Payroll errors don't start as errors
They start as small changes no one questioned.
PayrollShield runs deterministic, pre-payroll judgments that catch the exact conditions that cause payroll reruns, compliance incidents, and executive escalations.
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No setup · No system changes · Read-only
Acme Corp — January 2026 Payroll
Pay date: Jan 31, 2026
The Problem
Every payroll team has seen this happen
An inactive employee gets paid
Gross pay spikes without explanation
Taxes are missing or negative
Deductions exceed gross
Net pay goes negative
Hours exceed legal limits
Payroll math technically "passes" — but is wrong
These issues don't fail payroll systems.
They fail payroll teams.
Why Existing Systems Miss This
Payroll systems calculate. They don't judge.
Most payroll platforms only check whether inputs are valid. They don't check whether results are acceptable.
They don't ask:
Should this employee be paid at all?
Does this change make sense compared to last payroll?
Is this legally or financially possible?
Would a senior payroll reviewer approve this?
PayrollShield exists in that gap.
What PayrollShield Does
A Pre-Payroll Judgment Engine
Before payroll runs, PayrollShield:
Compares
Compares the current payroll to the last approved payroll
Applies 60+ Rules
Applies 60+ deterministic payroll judgments
Assigns Severity
Assigns Severity (Blocker / Review / Info) and Confidence (how often this is a real error in practice)
Produces Actions
Produces explicit reviewer actions for every flag
No auto-blocking. No black box.
Every flag is explainable and auditable.
What We Flag
Real rules, real risk
These are the exact scenarios that trigger reruns and audits.
Identity & Context
- Inactive employees being paid
- Duplicate employee records
- Missing employee IDs
- Employment status changes
- Pay frequency or pay group changes
Hours & Time
- Zero hours with pay
- Negative hours
- Hours exceeding legal maximums
- Overtime without regular hours
- Paid hours exceeding total hours
Earnings
- Base pay drops or spikes
- Overtime pay without overtime hours
- Bonuses appearing unexpectedly
- Negative earnings
- Earnings without employee mapping
Taxes
- Missing federal, FICA, or state tax
- Negative taxes
- Tax spikes or drops beyond norms
- Local tax inconsistencies
Deductions
- Deductions exceeding gross
- New or missing deductions
- Negative deductions
- 401(k) IRS limit violations
Cross-Checks
- Gross ≠ earnings
- Gross − taxes − deductions ≠ net
- Net pay negative or implausible
Severity You Can Trust
Not all payroll issues are equal — and we prove it
- Negative net pay
- Inactive employee paid
- Taxes missing
- Deductions exceed gross
- Payroll math doesn’t reconcile
- Pay spikes or drops
- New deductions or bonuses
- Tax anomalies
- Hours changes beyond baseline
- Data completeness issues
- Expected but notable changes
Severity reflects real escalation risk, not anomaly math.
ROI
Preventing one payroll rerun pays for PayrollShield multiple times over
PayrollShield prevents payroll reruns, compliance penalties, emergency correction work, and loss of trust with Finance, Legal, and leadership.
Calculate Your Payroll Risk Exposure
Inputs
Results
Rerun Cost (Preventable)
$10,950
Blocker rules, net pay mismatches, gross/earnings mismatches, tax errors
Compliance Risk Cost
$7,500
Missing federal/FICA tax, state tax, 401k IRS limits, negative taxes
Operational Cost
$780
Duplicate employees, missing IDs, baseline drift issues
Total Estimated Annual Savings
$19,230
Based on your inputs, 73% of historical payroll reruns are preventable by rules already encoded in PayrollShield.
Preventing one rerun covers your subscription 6×.
Trust & Control
PayrollShield doesn't replace payroll judgment
It makes it consistent.
Deterministic rules
Every judgment is defined in code. No machine learning black boxes. Same input always produces the same output.
Confidence scoring
Each rule carries a confidence score based on how often the condition indicates a real error in practice.
Human review stays in control
No decisions are automated. Every flag requires a human to review, decide, and document their reasoning.
Full audit trail
Every review, approval, rejection, and note is captured with timestamps and user attribution.
Common Questions
We've heard these before
"We already review payroll manually"
PayrollShield encodes what senior reviewers check mentally — but consistently, every run. No steps missed. No rules forgotten.
"How do I know the rules are correct?"
Every detection rule is deterministic, fully inspectable, and includes its reasoning, risk statement, and review steps. No black boxes.
"False positives slow us down"
Only material deltas trigger Review or Blocker severity. Informational items never block payroll. Signal, not noise.
"What if it misses something?"
Confidence scores expose uncertainty instead of hiding it. Unknown risk is surfaced — not ignored.
Stop reviewing payroll in the dark
Upload your first payroll file and see every change before you approve. No setup required.
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