What's covered in this guide?
What is an out-of-cycle pay run?
An out-of-cycle pay run lets you pay employees outside of your regular payroll schedule. Common use cases include:
Back-pay for missed or corrected timesheets
Bonus payments
Termination pay
Overpay corrections
Out-of-cycle pay runs behave differently from regular pay runs — several items that are normally auto-populated must be added manually. Review the Key Differences section below before posting.
Creating an out-of-cycle pay run
There are two ways to create one:
From the Pay Runs page
1. Go to Payroll > Pay Runs and click +NEW.
2. Select the relevant pay group.
3. Choose the pay period dates.
4. Add the employees who need to be included.
5. Click on each employee's name to update their pay stub with the appropriate
earnings, deductions, and other line items.
6. Follow standard procedures to post and finalize.
From a timesheet (backpay)
See the Backpay and Correcting Other Missed Payments help guide for more information.
1. Open the individual timesheet that needs to be paid.
2. In the timesheet toolbar, select Create out-of-cycle pay run (as opposed to "Add to next pay run").
3. The system will either create a new off-cycle draft or add the timesheet to an existing off-cycle draft for the same pay group.
Note: Overpay corrections are always created as out-of-cycle pay runs automatically. See the Overpayment Correction help guide for more information.
Key differences from regular pay runs
Out-of-cycle pay runs are intentionally lightweight — they don't auto-populate many of the items that regular pay runs do. This prevents double-charging employees or double-accruing benefits.
Earnings
Auto-paid earnings are not populated. You must manually add all earnings lines to each pay stub.
Timesheets are not automatically linked to off-cycle pay stubs the way they are for regular pay runs.
Deductions
Fixed-amount deductions are skipped (e.g., flat-dollar health insurance premiums). Percentage-based deductions still apply.
Cash advances are the exception — these are still included even on off-cycle runs.
Garnishments are not included. If a garnishment needs to be applied, add it manually.
Contributions
Fixed-amount employer contributions are skipped. Percentage-based contributions still apply.
Reimbursements
Reimbursements are not included. If an employee is owed a reimbursement, add it manually.
Time Off Accrual
Work anniversary time off accrual does not trigger on off-cycle pay runs.
Calendar year time off accrual does not trigger — off-cycle runs are not counted when determining the first pay run of the year.
Fixed hours-per-period time off accrual is skipped to avoid double-accruing time off that was already accrued on the regular pay run.
Date Handling
Off-cycle pay runs use the exact dates from the timesheet or your selection rather than following the next scheduled pay period.
The system reuses a single off-cycle draft per pay group — if you create multiple backpay timesheets, they may be grouped into the same off-cycle pay run.
Before you post: Checklist
Review each pay stub to confirm:
All required earnings have been manually added
Any needed fixed-amount deductions have been manually added
Any needed garnishments have been manually added
Any needed reimbursements have been manually added
Any needed fixed-amount contributions have been manually added
The pay period dates are correct
Reporting
Activity detail reports allow you to filter by in-cycle vs. out-of-cycle status, so you can isolate off-cycle payments in your reporting.