Only people with payroll access can prepare payroll runs and add payroll recipients. You give that access by turning on Payroll in a custom role. The Payment Order Authorizer (POA) has payroll access already, and is the only person who can approve recipients and authorize a run.
Before you start
Who: a Super Admin or an Admin, or anyone whose role lets them manage permissions.
Where: web only.
Set up first: an active Business Bank Account.
Open Roles & permissions
There are two ways in:
In the left sidebar, select Members & Teams, then Roles & permissions at the top right.
Or select Accounts, then Settings, and under Permissions select Manage roles. This opens Members & Teams, where you select Roles & permissions at the top right.
Turn on payroll access in a role
In Roles & permissions, open the custom role you want to change. To create a custom role, select Create a role and pick the role to start from. Base roles can't be edited. See Understanding user roles in Pemo.
In the Business Bank Account section, turn on Payroll. AP Clerk turns on with it and stays on while Payroll is on.
Select Save.
Give the role to each team member who prepares payroll.
What happens next
The team member sees payroll runs under Transfers and can start a run from Accounts → Send money → Payroll. They can prepare a run and add recipients, but the POA still approves recipients and authorizes every run.
Payroll is off on every role until you turn it on. Team Lead and Team Member roles can't hold payroll access.