Original P.A.Y. practice / Five fictional workers

From the timecard
to the final review.

Practice a complete payroll workflow with weekly, biweekly, semimonthly or monthly source periods. Review the work packet, correct and approve time, move real dummy files and separate earning batches into payroll, check retirement elections and limits, then review the register, mock-submit and reconcile the post-payroll handoffs.

Explore the practice run ↓

Two ways to practice

Learn it once.
Then make the decisions.

01 / Guided run

Follow the evidence through the workflow.

Use the lesson steps and approved correction packet. Compare source time, imported hours, payroll setup and calculation results. Review each checkpoint before continuing.

02 / Independent run

Work the next packet yourself.

After completing the guided run, apply the same review method to a separate fictional case. Read the packet, identify the corrections and complete the checks without the guided walkthrough.

1Read the packet
2Correct & approve time
3Export & import the CSV
4Review payroll setup
5Calculate & review
6Submit, reconcile & close

Your free-account workbench

A full run. A clear record.

All four current free profiles can practice. Newsletter and promotional email are optional. Saved progress contains only these fictional choices.

Checking your free profile. The lesson overview remains public.

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Practice pay frequency

Each frequency has its own dated source period. Changing it starts fresh practice in the current mode and clears that practice’s inputs, imports and reviews.

Practice has not loaded.

The approved work packet

Optional / Fictional reference directory

Meet the wider training company.

The introductory payroll uses five hourly employees. The separate reference roster contains employees and contractors with different pay bases and work arrangements; it does not turn this introductory run into a salary, contractor or multi-state payroll engine.

All SSNs begin with the deliberately invalid prefix 000, and all postal codes are 00000. These records cannot be used for a real filing, mailing or payment. Search only this fictional cast; no search is stored or sent.

Guided lesson: what to check and why

Fictional payroll workflow

Payroll inputs and pre-submission reviews

Editable source and payroll setup

01 / Source time

Correct and approve the time.

Use the approved fictional packet. A payroll import must follow the currently approved time file.

02 / The file handoff

Download the training CSV. Then import it.

The download is a real CSV attachment generated from this practice run. Save it to your device, then choose that same file below. Changed time requires a fresh file and import.

Practice files only.

Choose only the CSV downloaded from this simulator. Do not select an employer file, employee records, bank details or credentials. Files that do not match the exact five-worker training format are rejected before an import request is sent.

I will select only this simulator’s fictional hours file.Choose the downloaded training CSV

03 / Payroll setup

Apply the authorized corrections.

Check earnings, deductions and fictional tax settings against the packet. Explain changes before recalculating; do not treat a matching total alone as approval.

04 / Separate earning batches

Bring each approved batch into the same run.

Use the approved bonus, commission, tip, retention and sign-on packets above. Enter their amounts separately, save each batch, then review the combined worker and run totals. These are fictional earnings; this model does not determine real tax or overtime treatment.

05 / The partner inbox

Review the source. Bring the file into payroll.

Practice five separate handoffs: retirement elections, vendor-paid taxable wellness, a spot bonus, a new retirement-plan loan, and new-hire medical/dental/vision elections. These are original dummy files in a P.A.Y. training format, not an actual vendor’s import format.

Fictional files only.

Do not choose a real vendor export, employee file, SSN, account details or credentials. Only the unchanged file downloaded from this selected training packet during this visit can be imported. A different file is rejected locally before any import request.

Choose a fixed source packet

I will select only this packet’s unchanged fictional CSV, downloaded in this visit.Choose that downloaded dummy file

Review is a practice record only. It does not prove vendor delivery or authorize real payroll. Each packet imports once into this practice; a repeated spot-bonus import must not create a second earning.

06 / Retirement plan review

From the election to the accepted contribution.

Compare the approved election, eligible earnings and year-to-date deferrals before reviewing the accepted traditional and Roth amounts. Check the actual combined contribution before the employer match. These are fixed source facts for this Academy exercise, not editable personal retirement advice.

Approved source elections

Current calculation and limit checks

Retirement contributions and other benefit elections are separate. Traditional deferrals reduce only the invented income-tax base in this simulator; Roth deferrals do not. This is not an actual FICA, withholding or plan-administration engine. Use the existing deduction review below to record your review of these results.

07 / Calculate, investigate, review

Make every difference visible.

08 / After mock submission

Reconcile the outputs. Close the loop.

Mock submission freezes the five-worker payroll snapshot. Review the funding, general ledger, deduction-vendor and training-tax handoffs against that snapshot. These reports are training records: no money, file, message or return is sent to an accountant, vendor, bank or authority.

The practice record

Your latest saved actions

A reset is a recorded action. Completing all post-payroll reviews and closing the guided run keeps independent practice unlocked. Nothing changes in any employer system.

Training assumptions and limits

From the timecardto the final review.

Learn it once.Then make the decisions.