Thinking about switching payroll providers and considering OnPay Payroll?

I just ran my first payroll with OnPay—for my actual business—and I’m sharing everything: what went smoothly, what surprised me, and what to double-check to avoid costly mistakes.

As a CPA and small-business owner who’s used multiple payroll systems over the years, I went into this test with a healthy dose of skepticism. Some things were surprisingly smooth, others had a few hiccups.

Overall?

I’m honestly impressed—and I’m glad I switched.

If you’re weighing a provider change (especially heading into a new quarter or a new year), this deep dive will help you understand what to expect from your first run on OnPay, how to prep for a clean migration, and the exact places to do an accuracy pass before you hit “Run Payroll.”

👉 Ready to explore OnPay and grab a $100 referral reward? Use my partner link: JamieTrull.com/OnPay

👉 Want to compare top payroll picks side-by-side? Start here: JamieTrull.com/Payroll

What This Review Covers

• My first-run experience (wins + watch-outs)
• The “white-glove” onboarding—what they actually do for you
• Where to double-check your data after migration (don’t skip this!)
• Payroll timing (and how I went from 4-day to 2-day funding)
• The 401(k) wrinkle that can trip you up mid-switch—and how to handle it
• A step-by-step first-payroll checklist
• Who OnPay is (and isn’t) best for
• FAQs: multi-state, contractors, bonuses, off-cycle runs, and more
• How to switch with confidence and claim current deals

Why This Matters If You’re Switching

Switching to most payroll services can feel intimidating.

The stakes are high, the acronyms are… acronyms, and your team’s paychecks are on the line.

That’s why I recorded my entire onboarding and first payroll with OnPay—so you can see how the hand-off works, what’s automated, what’s manual, and where a few minutes of double-checking can save hours of cleanup later.

This is Part 3 of my payroll switch series:

• Part 1: The myths that keep business owners stuck (and what finally convinced me to move)
• Part 2: Full step-by-step walkthrough of switching to OnPay
• Part 3 (this post): First payroll—what I learned

Subscribe on YouTube if you want to see the behind-the-scenes footage and my 30-day follow-up review next.

Quick Verdict

Would I recommend OnPay after one live payroll?

Yes.

The onboarding felt truly hands-on, the interface is clean and intuitive, and support was responsive when I needed tweaks.

Like any software switch, you’ll want to double-check withholdings, confirm timeline/funding, and plan for manual steps (like 401(k) ACH) during a transition.

But as a whole, it was easier than I expected—and I’m excited to keep going.

The Wins: What Worked Exceptionally Well

1) White-Glove Onboarding (Real People, Real Help)

I was matched with a dedicated onboarding specialist who mapped out dates, answered questions, and checked in proactively.

When first-run day arrived, she even hopped on Zoom to walk through the process.

Could I have done it solo? Probably.

Was I more confident pressing “Run Payroll” with a pro there? Absolutely.

Why this matters: Switching payroll is about reducing risk. A named specialist who knows your account keeps things moving and minimizes surprises.

2) Data Migration Done For Me

OnPay handled the heavy lifting—prior payroll data history, employee profiles, tax filings settings—without me pulling stacks of reports.

I granted read-only access to my old provider, and they took it from there.

I expected back-and-forth and spreadsheets; I got a tidy checklist and a “we’ve got it” email.

Pro tip: If you’re mid-year, confirm that year-to-date (YTD) wages, taxes, and benefits are migrating so your W-2s and year-end filings stay clean in one system.

3) The Interface Is Clean (and Friendly to Humans)

The dashboard and run flow are straightforward: review hours/salaries, confirm deductions, preview totals, and approve. It’s not flashy for the sake of being flashy—it’s clear.

Most owners will appreciate that.

The Watch-Outs: Double-Check These Three Areas

1) Withholding Accuracy After Migration

During first-run, I spotted a few withholding mismatches compared to my last provider.

OnPay support jumped in quickly.

The culprit?

Marital status toggles and W-4 details that weren’t set as expected for a couple of employees.

One quick change per employee fixed it.

What to do:

• Open each employee profile → Tax & Withholding
• Confirm: filing status, dependents/credits, additional withholding, pre-tax deductions (HSA/401(k)/section 125)
• Compare net pay to your last run to keep employees from being surprised

2) Payroll Timing: Default Is 4 Business Days (At First)

By default, OnPay needs 4 business days between when you run payroll and when funds deposit.

This protects new clients and ensures cash availability. If you’re used to tighter windows—or you sometimes cut it close—that can throw off expectations.

Good news: You can apply for faster funding. I submitted my two most recent bank statements, and my account was approved for 2-day funding.

What to do:

• Ask your specialist for the reduced timeline review
• Update your internal payroll calendar and due dates
• Communicate clearly with your team on deposit timing for the first couple of runs

3) 401(k) Contributions During a Provider Switch

I’m also mid-transition on 401(k) providers, which meant OnPay couldn’t yet automate the ACH contribution transfer.

For this interim period, I manually initiated the transfer using OnPay’s detailed instructions and contribution reports.

What to do if you’re switching 401(k):

• Confirm whether OnPay will remit contributions automatically or whether you need to submit files/ACH during the transition
• Match contribution totals to your payroll register before sending
• Track your plan’s deposit deadline to avoid late remittance penalties

(I’m filming a separate deep dive on switching 401(k) providers—subscribe so you don’t miss it.)

Step-By-Step: My First OnPay Run (What I Clicked & Checked)

1. Pre-Run Prep
   • Verified employer legal entity details and EIN
   • Confirmed state unemployment accounts for each worksite state
   • Reviewed bank account funding setup and lead time
2. Employee Data Audit
   • Spot-checked each profile: address, pay rate/salary, pay schedule, exemptions
   • Confirmed W-4 details (filing status, dependents, extra withholding)
   • Confirmed benefits/deduction settings (401(k), HSA, health/dental/vision pre-tax)
3. Run Payroll → Review Screen
   • Entered hours/confirmed salaries
   • Reviewed overtime and any special pay codes
   • Verified deduction amounts (flat vs %; employee vs employer)
   • Checked employer payroll taxes and net pay
4. Preview & Approve
   • Downloaded the preview register (PDF/CSV) to compare against last pay cycle
   • Cross-checked a few employees pay stubs manually (gross → taxes → net)
5. Post-Run Tasks
   • Saved registers and receipts to my compliance folder
   • If applicable, exported/posted to my accounting software
   • 401(k) file/ACH: submitted contributions manually (temporary)
   • Notified team about the first-run and what changed (if anything)

The “Unexpected” Part That Could Cost You (If You Miss It)

Changing providers is the perfect time to clean up W-4 details and deduction logic.

If a marital status flag or dependent count is off by even a little, the employee’s net can shift more than you think—cue the Slack messages.

Five-minute safeguard:

Before your first live run, pick 3–5 employees and recreate their net pay from your last payroll (gross → pre-tax deductions → taxes → post-tax deductions → net).

If the numbers look meaningfully different, open their profile and double-check the W-4 and deduction setup.

Who OnPay Is Great For (And When You Might Choose Something Else)

Best for you if…

• You want true onboarding support that does more than send a help article
• You have multi-state employees and don’t want surprise “per state” fees
• You appreciate a clean run flow and clear reports
• You plan to grow and need an affordable, scalable option

Consider alternatives if…

• You require deep native HRIS with advanced performance/engagement modules (vs. payroll-first with solid HR basics)
• You must integrate with a very specific niche 401(k)/benefits stack not yet supported (ask support—integrations expand often)

If you’re comparing across the top options, start here: JamieTrull.com/Payroll

OnPay First-Payroll Checklist (Copy/Paste)

Company

• EIN, legal entity, SUI/SIT accounts verified
• Bank account verified; funding timeline confirmed (request 2-day if needed)
• Pay schedules set (frequency, period dates, check dates)

People

• Employee profiles complete (address, comp, worksite state)
• W-4: filing status, dependents, extra withholding reviewed
• Benefits/deductions accurate (pre-tax vs post-tax, flat vs %)
• Direct deposit details validated

Run

• Hours and special pay codes entered
• Employer tax preview reviewed
• Preview register saved and spot-checked against last provider

Post-Run

• Registers and tax receipts saved to compliance folder
• Accounting export/post completed
• 401(k) file/ACH submitted (if manual during transition)
• Team informed about deposit date and any changes

Common Questions I’m Getting

Q: Can I switch mid-quarter or mid-year?
A: Yes. With a competent migration (YTD wages/taxes/benefits), your new provider can handle quarterlies and year-end filings cleanly. Don’t feel locked to January 1.

Q: What about contractors (1099s)?
A: You can pay contractors through OnPay and capture 1099 data as you go. It’s a huge time saver at year-end.

Q: I have employees in multiple states—does that cost more?
A: One reason I chose OnPay: no extra fee per state just to include your multi-state team.

Q: Can I run off-cycle payroll (bonuses, corrections)?
A: Yes. You can create off-cycle runs and customize deductions/taxes as needed.

Q: How do I get faster funding?
A: Ask your onboarding specialist to submit your account for review. I sent two recent bank statements and was approved for 2-day funding.

Q: What about 401(k) connections?
A: If you’re staying with your current plan and it’s supported, OnPay can usually remit automatically. Mid-switch, expect a temporary manual step (export + ACH). They’ll give you the playbook.

What I’d Do Differently Next Time

• Audit W-4s earlier. I’d do a team-wide “heads up” and ask employees to reconfirm details as part of the switch.
• Request faster funding on day one. If you know you’ll need 2-day timing, apply as soon as you create your account.
• Map 401(k) workflows up front. Ask: Who submits? In what format? By when? Get the dates on your calendar.

What I Liked Most (So Far)

• Real human onboarding. It wasn’t just a chatbot and a knowledge base—I had a named specialist who actually hopped on Zoom.
• Migration that felt light. Granting access > pulling a dozen reports.
• Clarity. The run flow, the preview register, and the reporting were all easy to follow.

Ready to Switch (With Support + Savings)?

• Explore OnPay + get a $100 referral reward: JamieTrull.com/OnPay
• See my best-of payroll page with comparisons: JamieTrull.com/Payroll
• Need a solid business bank to pair with payroll? JamieTrull.com/Banking

This post is part of my full Switching Payroll Providers series.

Catch the myth-busting intro and the step-by-step OnPay setup walkthrough next—and keep an eye out for my 30-day review and the 401(k) transition deep dive.

TL;DR (If You’re Skimming)

• Yes, I’d recommend OnPay after my first live run.
• Double-check employee W-4s and deductions after migration.
• Ask for faster funding if you need 2-day timing.
• Plan a temporary manual step for 401(k) if you’re also switching plan providers.
• Use a first-run checklist to keep your team’s net pay consistent and questions down.

👉 Start here: JamieTrull.com/OnPay (includes the $100 referral reward)

 Disclaimer & Sponsorship Disclosure

This content is for educational purposes only and should not be considered tax, legal, or financial advice for your specific situation. Always consult your tax advisor or legal counsel for guidance tailored to you.

Some of the links in this post are affiliate/partner links. If you choose to sign up through them, I may receive a commission or referral reward at no additional cost to you. I only recommend tools I genuinely use or believe in.

This transcript was generated from the video for your convenience, but it may contain typos or slight errors due to the transcription process. For the most accurate and complete information, we recommend watching the full YouTube video.

My First Payroll: What Really Happened (Transcript)

Running Our Payroll for the First Time with OnPay

So I officially ran my first payroll with on Pay, and I’ve got some thoughts. Some things were surprisingly smooth, whereas there were also a few hiccups that I ran into.

But overall, honestly, I’m really impressed if you’re thinking about switching payroll providers, especially going into a new quarter or a new year.

This video is for you.

Stick around and I’ll show you what worked, what you should double check. And what to expect from your very first payroll run and on pay.

Oh, and of course I recorded the entire process, so I’ll be sure to show you some of that behind the scenes as we go.

If I don’t know you, hi, I’m Jamie Trull, CPA, and Financial Literacy Coach.

And on this channel I like to give you all of the information you need to stay informed, organized, and profitable in your business finances. So please make sure to like and subscribe.

And if you watch this channel, you also know that I love to negotiate the best deals for my audience.

So if you watch this and you do decide that on pay is right for you, please make sure to use my link to sign up because you’re gonna get an extra a hundred dollars just for using my link.

That’s jamietrull.com/onpay. And make sure to stick around until the end because I’m gonna show you a little secret about how to get quicker turnaround times when it comes to your payroll runs.

Payroll Service Wins and Onboarding Support

Let’s start with the wins.

I’m gonna tell you the biggest win of switching to on pay is that I was matched with a direct onboarding specialist that was there every step of the way.

And I will tell you in my experience with payroll companies, sometimes they’ll tell you they have great onboarding and that they’re gonna be there the whole time.

But it’s actually really difficult in practice to get ahold of them and you have to call an 800 number and wait on the line and get a different person every time.

And that was absolutely not the experience that I had with on Pay.

If you watched my last video, which was all about how I actually signed up for on pay and walkingthrough that entire process.

You’ll know that I pretty much immediately got an email from my onboarding specialist. And from that email we were able to get on a preliminary call where she walked me through every single step of what was gonna come.

And what I needed to do, as well as what they were gonna take care of.

So I never felt confused.

I never felt like I was missing some important step. I knew exactly what I was supposed to do and when, and she didn’t just disappear.

After that preliminary meeting, she actually checked in multiple times to make sure that things were going well and to double check our timing and make sure nothing had changed as far as when my first payroll run was planned to be.

Payroll Software Setup and Employee Self Service

And I also appreciated that after everything was moved over into the new system, she confirmed with me that balance CFO was active and ready to run payroll.

And she even gave me a guide to running payroll and also reminded me of some of the important things like how to communicate with my employees.

And make sure that their bank account information was added, and that they had direct deposit enabled.

And how to invite them to the portal.

Not only that, she also called out the fact that because I had an employee moving to a new state, there were some missing tax IDs and things like that that I needed from the new state.

And gave me instructions on where to find all of that.

And as a busy entrepreneur, it really was helpful to have somebody reminding me of everything to make sure nothing was missed.

Now, like I showed you in the video that I did previously, I went with the option of actually having on pay move everything over for me.

So it was really cool that they have the option where you can actually give them some read-only access into your system where they can pull all the reports they need to move everything over.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to do that, you absolutely can send them all of those reports yourself and they have a process to show you exactly what they need and how to pull those reports.

Payroll Processing Experience and First Run

But I’ll be honest, I’m a little lazy.

So I went the way that had me doing the least amount of work, and let me tell you, I’m glad that I did.

One of the things that kept me switching payroll providers for so long was the worry that it was gonna be a big headache to deal with the switch.

But that was not the case at all when it came to switching to on pay.

– Jamie Trull

And the last win in the process that just made this whole thing so much easier is that my onboarding specialist actually got on Zoom with me to run my first payroll.

Now, she offered that up and I didn’t have to say yes. I could have done it on my own, especially now that I’ve seen how easy it was.

However, it was really nice to have somebody right there with me to make sure that I didn’t do anything wrong and that everything was looking as it should before I hit that first pay button.

Now I’ve got experience in a lot of different payroll solutions and I’ve actually moved my own payroll a few times and I gotta tell you, this was the most seamless experience I’ve had yet.

Payroll and HR Tools Accuracy Checks for Small Businesses

However, as you know, if you watch this channel much, I like to give balanced reviews.

So I also wanna tell you about some of the things to watch out for. And some of these are gonna apply no matter what payroll solution you are switching to or from.

So first and foremost, it’s really important to do your own accuracy checks.

And this is true when you’re moving from any system to another system. There are a lot of things that can happen in that translation.

So as we were running payroll for the first time with my onboarding specialist, I made sure to pull up the paycheck amounts that I previously had paid from my old system.

And compared them to the new paycheck amounts that were being paid and calculated out of on pay.

Now I’ll admit this was pretty easy for me to compare, given the fact that my entire team is full-time salary.

So that means that what they’re paid from paycheck to paycheck should not really be changing.

So as I was running that payroll for the first time, I compared what the different withholdings were from the last system to the new system.

What the employer taxes were, what the employee taxes were. And basically each individual line item to make sure that there weren’t any changes I didn’t expect.

Employee Benefits, Timing, and Final OnPay Review

And in that process, I actually did see a few employees that had a slightly different net pay amount that was resulting from a different amount of federal taxes being withheld.

Now again, a great thing about walking through this with an onboarding specialist, she was able to look into this and pretty quickly determine the cause of that differential.

Now the second watch out with switching to on pay that I noticed is that in my old system, I actually had a pretty quick two day turnaround for when I had to submit payroll and when it was paid.

Now that’s because I had been with that other payroll provider for a while. That said, thankfully, with on pay, there is a way to reduce that time.

Now a third watch out, and this one was actually a really big one for me related to 401k contributions.

So overall, would I recommend on pay to small business owners who are looking to switch payroll systems? So far the answer is a definite yes.

Because of the actual white glove onboarding, their responsive support, and how easy and intuitive it was to actually run payroll.

I’m really excited to keep going with them.

But like any software switch, make sure to go into it with your eyes wide open.

Double check your withholdings, know your payroll timing, and have a plan for those manual steps like switching 401k providers.

OnPay Review Series and Next Steps for Small Businesses

Now, if you haven’t been watching, this video is part of a whole series about switching payroll providers.

Because when I looked out there for resources on this, there wasn’t really a lot that I could find.

In the first video in this series, I shared some of the myths and the misconceptions that I had heard and maybe even had myself at previously, kept me from switching payroll providers.

And I also talk about what convinced me to finally make the move.

In the second video, I showed you exactly how to sign up for on pay and get the best price.

Of course, it’s gonna be using my link, by the way, jamietrull.com/onpay.

So you can check out that video next if you haven’t seen it yet.

And if you’re ready to make that switch to on pay, make sure to use my link below.

Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.

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