Process off-cycle payments with Square Payroll
About off-cycle payments
You can pay your employees outside of your typical payroll schedule by processing an off-cycle payment. If you accidentally underpay, forget to pay one of your employees, or pay your employees on an irregular schedule, or want to send a bonus separately, off-cycle payments can let you process payroll whenever you need.
For off-cycle payments, employees receive pay four business days after you submit the off-cycle payment.
Before you begin
You can run off-cycle payments from your Square Dashboard.
Your off-cycle payroll is processed the same day you submit it. Funds are debited from your linked bank account on the next business day, and employees that are paid by direct deposit receive their pay four business days after the payroll is sent.
The pay date used for tax calculation and reporting purposes is always at least four business days after you send the off-cycle payment — even if the pay period dates are in the past.
Process an off-cycle payment
Sign in to your Square Dashboard and select Staff & payroll > Payroll > Run payroll.
Select Pay Employees > Off-Cycle Payment > Start Run.
Select the pay period or choose Custom to select any date range.
Select the Payment Type that applies to the payment. Regular Pay calculates taxes based on the tax rates and W-4 information at the time the off-cycle payment is sent. Bonus Pay or Other Supplemental Pay calculates taxes using the federal supplemental withholding rate of 22%. To learn more about withholding rates, review the IRS Publication 15. Learn more about your state’s tax guidelines in Square Payroll state tax resources.
Select the Payment Method. You can pay employees manually or by their default payment method.
For Name, select the employees from the drop-down menu. Enter the number of hours worked and any additional pay for each employee.
If you’re using Square Shifts timecards or a supported third-party timecard application, if you enabled tip importing or commission tracking, or if you require your team to declare cash tips when clocking out or switching jobs, select Import time and wages to import your team's hours, tips, and commissions for the pay period.
After entering information for all employees that need to be paid, select Continue.
On the Adjustments screen, confirm deductions and/or contribution amounts and make any necessary edits. You can also add reimbursements, if needed. Select Continue.
Review the detailed breakdown of the off-cycle payroll and the bank withdrawal and select Confirm Withdrawal to approve and process the off-cycle payment.