Available for the following plans: Lite, Plus, Unlimited HR, Essentials, Engage, Elite, Unlimited HR+Payroll
Available for the following HR plans: Standard, Premium, Platinum
Available for the following user access levels: Manager, Admin
Open Beta feature
Pre-Payroll Checker is a proactive compliance tool that detects and surfaces issues across Timesheets, Leave, and Expenses earlier in the process — before they reach payroll. By validating submissions at the point of entry, Pre-Payroll Checker guides employees to fix issues before they submit, and gives managers clear, actionable signals during review. This reduces rework, improves accuracy, and creates a smoother end-to-end experience.
Helpful Hint
Pre-Payroll Checker is currently available as an open beta for Australian organisations. It will be expanded to other regions shortly after. To access this feature, you will need to enable it via the Beta Features panel.
In this guide, we will cover how to enable and configure the Pre-Payroll Checker. Click on the topic you want to learn about:
- Enable the Pre-Payroll Checker beta feature
- Access the Pre-Payroll Checker settings
- Upload a policy document (optional)
- Manage extracted compliance rules
- How it works
1. Enable the Pre-Payroll Checker beta feature
Before you can use the Pre-Payroll Checker, you need to enable it through the Beta Features panel. This will activate the feature for your entire organisation.
- Click the Beta flask icon in the top navigation bar.
- The Beta Features Access panel will open.
- Locate Pre-Payroll Checker in the list.
- Click the toggle to turn it on (the toggle will turn purple when enabled).
Important
Enabling this feature applies it to your whole organisation. All managers and admins will have access to the Pre-Payroll Checker settings once it is turned on.
2. Access the Pre-Payroll Checker settings
Once enabled, the Pre-Payroll Checker appears as its own card in your Settings page under the Hero AI section.
- Click the Settings menu.
- Locate the Hero AI section.
- Click Pre-Payroll Checker.
From here you will see tabs for Leave and Expenses, where you can view and manage the compliance rules applied to your organisation.
3. Upload a policy document (optional)
In addition to the standard built-in checks, Pre-Payroll Checker can extract compliance rules from your organisation's own policy documents uploaded as PDFs. This allows you to tailor the checker to your specific policies — for example, a custom travel expenses policy or a leave policy with organisation-specific requirements.
Important
Compliance rules can only be extracted from uploaded PDF files. Other file types are not supported.
- From the Pre-Payroll Checker page, click Go to Policy Management. Alternatively, navigate to Policy Management directly from your Settings.
- Click Upload files to upload your policy as a PDF document (for example, a travel expenses policy or a leave policy with organisation-specific requirements).
- Give the policy a name (for example, Travel Expenses).
- Click Save.
- Click Publish to make the policy active.
Important
Additional rules extracted from your policy documents will only become active once the policy has been published. After publishing, the system will process the document and populate the relevant rules in the Pre-Payroll Checker under the Leave or Expenses tab.
4. Manage extracted compliance rules
Once a policy has been published, Hero AI will extract the individual compliance rules from the document and list them in the Pre-Payroll Checker. You can choose which rules are active and applied to submissions.
- Click the Settings menu.
- Under the Hero AI section, click Pre-Payroll Checker.
- Select the relevant tab — Leave or Expenses.
- Review the list of extracted rules.
- Use the toggle next to each rule to turn individual rules on or off as required.
Helpful Hint
Turning off a rule means it will no longer be validated at the point of submission or during manager review. You can re-enable rules at any time.
Further information
Pre-Payroll Checker comes with a set of standard compliance rules that run automatically as soon as the feature is enabled — no policy documents need to be uploaded for these to work. These built-in checks cover common compliance scenarios across timesheets and leave, and are applied at the point of submission for all employees in your organisation.
Examples of built-in checks include:
- Timesheet entries that overlap with an approved leave period
- Leave requests submitted for dates where leave has already been approved
- Insufficient rest time between shifts
- Team availability conflicts on requested leave dates
Helpful Hint
Policy documents are optional. Uploading a PDF policy allows Hero AI to extract additional organisation-specific rules to supplement the standard built-in checks — but the checker will work straight away without one. See Upload a policy document if you'd like to customise the rules further.
When an employee creates a timesheet entry or submits a leave request, Pre-Payroll Checker validates the submission in real time against your active compliance rules. If a potential issue is detected, the employee is notified immediately — before they submit — so they can resolve it on the spot.
The system will display a Needs Review caution banner at the bottom of the submission form, along with a checklist showing which rules passed and which require attention.
Even if an employee submits a timesheet, leave request, or expense with a potential issue, managers receive a clear Pre-Payroll Checker review signal during the approval process. This gives managers the information they need to make an informed decision without having to investigate manually.
- Navigate to Leave Management (or the relevant Timesheets or Expenses section).
- Look for submissions flagged with a Pre-Payroll Checker review indicator.
- Click the submission to view the flagged issue — for example, "Leave may not have enough balance."
- Review the details and choose to approve, decline, or request more information from the employee.
Important
A Pre-Payroll Checker flag is a signal to prompt review — it does not automatically block or reject a submission. Managers retain full control over all approval decisions.
Helpful Hint
By surfacing issues at both the employee and manager stage, Pre-Payroll Checker ensures that errors are caught and resolved before they ever reach payroll — reducing rework and keeping your approval workflows running smoothly.