AI for payroll teams
The time exports, draft register and garnishment orders go in a folder. Ask for the pre-run audit or the 941 tie-out, and it hands back the Excel schedule or memo you would otherwise build by hand.
PP23-prepayroll-audit.xlsxExamplePre-payroll audit, PP23, pay date Nov 14
- E-10482New code RETRO$3,412.80Hold
A retro earning has no approved rate change behind it, so hold the line until HR confirms the rate.
- E-11307Net change−$612.44Cleared
A new child support order starts this period, and the deduction matches the order.
- E-09815Missing from run$0.00Waiting
She was terminated Nov 7, so confirm her final pay went out on the Nov 10 off-cycle check.
- E-12054Net change+$1,186.20Waiting
His 31.5 overtime hours are twice his average, so get the supervisor’s approval on the timecard.
How it works
- 1
Build the pay folder
Export the time data, the draft register and the tax report from your payroll platform, then add the garnishment orders, carrier invoices, prior reconciliations and the control matrix to the same folder.
- 2
Request the pre-run audit
Audit the run before funding it, recalculate the regular rate on a bonus week or tie out the 941s at quarter end. The workbook comes back with live formulas, the source file behind each figure and a note on anything it could not reconcile.
- 3
Review it, then release the run
Match each recalculation to the pay-period detail and decide whether the run is ready to fund. Funding, filing and posting stay with your team. Citations remain in each file for the day auditors ask.
Inside the Payroll mode
Payroll calculations and pay run review
Re-runs gross-to-net on the draft register, checks regular-rate overtime on bonus weeks, and works garnishment caps and priorities before you fund a run.
Payroll tax and year-end
Ties the four 941s to the W-3 and the GL, keeps the deposit and filing calendar, and drafts the withholding, SUI and local setup checklist for a new state.
Worker classification and FLSA exemption
The contractor memo works through the control tests federal and state laws apply, adds the state ABC tests and estimates back pay exposure if you reclassify.
Benefits administration and compliance
It matches carrier invoices to the deduction register, clears enrollment and retro-add mismatches, and keeps COBRA, ACA and Form 5500 work on schedule.
Unclaimed property reporting
Ages uncashed checks against each state’s dormancy period, drafts the due diligence letters and builds the report detail for the NAUPA II upload.
Data migration and interface mapping
For a payroll cutover, it maps the earn and deduction codes, builds reconciliation checks for the feeds and runs the parallel tests behind a go or no-go.
Audit and ICFR documentation
Documents the payroll walkthrough, updates the risk and control matrix, tests segregation of duties and works the sample exceptions.
- Office skills
- Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF
- Tools
- Read, edit and write files, Search files, Run code, Search and read the web, View images
- Connectors
- SharePoint, Google Drive, Gmail, and additional custom connectors
- House style
- Your fonts, layouts and rules, on every file
Ask it for
“Compare the November 14 draft register against October 31 and list every new earning code, every net change over $200 and every employee missing from the run.”
PP23-prepayroll-audit.xlsx“Recalculate retro pay for the 26 nurses who received the $1,200 retention bonus for weeks 14 through 26, including the regular-rate overtime premium.”
Bonus-retro-recalc.xlsx“Work the CCPA limits for the press operator with a child support order 14 weeks in arrears plus a judgment garnishment. Show what each order collects this week.”
Garnishment-worksheet-PP23.xlsx“Reconcile the four 2026 Forms 941 to the W-3 totals and the payroll liability accounts, and list every field that does not tie, with the difference.”
941-W2-tieout.xlsx“Draft the classification memo for the field technicians who follow our schedules and use our trucks, with back pay exposure if we reclassify them.”
Technician-classification-memo.docx“Age the payroll checks still uncashed from 2023 and 2024 by state dormancy period and draft the due diligence letters for checks over the state’s threshold.”
Escheat-due-diligence-letters.docx
Who it’s for
Payroll teams at employers, payroll bureaus and PEOs, from payroll clerks and timekeepers to payroll accountants and payroll managers.
Questions
Who is liable if it calculates a check wrong?
The employer is liable, and no tool changes that. The IRS holds employers responsible for withheld taxes and deposits even when a third party runs the payroll, and DOL guidance says the same about wages calculated with AI tools. Every figure cites the file it came from, anything it could not reconcile is flagged, and a person reviews every file before the run is funded.
How does it keep up when the wage base or a state rate changes?
It works from the files and sources you give it, not from memory. It searches the web and reads pages when a request needs it, and asks before it opens a site for the first time. Each number carries its source, and where one will not tie it says so rather than guessing. When the wage base changes each January, your team still checks the sources before you fund the run.
Can we put employee files with SSNs and bank details in it?
That call belongs to your compliance team, and it should happen before the first folder is built. Ultramarine Work changes files only in the project’s folder. When a request needs it, it can read files elsewhere on your computer, never passwords, keys or app data, and you can turn that off in settings. The model runs on Paper Instruments’ servers, so the content it works on is sent there to be processed. Paper Instruments is SOC 2 Type II, and our security and compliance details are on our compliance page.
Can it document our payroll controls for the auditors?
Yes, SOX and ICFR documentation is part of this mode. It drafts walkthroughs, selects samples and writes up exceptions from the evidence in the folder, and it names the file behind every attribute tested. Internal audit still owns the conclusion.
How does it handle regular-rate overtime with bonuses?
It recalculates the regular rate from the pay detail and bonuses in the folder, then adds the retroactive premium when a nondiscretionary bonus spans weeks that had overtime. The workbook shows the weeks the bonus was apportioned over and the rate for each, because the wage-hour facts decide the math. No pay changes until you accept the result.