is detected due to an invalid pay type or paycheck of the month frequency for recurring pay, a banner will appear at the top of the Extra Pay Page, allowing you to update the extra pay directly.

An extra pay error icon will also appear next to the record for that employee. You can click on the pencil icon to open the Update Extra Pay modal and fix the error directly for that employee.

Upload extra pay

We love extra pay, and we love making extra pay easy for you to add, especially if you have to add multiple types at once. Click on the Upload Extra Pay link on the Extra Pay page to access the upload page.

The Upload Extra Pay page shows the pay date to which the upload will apply. For a seamless experience, click the Download button at the bottom of the page to download a CSV template. You can fill it out to include the extra pay you wish to add to your employee records.

After filling out the template, click Choose File and select the template from your computer or drag and drop the file into the Select File to Upload section. The file will then appear on the Upload Extra Pay page. Make sure the file is uploaded as a CSV. Click Next to continue and clean the data.

Data Cleaner page

Once you upload the CSV file, clean the data in the table on the Upload Extra Pay page. This page will flag errors and allow you to correct invalid data or remove extra pay records. Please note that you can make edits only to records with associated errors. Errors may include mismatched pay type names, unidentified employees, missing pay type amounts, etc. Toggle on Only show rows with errors in the right corner to filter your view.

To make general edits on records that do not display errors (like changing the amount or pay type), you can do so on the Extra Pay page by clicking on the pencil icon once you upload the data.

You will need to fix all errors before uploading the extra pay. After you have fixed all errors, the Upload Extra Pay button will be highlighted in blue for you to click on. Keep in mind that your changes will not be saved or uploaded if you navigate away from the Upload Extra Pay page before clicking Upload Extra Pay. You have the option to click Back to return to the upload page, or you can click Cancel to return to the Extra Pay page.

The newly uploaded extra pay records will appear on the Extra Pay page. We encourage you to review your employee records to ensure the upload is accurate. Again, you can edit the added pay types on the Extra Pay page after uploading them.

It is important to understand that uploading extra pay is associated with the pay cycle. If you skip the pay cycle, the extra pay uploaded for that pay cycle will be removed. If you move the pay date, the extra pay will remain on your employee records until that pay cycle is paid out. Lastly, you must upload extra pay for each pay cycle if you have multiple pay cycles.

Filling out the data template

You will need to fill out the data template using the employee information included in the active pay cycle you are uploading to. We made the data template simple with only three columns to fill out:

Employee Number: BambooHR Payroll uses employee numbers to identify your employees. Locate the employee numbers of those you wish to add pay to and add them under the Employee Number column. If you are adding multiple extra pay types for an individual employee, each pay type will need its own line. Therefore, you may have multiple lines with the same employee number.
Amount: This is an easy one. Type the amount you wish to add for the pay type. You can add up to two decimal places. Do not include the dollar sign, and make sure the column is in the Number format for an easy upload.
Pay Type: Include the name of the pay type you wish to add. Make sure the name matches exactly with what is in BambooHR by copying the name from the Pay Type list on the importer page.

To access the list of available pay types for importing and copy the name exactly, customers can navigate back to the import page and click the blue “Pay Type” hyperlink. See below for more information on the available extra pay types and their names.

After adding all of your extra pay type records, save the file as a CSV, and upload it to the Upload Extra Pay page in BambooHR.

As a reminder, you can add one-time only or recurring extra pay on the employee profile. You can also add one-time extra pay directly during the payroll run.

Available extra pay types

The table below defines all standard pay types available to your company during payroll and where they show up on the employee's W-2. If the pay type is taxable, the employee's federal tax withholding elections will also apply to that pay type unless you choose to update the tax rate manually. If the pay type is payable, that means the amount for that type needs to be paid to the employee by the employer. Lastly, customers use non-payable types for amounts that have already been paid to the employee by the employer but still need to be recorded and taxed appropriately. You can find all the rules for these pay types using IRS Publication 15.

For more information about the W-2 and W-2 box codes, click here!

Pay Type Category	Pay Type Name (as seen in Payroll)	Taxable or Nontaxable?	Payable or Nonpayable?	W-2 Box Code
Regular Pay	Regular Overtime Other Additional Overtime Compensation Additional Regular Pay Auto Allowance - Non Reportable (Box 14) see below Draw - Taxable Excess PTO Housing Allowance Insurance Allowance - Taxable LTD/STD Gross Up Other Taxable Owner/Officer Comp Referral Fee Restricted Stock Unit - Payable Taxable** (See below) Retro Pay Severance Shift Differential Sick Temporary Disability Training Days Vacation	Taxable	Payable	Box 1
Bonuses	Bonus Bonus - Officer Bonus - Other Bonus - Referral Moving Bonus Sustainable Bonus-Commute Home Bike	Taxable	Payable	Box 1
Commission	Commission Commissions - Direct Outside Sales Commissions	Taxable	Payable	Box 1
Expenses & Reimbursements	Cell Phone Reimbursement Draw - Non-Taxable Expense FSA Reimb - Non Taxable Medical Insurance - Non Taxable Mileage Reimbursement - Non Taxable Other Non Taxable Payroll Advance - Non Taxable Reimbursement - Non Taxable Wellness Reimbursement - Non Taxable Tuition Reimbursement (Sec 127) Payable****	Nontaxable	Payable	Not Applicable
Reimbursement	Tuition Reimbursement (Sec 127) Non Payable****	Nontaxable	Nonpayable	Not Applicable
Misc.	Auto Allowance (Box 14)	Taxable	Payable	Box 14
Misc.	Distributions from Nonqualified Plan (11)	Taxable	Payable	Box 11
Misc.	Employer Required Lodging - CA Taxable only	Taxable/Nontaxable*** (see below)	Nonpayable	Not Applicable
Misc.	Housing Allowance - Minister	Nontaxable	Payable	Box 14 HouseAllow
Misc.	Imputed Income - DP Fed & State Taxable Imputed Income - DP Fed Tax Only Non Payable Taxable Income	Taxable	Nonpayable	Box 1
Misc.	Washington PFML Supplemental Pay	Taxable	Payable	Box 1
Misc.	Washing Qualified Sick Pay	Taxable	Payable
Misc.	Vested Benefit Increase - NQ (FICA)	Taxable	Nonpayable	Box 11
Misc.	Imputed Income - GTL	Taxable	Nonpayable	Box 12 C
Misc.	Non Payable Non Taxable Third Party Sick	Nontaxable	Nonpayable	Box 12 J
Misc.	Stock Options Income (Non-Stat) (Box 12 V)	Taxable	Payable	Box 12 V
Misc.	Non Payable Taxable Benefit 2% (only available for employee's with a 2% shareholder tax type)	Taxable	Nonpayable	Box 14 HI 2% SH
Misc.	Payable Taxable Stock (Non-Stat) (Box 14 STOCK)	Taxable	Payable	Box 14 STOCK
Misc.	Non Payable Taxable Stock (Non-Stat)	Taxable	Nonpayable	Box 14 STOCK
Misc.	Deferred Compensation - NQ (12, Z)	Taxable	Payable	Box 12 Z
Misc.	QSEHRA - Payable Non-Reportable	Nontaxable	Payable	Not Applicable
Misc.	QSEHRA - Reportable Non-Payable	Nontaxable	Nonpayable	Box 12 Code FF
Misc.	Tips - Non Payable Taxable (OBBB Box 12 TP)	Taxable	Nonpayable	OBBB Box 12 TP
Misc.	Tips - Payable Taxable (OBBB Box 12 TP)	Taxable	Payable	OBBB Box 12 TP

Notes concerning the wages above:

*The Auto Allowance - Non Reportable (Box 14) will not be recorded in Box 14. If you wish to have an auto allowance pay type recorded in Box 14 on the W-2, choose Auto Allowance (Box 14) instead.

**The Restricted Stock Unit - Payable Taxable pay type can be used to report taxes for RSUs. If processed as a separate check, you must add a post-tax deduction for the net amount or override to a paper check to avoid payment to employees. Employees are liable to reimburse the employer for the employee taxes.

***Wages for the Employer Required Lodging - CA Taxable pay type is not subject to or taxed for FIT, FICA, FUTA, or SIT. The wages are subject to and taxed for CA-SDI, CA-SUI, and CA-ETT.

****State taxes will still apply to Tuition Reimbursement (Sec 127) Payable and Nonpayable.

Do you need help excluding deductions from pay types? Check out this help guide!

1099 extra pay types

There are only two available extra pay types that you can use for your 1099 contractors to ensure accurate 1099 reporting. They are as follows:

Pay Type Category	Pay Type Name (as seen in Payroll)	Taxable or Nontaxable?	Payable or Nonpayable?	W-2 Box Code
Misc. Expense	Expense - 1099 Non-Reportable	Nontaxable	Payable	Will not report wages on 1099-NEC
Misc. Expense	Expense - 1099 Reportable	Nontaxable	Payable	Will report wages on 1099-NEC

Please keep in mind you can't create custom pay types that are reportable or non-reportable for those with an independent contractor tax type.

What if I pay a contractor cash outside of payroll and need to record it?

To report cash paid to a contractor outside of Payroll, select either of the pay types above (Expense - 1099 Non-Reportable or Expense - 1099 Reportable). Then, during Payroll processing, change the payment method to paper check to prevent the contractor from being paid again.

Custom pay types

Don’t see a pay type you need? We got you covered. We understand there are times when admins use a different name for a pay type from what we provide you in Payroll. For example, in BambooHR Payroll, it may be called "Cell Phone Reimbursement," but your company calls it "Cell Phone" or "CP." Contact our Payroll Support team to help set up these custom pay types in your account.

When you contact Support, please have written confirmation ready to determine if the custom pay type should be taxable or nontaxable, payable or nonpayable, and if you need to have it reported in a specific box on the W-2.

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