---
name: al-173-prep-payroll-in-chat-and-only-approve-the-exceptions
description: "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. Use when the user wants help with payroll (hr & people) for a small business."
---

# Prep payroll in chat and only approve the exceptions

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.

## Inputs to collect first
Ask the user for anything below that they haven't already given you. Don't guess missing facts.

- Spreadsheet rows
- Budget
- Your own material (text, notes or data)

## Instructions

Do the task below with the user's inputs in place of each [bracket].

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.

## Safety checks (share these with the user)

- 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.
- Say clearly which parts need a person to review or approve before anything is sent, paid, posted or filed.

## About this skill

- Works with: Gusto, ChatGPT
- Based on this real-world example: https://gusto.com/company-news/gusto-plugin-in-chatgpt
- Free prompt from AgentPlaybook Real Estate: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/prompt/al-173-prep-payroll-in-chat-and-only-approve-the-exceptions/
- To install in an agent that supports Agent Skills, save this file as SKILL.md in a folder with the same name as `name` above (for example in your skills directory). Install steps for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/skills/