Verified against the latest product codeLast updated September 22, 20266 min read
Payroll in 3PM Base brings together approved timesheets, pay periods, payroll batches, pay calendars, payroll runs, and connected payroll services. Use the checks below to identify why a batch cannot be prepared, a run cannot be submitted, or synchronization has not completed.
Common Payroll problems
Start by checking these requirements:
Your account has an active payroll integration. Payroll batch preparation cannot continue without an active Xero Payroll, MYOB, or iPayroll integration.
The pay period dates are correct and include the timesheets you want to process.
The relevant timesheets are approved. A payroll batch and a payroll run are built from approved timesheets, so pending, rejected, or unapproved timesheets are not included.
Each staff member is linked to the matching employee in the connected payroll service.
Each staff member has a default earnings type, and that earnings type is mapped to the connected payroll service.
The timesheet date falls within the selected pay period.
If no batch is created, check the selected period for approved timesheets first. An empty result means that no approved timesheets were found for that period; it does not indicate that the account has failed.
Payroll batch checks
Check the payroll batch status before trying the next action:
Draft: review the staff and lines, then validate the payroll batch.
Ready: the payroll batch has passed validation and can be synchronized.
Syncing: synchronization is in progress. Wait for it to finish before trying again.
Synced: all staff included in the payroll batch were synchronized successfully. The related timesheets are locked in the batch and the batch cannot be modified.
Partial failed: some staff were synchronized and at least one failed. Review the error for the failed staff member, correct the problem, and retry that staff member.
A payroll batch cannot be synchronized when it is already syncing, synced, or locked. If a payroll batch is in Draft, confirm the following before validating it:
A pay calendar is selected.
Every staff member has an employee link for the selected payroll service.
Every line has a mapped earnings rate.
Every line date is between the batch start and end dates.
The hours are reasonable. More than 200 hours for one staff member produces a warning for review.
You can remove a staff member from a payroll batch before it is synced or locked. If a staff member's synchronization fails, retry is available only when that staff member is in Failed status. Correct missing employee links, earnings-rate mappings, or payroll-service settings before retrying.
Warning
Warning: A payroll batch that has been synchronized cannot be modified. Review the staff, dates, hours, and earnings rates before synchronization.
Payroll calendar and payroll run checks
For a pay calendar, confirm that the calendar type and dates match the payroll service. 3PM Base supports weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly, monthly, quarterly, twice-monthly, and annual calendars.
When creating a pay calendar:
A start date is required for weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual calendars.
A reference date is required for a twice-monthly calendar.
The name must be between 1 and 100 characters.
The payment date is optional, but should match the payment arrangement used by your payroll service.
3PM Base calculates the most recently completed pay period from the pay calendar. The current in-progress period is not treated as ready to process. If the dates look wrong, check the calendar type and its start date, then select the completed period again.
Only Admin can create, edit, or delete a pay calendar. Deleting a pay calendar removes it from the active calendar list. If it is linked to Xero, 3PM Base also attempts to remove the matching Xero calendar; the local calendar is still made inactive if that removal fails.
For a payroll run, check that:
The pay period start, pay period end, and payment date are all provided.
At least one approved timesheet exists in the selected period.
The payroll run is in Draft status before you submit it to the connected payroll service.
An active connection to that service is available when submitting.
A payroll run moves to Submitted after a successful submission. A payroll run that is already Submitted, Approved, Paid, or Cancelled cannot be submitted again.
Synchronization checks
First confirm that the correct payroll service is connected and active. Synchronization of payroll runs requires an active connection, and the connection must be completed before runs can be synchronized.
For payroll batch synchronization:
Open the payroll batch and review its status and any staff-level errors.
Validate a Draft payroll batch and resolve every validation error.
Check employee links and earnings-rate mappings in Staff settings.
Synchronize the payroll batch again when its status is Ready or Partial failed.
For a Partial failed payroll batch, retry only the staff member whose status is Failed after correcting the reported issue.
For Xero synchronization, timesheets normally arrive in Xero as Draft records for review. Your account settings can be configured so that synchronized timesheets arrive as Approved instead. If a rate is missing from an employee's Salary & Wages in Xero, 3PM Base attempts to add the mapped rate before sending the timesheet.
For synchronization with iPayroll:
Employee matching uses the iPayroll employee ID saved for the staff member.
Timesheets for employees that cannot be matched are skipped.
Payroll runs are synchronized from iPayroll only when an active connection is available.
If the connection token is close to expiry, 3PM Base refreshes it before synchronization.
If synchronization reports success but a record is missing, check the matching employee ID, the pay period dates, and the status in the connected payroll service. Also check whether the record was skipped because the employee could not be matched.
When to get help
Contact your 3PM Base administrator when you need an employee link, earnings type, pay calendar, or payroll integration changed. Admin access is required for pay-calendar changes and payroll-run submission.
When contacting support, include:
The batch, calendar, or run name or period.
The payroll service involved: Xero, MYOB, or iPayroll.
The status shown in 3PM Base.
The staff member affected, if the problem is limited to one person.
The exact error message and whether the problem occurred during validation, synchronization, or submission.
Do not include passwords, access tokens, or other connection credentials in a support request.
