Teams & Payroll
Add your team and model payroll
Build a people-cost record that keeps active payroll, one-time payroll, and hypothetical planned hires in their proper roles.
In this guide
Prerequisites
- A reviewed list of active team members and their contractual or base salary inputs.
- Known effective dates for any monthly override or offboarding change.
- A clear distinction between active people and roles that are still only planned.
Understand the payroll model
RunwayCal keeps the recurring baseline separate from month-specific and one-time changes.
| Item | What it means | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline salary | The contractual or base salary input for an active team member. | Provides the recurring payroll starting point. |
| Monthly override | An absolute monthly value for a specific period, not an amount added to the baseline. | Replaces the effective value for that period without silently rewriting the baseline. |
| One-time payroll | A separate payroll amount recorded for a specific need or period. | Adds a distinct one-time cost without becoming recurring salary. |
| Planned hire | A future role with modeled timing and cost assumptions. | Belongs to planning context and remains distinct from the active team. |
| Annual Payroll | A rolling 12-month view of applicable payroll context. | Summarizes the rolling period rather than multiplying one month blindly. |
Add active team members
Open Teams
Open the Teams or payroll area and start the add-member workflow shown in the current workspace.
Identify the person and role
Enter the identity, role, and other supported context presented by the interface. Use department or location only where those fields are available.
Record the baseline
Enter the contractual or base salary input. Do not fold a one-time bonus or future adjustment into the baseline merely to make the current month match.
Set the effective timing
Review the start date and other timing fields that determine when the recurring cost belongs in the plan.
Save and review
Confirm the person appears as active and the monthly payroll context matches the intended baseline.
Use overrides and one-time payroll correctly
Month-specific changes should remain explainable and should not mutate the contractual baseline by accident.
Example
Absolute override example
A team member has a base monthly payroll value of $10,000. An override of $11,500 for March means March is $11,500, not $21,500. A separate $2,000 one-time payroll item remains separate from both values.
- Baseline month
- $10,000
- March absolute override
- $11,500
- Separate one-time payroll
- $2,000
- Baseline after March
- $10,000 unless the base input is deliberately changed
Model planned hires separately
A planned role is a hypothesis about future cost and timing. It is not an active employee record.
Define the role
Use a role label and supported planning fields that make the future need understandable.
Set the expected start date
Place the modeled cost in the intended future period. Do not treat that date as proof that hiring occurred.
Add cost assumptions
Use reviewed compensation and modeled people-cost assumptions. Keep estimates identifiable as estimates.
Review planning impact
Compare the hypothetical people-cost context with current burn, runway, or budget context without changing active payroll.
Record offboarding without losing history
Record the last working date and the reason or context requested by the current workflow. Keep any settlement or final payroll amount separate where supported.
Recurring payroll should stop after the person is no longer active in the applicable period. Review following months rather than assuming an unsupported proration rule.
Offboarding should preserve the explanation of earlier payroll. It should not rewrite months in which the person was active.
How payroll enters the financial picture
People-cost flow
- Active baseline
- Effective monthly overrides
- One-time payroll
- Applicable planned-hire planning
- People-cost context
- Burn, runway, and budget review
Examples by business type
SaaS & Software
Separate active engineering and customer-success payroll from a planned sales hire.
Agencies & Consulting
Keep employee payroll distinct from a modeled contractor cost or a future consultant start date.
Healthcare & Clinics
Review clinical and administrative payroll while keeping a planned practitioner role hypothetical.
Retail & Stores
Record active store payroll and model a future associate start date without changing the current team.
Manufacturing
Keep plant and operations payroll visible beside a separately modeled production hire.
Food & Beverage
Distinguish current kitchen and front-of-house payroll from a planned location team.
Logistics
Review active driver and dispatch payroll while testing a future route-support hire.
The operating nouns change. RunwayCal functionality and financial-truth boundaries do not.
Troubleshooting and common questions
| Item | What it means | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| A month is unexpectedly high | An absolute override or one-time payroll item may be present. | Review the period value and separate one-time items before changing the baseline. |
| A planned hire appears in the discussion | Planning context may include a future role. | Confirm the role is still planned and has not been treated as active payroll. |
| Payroll continues after departure | End timing or active status may need review. | Check the last working date and subsequent periods without assuming proration. |
| Annual Payroll differs from one month times 12 | It is a rolling 12-month view that can reflect effective changes. | Review dates, overrides, one-time items, and offboarding across the full period. |