7 Changes You’ll Make When You Switch to Whirks

If you’ve made the decision to switch to Whirks — or you’re seriously considering it — you probably already know something in your current payroll process isn’t working.

Maybe it’s the lack of clarity on who can do what.
Maybe it’s relying on email to submit payroll.
Maybe it’s the late-night scramble to process checks before payday.

Whatever brought you here, you’re ready for less friction and more confidence.

That said, we’re not going to pretend that onboarding with us is just flipping a switch. There will be changes—some small, some fundamental—to how you manage payroll, people, and internal processes.

This article walks you through each of those seven changes in depth.

• We’ll explain what you’ll be asked to do differently

• Why we make that ask

• What it solves long-term

• And what support we provide so you’re never left figuring it out alone

You’ll Set Clear Boundaries on Who Can Access and Approve Payroll

In many organizations, payroll access evolves informally. Someone helps with one-off tasks, and suddenly they have full access to salary details and approval rights. Over time, this leads to a lack of clarity, inconsistency, and unintentional security risks.

We often discover during onboarding that more people have access than leadership realizes and that nobody’s quite sure who’s ultimately responsible for what.

That’s the first thing we fix.

Authorized Contacts Define Your Payroll Chain of Command

At Whirks, we ask you to formally assign authorized contacts, the people in your company who have full payroll authority. That means they can:

• Approve payroll

• Make pay changes

• Speak to our team directly about payroll issues

All other users will be set up with view-only or limited permissions based on your direction. This gives you tighter control, a clear audit trail, and peace of mind knowing access is aligned with authority.

Payroll Must Be Entered in the System, Not Sent by Email or Phone

Some teams are used to emailing hours or calling in changes. It feels easy, but it opens the door to errors, delays, or miscommunication that are hard to track or correct later.

We move everything into one consistent system that’s built for accuracy.

All Payroll Activity Must Happen Inside the Platform

You’ll enter key payroll information directly into your Whirks platform, including:

• Regular and overtime hours

• Bonuses or commissions

• Pay rate adjustments

• New hire details

This gives you full visibility into what was submitted and when. It also keeps everything documented and accessible in one place, which makes your payroll process faster and more reliable.

Payroll Has to Be Submitted by 3 PM the Day Before Payday

To keep everything on track, payroll must be submitted:

• By 3:00 p.m. Central Time

• On the business day before the check date

Processing Deadlines Create a Reliable & Predictable Payroll Cycle

Submitting by this deadline allows time to:

• Review payroll for missing or inconsistent information

• Build and process bank and tax files without delay

• Reach out with questions if anything looks off

If your current schedule runs tighter than that, we’ll help you adjust your calendar or workflow. Once this new cadence is in place, you’ll have fewer surprises and more breathing room.

You’ll Need Lag Between Work Periods and Paydays

If you’re paying employees on the same day a pay period ends, you're likely estimating or approving details under pressure. This can lead to overpayments, missed adjustments, or post-payday corrections that frustrate your team. We’ll help you move toward a more thoughtful structure.

Building in Lag Helps You Pay Accurately and On Time

We recommend adding 3 to 5 business days between:

• The end of a pay period

• The date paychecks are issued

This gives you time to:

• Finalize hours and approvals

• Confirm PTO, holidays, or bonuses

• Make changes before the payroll file is locked

This change prevents a number of recurring payroll headaches. You’ll gain more accuracy and less stress, without sacrificing consistency for your team.

Your Employees Will Handle Their Own Onboarding and Updates

If you’re manually collecting W-4s, entering direct deposit details, or chasing down tax updates, you’re spending time on tasks that can (and should) be handled more efficiently.

Whirks helps you shift ownership back where it belongs.

Give Employees Self-Service Access to Their Own Information

Your employees will be able to:

• Complete digital onboarding

• Enter and update tax and banking information

• View pay history, W-2s, and time-off balances

• Submit PTO requests and personal info updates

You still review and approve as needed, but you’re no longer the data entry point for every update. This cuts down on mistakes and puts sensitive information where it should be — in the employee’s hands, not your inbox.

Spreadsheets Go Away, Centralized Data Replaces the Chaos

If you’re tracking PTO in a spreadsheet, keeping onboarding docs in shared folders, or storing compensation updates in email threads, you’re not alone. But this kind of fragmentation costs time and creates confusion.

We help you bring everything together in one place.

Track Everything in One Secure System

Inside your Whirks platform, you’ll manage:

• Time-off requests and balances

• Pay history and compensation changes

• Onboarding status and employee files

• Benefits deductions and payroll codes

• Time tracking integrations

When data lives in one connected system, it becomes easier to manage and harder to lose. No more switching tabs or second-guessing which version is up to date.

We’ll Take Responsibility for Your Payroll Taxes

Tax filings are one of the most complex parts of payroll. They come with strict deadlines, detailed requirements, and costly penalties if anything is missed. Most business owners don’t want that liability on their shoulders.

We remove that burden from your process.

Whirks Impounds and Pays Taxes So You Don’t Have To

Here’s what that means for you:

• Tax funds are pulled with payroll on check date

• We hold those funds until they are due

• Our team submits accurate, timely payments to the right agencies

This eliminates the need for you to remember deposit dates or worry about overdrawn accounts. We handle the heavy lifting, and you stay out of the penalty zone.

The Point Isn’t Change. It’s Progress.

When payroll starts to feel like a burden, it’s usually not just because the system is broken, but because the structure around it was never built to scale. One person’s workaround becomes another person’s responsibility. Ownership gets fuzzy. Details get dropped.

Before long, you’re not running your payroll system...it’s running you.

That’s why these changes matter. We help you reverse that—not with more software, but with smarter foundations. The right changes are how you:

• Get your time back

• Help your team stop leaning on workarounds

• Clean up the messy parts no one talks about

• Build a system that supports your business instead of getting in its way

Making these changes takes coordination and follow-through. We don’t hand over a platform and hope for the best. We work with you to roll out each step intentionally, with clear timing, responsibilities, and support.

Curious to see what that looks like in practice? Read What to Expect During Implementation with Whirks for how the transition works and what to expect at every phase, so your team can stay focused and start strong.