HR & People

From Onboarding to Payroll: The People Data Flow

How Fintra HR moves a new hire from onboarding through timesheets to payroll: the employer and employee apps, onboarding flow states, and the payroll sync bridge.

Updated 9 min read1 labHR AdminOwner / FounderEmployee

The oldest failure mode in people operations is the same record typed three times: once when HR hires, once when IT provisions, once when payroll pays. Fintra HR exists to make the record once and move it: onboarding produces an employee record that, when complete, is handed to Payroll through a sync bridge - no re-keying, no "which spreadsheet is current".

HR runs as its own module with two faces: an employer app for HR admins and managers, and an employee app for self-service. This page follows one hire from offer acceptance to their first synced paycheck.

The employer and employee apps

SurfaceAudienceWhat happens there
Employer appHR admins, managers, ownersEmployee records, onboarding flows, approvals, timesheet review, HR reporting, and the AI features (hiring copilot, performance cycles, org views)
Employee appEvery employeeTheir own profile and documents, onboarding tasks, timesheet entry, PTO requests, and self-service updates
Who uses which surface

Employees never see the employer surface; HR admins use both. The employee app is also where onboarding tasks get completed - which is what makes onboarding a workflow rather than an email thread.

The onboarding flow

Onboarding is a stateful flow, not a checklist PDF: the new hire’s record advances through stages as tasks complete, and the flow’s terminal state is what the payroll bridge watches for.

Offer to ready-for-payroll

  1. 1

    Create the hire

    HR creates the employee record from the accepted offer: role, manager, department, start date, compensation. If the hire came through the AI hiring flow, the candidate record converts - nothing re-typed.

  2. 2

    Employee self-onboarding

    The new hire gets employee-app access before day one and completes their side: personal details, tax elections, bank details for direct deposit, document uploads (ID, eligibility), policy acknowledgments.

  3. 3

    HR verification

    HR verifies documents and completeness. Incomplete items hold the flow - visibly, with owners - rather than silently passing gaps downstream.

  4. 4

    Ready for payroll

    When every payroll-relevant field is present and verified, the flow reaches its ready-for-payroll state. This is the contract with the payroll module: nothing reaches payroll half-filled.

Timesheets

Hourly employees record time in the employee app; managers review and approve in the employer app. Approved time is what feeds payroll hours - the approval is the control point.

  • Employees submit time per period (daily entries rolling into the pay period); overtime is visible as it accumulates rather than discovered at payroll time.
  • Managers approve or return timesheets with comments; only approved time flows onward.
  • For salaried employees, timesheets are optional and typically used for project/cost-center attribution rather than pay.
  • Exact timesheet screen names vary by app version - the flow (employee enters → manager approves → payroll consumes) is the stable contract.

The payroll sync bridge

The bridge carries completed records from HR into the payroll module: new hires that reached ready-for-payroll, changes to synced fields (compensation, schedule, bank, deduction elections), approved hours for hourly staff, and terminations.

DataSystem of recordDirection
Identity, role, department, managerHRHR → Payroll
Compensation and pay scheduleHR (with payroll admin visibility)HR → Payroll
Tax elections (W-4) and bank detailsEntered once in onboarding; thereafter the payroll portalHR → Payroll at hire; portal edits stay in payroll
Approved hoursHR timesheetsHR → Payroll per period
Paystubs, YTD, W-2 dataPayrollPayroll only - HR reads summaries at most
What syncs, and which system owns it

Hands-on labs

Practice against a realistic scenario. Each lab lists the steps, what you should see, and the checkpoints that confirm you got the same result.

Lab 1

Walk Ben Carter from offer to first paycheck

Scenario

Acme Services hired Ben Carter (field technician, $52,000, biweekly, starts Monday). HR admin Jordan runs the onboarding; Ben does his part from his phone; payroll clerk Marco should have to do approximately nothing.

Steps

  1. 1

    As Jordan, create Ben’s employee record from the offer: role, manager (Luis), department (Operations), start date, $52,000 salary.

    Expected: Ben appears in the employer app with onboarding started.

  2. 2

    Send Ben his employee-app invite.

    Expected: Ben can sign in and sees his onboarding task list.

  3. 3

    As Ben, complete self-onboarding: personal details, SSN, W-4 elections, bank details, ID upload, policy acknowledgments.

    Expected: Each task ticks off; the flow shows what remains.

  4. 4

    As Jordan, verify Ben’s documents and completeness.

    Expected: The flow advances to ready-for-payroll.

  5. 5

    Confirm the sync: as Marco, find Ben in the payroll module.

    Expected: Ben exists in payroll with salary, schedule, W-4, and bank details - Marco typed none of it.

  6. 6

    Include Ben in the next pay run draft and check him against the SSN gate.

    Expected: No block - onboarding completeness upstream means no payroll emergency downstream.

Checkpoints - you got it right if…

  • Ben’s record was entered exactly once (by HR + Ben himself), never re-keyed
  • The onboarding flow reached ready-for-payroll only after HR verification
  • Ben appeared in payroll via the bridge with all pay-relevant fields present
  • The SSN gate passed silently on his first run

Frequently asked questions

What happens if onboarding is incomplete when payroll runs?

The employee simply is not in payroll yet - the bridge only carries records that reached ready-for-payroll. If a start date is at risk, the onboarding flow shows exactly which tasks are open and whose they are; fix upstream rather than force-creating a payroll record.

Where do employees update bank details after they are hired?

In the payroll portal, which owns pay-related self-service after hire. Onboarding captures the initial details; subsequent changes happen in the portal (and note: a change within 7 days of payday raises a payroll anomaly flag by design).

Do timesheets support overtime rules?

Timesheets capture the hours; payroll applies the pay math - overtime at 1.5× by default for hourly employees. Managers see overtime accumulating during the period at review time, before it becomes a payroll fact.

Can a manager see their team’s salaries?

Compensation visibility is role-scoped in the employer app: HR admins and owners see it; line managers typically see role and timesheet data without compensation unless granted. Payroll amounts (paystubs, taxes) stay in the payroll module.

How are terminations handled across the bridge?

Terminate in HR with the end date; the bridge carries it to payroll, where the final-pay sequence runs (last check, PTO payout per policy, deductions end-dated). Records are retained on both sides - W-2 obligations outlive employment.

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