What's covered in this guide?
Overview
The Link to Payroll setting on HR Form Templates lets you connect numeric responses from employee-submitted forms directly to payroll. When the form is submitted, the answer flows through as a line on the employee's next pay stub — no double entry. This feature is available for organizations that have enabled Workforce HR and are running Workforce Payroll.
You can link a form question to one of three payroll item types:
Reimbursement — non-taxable expense payouts (mileage, training, purchases on behalf of the business). Question must be a Currency answer type.
Allowance — adds units of an earnings rate (e.g. a per-shift allowance). Question must be a Number answer type, and you'll pick the earnings rate to attach.
Deduction — post-tax deductions tied to a deduction type. Question must be a Currency answer type, and you'll pick the deduction type to attach.
Create a payroll-linked form
To create a payroll-linked form:
Navigate to HR > Forms > Form Templates > + Create New Form Template.
Give the form a name and assign it a category.
Click Create.
Add a new question:
Write your Question (e.g. "Amount to be reimbursed").
Set the Answer Type:
Currency for reimbursements and deductions
Number for allowances
Check Link to Payroll.
Pick the Payroll Item Type: Reimbursement, Allowance, or Deduction.
If you chose Allowance, select the earnings rate the answer should attach to.
If you chose Deduction, select the deduction type the answer should attach to.
Click Save Question.
Tip: For compliance, add a Signature question and mark it Required. This captures employee acknowledgement of what they're submitting.
Assign a payroll-linked form
To assign a payroll-linked form:
Go to HR > Forms > Form Templates.
Click Assign next to the relevant form.
Select an employee from the dropdown.
Click Assign.
The employee receives a notification to complete the form.
Complete a payroll-linked form
The employee can:
Go to HR > Forms > My Forms > Fill.
Enter the amount (or unit count, for an allowance) and any other required details.
Upload receipts or supporting files if requested.
Provide a signature if required.
Submit.
Manage payroll-linked forms
Go to HR > Forms > All Forms.
Track submission status (e.g. Submitted).
Check payroll export status in the Payroll Payslip column.
Status updates once the next pay run has been processed.
Verify payroll entries
To confirm the line has flowed through:
Open a draft Pay Run for the relevant pay period and view the linked line on the employee's pay stub, or
Open the form submission and follow the link to the resulting pay stub line.
Export to payroll
Pending Submission — The form has been assigned to an employee but they haven't submitted it yet. Once the employee submits the form (or it's approved, if approvals are required), the status changes to Pending Export.
Forms show as Pending Export if:
Submitted (no approval workflow), or
Approved (if approvals are required).
Once the next pay run includes the line:
Status updates to Exported.
A link to the relevant pay stub appears.
You can track everything via Form Log and the pay stub view.
Note: You can also manually add a reimbursement, allowance, or deduction line to a draft pay stub, independent of any HR form.
Update or delete linked items
Editing a form question to uncheck Link to Payroll breaks the link for future submissions.
If a draft pay stub or pay run is deleted:
The linked line is removed.
It re-attaches on the next pay run if the form submission is still valid and pending export.
Deleting a form submission clears the payroll link.
Troubleshooting
Form not exporting?
Make sure the submission is completed (and approved, if approvals are required).
Payroll not updating?
Confirm the question is marked as Linked and the right Payroll Item Type is set.
For allowances, confirm the question's answer type is Number and an earnings rate is selected.
For deductions, confirm the question's answer type is Currency and a deduction type is selected.
Deleted entry?
Re-export to re-add valid lines.
Or manually add a line to a draft pay stub.