Resources

The payroll library should answer buyer questions before sales does.

Runbook needs an educational surface like the incumbents have: guides, glossaries, calculators, HR and benefits explainers, time and accounting workflows, compliance explainers, switching checklists, comparison pages, and practical examples. The difference is that every resource should make payroll easy to understand and easy to trace.

Payroll operator reviewing a checklist with a business team — Resources should support the work customers actually do: setup, payday, notices, switching, corrections, and year-end.

The Margin.

A first-party publication for payroll operators, small-business owners, CPAs, bookkeepers, and agent builders.

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Essay Can payroll be proven? Guide How payroll corrections should work Checklist Switching payroll mid-year Intake Request a payroll review Template Payroll notice response packet Guide Automatic payroll safety checklist Guide What records prove payroll?

Payroll glossary.

Plain-language terms that link back to payroll records and source rules.

Gross-to-net

The path from wages to net pay after taxes, deductions, reimbursements, and corrections.

Taxable wage base

The wage amount used to calculate a tax after caps, exemptions, and jurisdiction rules.

Quittance

Runbook’s sealed proof artifact for a payroll record, designed for independent verification.

Knowledge horizon

What the payroll system knew at the time a run was approved or corrected.

Correction delta

The difference created when a late fact reprices a prior payroll period.

Rule snapshot

The payroll rule content bound to a calculation so the result can be replayed.

Calculators and tools.

Competitors use calculators for demand capture. Runbook should make calculators proof-aware where the engine supports it.

ToolPayroll estimateGross-to-net example calculator with clear assumptions.

ToolEmployer costTaxes, benefits, workers’ comp, and local assumptions.

ToolPayroll automation checkMissing inputs, inconsistent hours, unusual changes, and approval blockers.

ToolSwitching checklistPrior-provider data collection and YTD review.

ToolNotice packet builderEvidence checklist before agency response.

ToolEvidence vault auditFind duplicate, missing, and unlinked payroll support documents.

State and local guides.

This is where regional payroll expertise becomes a moat.

Missouri payroll guide

Employer registration, withholding, unemployment, local considerations, and year-end records.

Kansas payroll guide

Withholding, unemployment, border-state concerns, and worker-location evidence.

Kansas City and St. Louis

Local payroll tax explainers with examples and citation-backed rule sources.

Switching payroll mid-year.

This should become one of the strongest lead magnets because the pain is obvious and time-sensitive.

Before switchingCollectVerify

Company setupTax accounts, jurisdictions, pay schedules, bank details.Which accounts are live, pending, or missing.

Worker dataRates, elections, direct deposit, deductions, contractor records.Effective dates and missing forms.

Prior payrollYTD wages, taxes, deductions, benefits, liabilities, payments.Wage-base continuity and W-2 readiness.

Research standard

Payroll Transparency Standard

Runbook is helping define a practical standard for payroll transparency with the Small Business Research Institute: source facts, rule provenance, correction history, approval records, and independently checkable payroll outputs.

Before this becomes a public badge, ship the methodology page with criteria, reviewers, scope, conflicts, and Matt's board role disclosed.

Methodology partner

Have a payroll question that needs a record?

Start with the scenario. Runbook will confirm whether it fits a Payroll Correctness Review before requesting documents.

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