Prep payroll in chat and only approve the exceptions: AI agent prompt
Have an AI pull hours, tips, bonuses and time off together, flag anything blocking the payroll run, and wait for you to approve. Gusto's plugin for ChatGPT does this on your live payroll data, with every payroll-affecting action requiring your confirmation.
HR & PeoplePayrollbeginnerThe prompt
Help me prepare this pay period's payroll before I submit it. Pay period: [dates]. Employees and rates: [list]. Hours and tips: [paste spreadsheet rows]. Bonuses, reimbursements or one-time deductions: [list]. Time off taken: [list]. Check everything and give me: (1) a summary table per employee with gross pay, (2) a list of anything that looks wrong or missing (overtime, missing hours, PTO over balance, new hires without details), (3) total labor cost compared with [budget], and (4) the questions I need to answer before running payroll. Do not submit anything; I approve payroll myself.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt above.
- Replace every [bracket] with your own details (or fill in the blanks on AgentPlaybook Real Estate, which remembers your answers for the next prompt).
- Paste it into Gusto, ChatGPT and review the answer before you use it.
Works with: Gusto, ChatGPT
Real-world example: gusto.com/company-news/gusto-plugin-in-chatgpt
Featured in: Free AI agent prompts for small business (beginner-friendly) · AI prompts for restaurants, cafes and food businesses
Before you use it: what to check
Already built into this prompt
- Do not submit anything; I approve payroll myself.
Check yourself
- Check every figure, price and total against your own records before anything is sent, posted or booked. A person approves refunds, discounts, payments and price changes.
- Check hours, breaks, overtime and any rules for young workers against your local labour law and staff contracts before you publish a schedule.
- Remove names, contact details, account numbers and other personal data the task doesn't need before you paste, and check your AI tool's data and training settings.
- Check names, dates, numbers and any claim against your own source material before you use the answer. AI can misread or invent details.
Using an AI agent? Download this prompt as a SKILL.md agent skill with these checks built in, or get the .zip for Claude.ai. How to install skills.
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