Company-level reasons
Multiple active pay schedules — Delete extra schedules in Payroll settings until only one remains.
Company onboarding incomplete — Finish your company setup before Autopay can evaluate cycles.
No upcoming on-cycle payroll — Autopay needs at least one on-cycle payday in the future to evaluate. This usually clears once your first regular payroll generates.
Employee — fixable inside the pay period
Missing direct deposit — Ask the employee to add a bank account and set payment preference to "direct deposit" in Payment Settings.
Missing primary workplace — Set one on the employee's profile in People.
Missing earning rate — Add an annual salary or hourly rate to the employee's compensation card.
Employee onboarding incomplete — Ask the employee to finish their onboarding steps.
Employee — skip this cycle, Autopay resumes next cycle
Start date inside the pay period — An employee whose start date falls in this period is excluded from Autopay for that cycle. Approve manually.
Termination inside the pay period — Same for terminations. Approve this cycle manually.
Compensation changed inside the pay period — Earning-rate changes mid-period exclude this cycle. Approve manually.
Payroll-level reasons
Past the approval deadline — Approve immediately to keep payday on schedule.
Off-cycle payroll — Bonuses, corrections, and other off-cycle runs always need manual approval.
Payroll switched to manual — Once a payroll is no longer managed by Autopay, Autopay won't touch it.
Manually created on-cycle payroll — If you create an on-cycle payroll manually circumventing the auto-population of new payrolls, Autopay won't run. Approve manually.
Contractor payments — Autopay only covers regular employees. Move contractor payments into an off-cycle run, or approve this cycle manually.
Payroll items edited by hand — Any modification to payroll items (beyond descriptions) disqualifies the cycle. Approve manually.
Reopened after approval — Autopay never re-approves a payroll that was already approved and then reopened. Approve manually.
Read the Autopay status on a payroll card
When Autopay is on, each upcoming payroll on the Payroll page shows an Autopay status in the corner of its card. Click it to see what it means — and, when everything is on track, the exact time Autopay will approve.
Autopay on track — Everything checks out. The card shows the scheduled time (“Autopay will approve by …”) and you don’t need to do anything.
Autopay paused — Autopay won’t approve this payroll yet because something needs fixing. Clear the issues before the approval deadline and Autopay approves on schedule.
Autopay off this cycle — This payroll can’t be auto-approved this cycle and needs a manual review and approval. Autopay resumes next cycle.
Note: A plain “Autopay” label with no status means this payroll hasn’t been reviewed yet — Autopay reviews it automatically, so check back shortly.
Re-sync a payroll to pull in missing people
If someone who should be paid is missing from a payroll, re-syncing pulls them back in.
On the Payroll page, click “Resolve autopay issues” on the payroll’s card (or open its Autopay status and click “Resolve issues”) to open the Autopay review panel.
Find the warning that some people are missing from the payroll.
Click “Re-sync payroll”. Freedom re-syncs the run, pulls in the missing people, and re-evaluates Autopay.
Note: If re-syncing doesn’t add someone, they’re likely still missing a required detail. Open their profile in People to finish their setup.
Send an onboarding link to a worker who’s blocking Autopay
When a worker hasn’t finished their own setup, Autopay pauses until they do. Send them a secure link so they can finish it themselves.
On the Payroll page, click “Resolve autopay issues” on the payroll’s card to open the Autopay review panel.
Under People, find the worker and click “Send onboard link”.
Copy the generated link and share it with the worker.
Note: The link lets the worker complete their onboarding — tax forms, payment setup, and personal details — in any browser, with no app sign-up. It’s valid for 24 hours; generate a new one if it expires.
Approve a payroll that’s due today
When a payroll is due today, Autopay won’t approve it this cycle — review and approve that one yourself to keep payday on schedule.
Open the Payroll page and find the payroll marked “Due today”.
Click “Review & approve” (or “Approve manually”) on its card.
Review the payroll and approve it before the “approve by” time shown on the card.
Note: If a due-today payroll’s approval deadline has already passed, it can’t be approved this cycle and won’t run — Autopay resumes on your next payroll.