Check Payroll API

aid: check-hq:payroll-api
name: Check Payroll API
description: The Check Payroll API is a comprehensive REST API for embedding end-to-end U.S. payroll inside
  another platform. It models companies, workplaces, employees, contractors, pay schedules, paydays, payroll
  cycles, payroll items, earnings (regular, overtime, tipped, piece rate, reimbursements), post-tax deductions
  and garnishments, benefits (pre-tax and post-tax), net pay splits, paystubs, paper checks, money movement,
  tax parameters and elections, tax deposits, tax filings, employee tax statements (W-2 / W-2C / 1099),
  tax packages, fulfillments, setup and embedded setup, integration partners, webhook configs, communications,
  and notifications. All resources are accessed under a versioned, bearer-authenticated REST surface with
  idempotent writes, bulk operations, pagination, and sandbox simulation endpoints for funding and disbursement.
humanURL: https://docs.checkhq.com
baseURL: https://api.checkhq.com
tags:
- Payroll
- REST
- Webhook
- Tax Filing
- Money Movement
- Embedded Payroll
tags_raw:
- Payroll
- REST
- Webhooks
- Tax Filing
- Money Movement
- Embedded Payroll
properties:
- type: Documentation
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/docs/overview
- type: GettingStarted
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/docs/quickstart
- type: APIReference
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/reference
- type: Authentication
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/reference/authentication
- type: RateLimits
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/docs/rate-limiting
- type: Webhooks
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/docs/webhooks-1
- type: WebhookEvents
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/docs/webhook-event-types
- type: ErrorCodes
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/reference/error-codes
- type: Pagination
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/docs/pagination
- type: Idempotency
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/docs/idempotent-requests
- type: Sandbox
  url: https://sandbox.checkhq.com
- type: LlmsText
  url: https://docs.checkhq.com/llms.txt
authentication:
- type: Bearer
  description: 'Bearer-token authentication via the `Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>` header. API keys
    are scoped per environment (sandbox vs. production) and per partner integration.'
rateLimits:
- type: PerSecond
  value: 25
  description: 25 requests per second per partner across all API keys.
- type: Concurrency
  value: 100
  description: 100 concurrent in-flight requests per partner (not configurable).
- type: BackoffHeader
  description: 429 responses include a Retry-After header; RateLimit-Limit and RateLimit-Remaining headers
    are returned on every authenticated response (IETF RateLimit Headers).
features:
- name: Embedded Payroll
  description: Run full-service U.S. payroll for end customers from inside your own product.
- name: Companies and Workplaces
  description: Model employers, EIN verification, and physical workplaces driving tax jurisdictions.
- name: Employees and Contractors
  description: Manage W-2 employees and 1099 contractors, including SSN validation and tax setup.
- name: Pay Schedules and Paydays
  description: Define pay frequencies and compute paydays with bank-holiday-aware approval deadlines.
- name: Payroll Preview and Approval
  description: Create, asynchronously preview, and approve payrolls with explicit warnings and totals.
- name: External Payrolls
  description: Record payrolls processed outside Check for accurate year-to-date and tax filing.
- name: Off-Cycle Payrolls
  description: Schedule one-off payments with configurable benefit and deduction behavior.
- name: Earnings Structures
  description: Custom earning codes and rates, including tipped, piece rate, overtime, and reimbursements.
- name: Post-Tax Deductions and Garnishments
  description: Configure after-tax deductions including child support and other garnishments.
- name: Benefits
  description: Define pre-tax and post-tax employee benefits, including 401(k), health, and HSA.
- name: Net Pay Splits
  description: Split worker net pay across multiple bank accounts per pay period.
- name: Bank Accounts and Plaid
  description: Raw and Plaid-tokenized bank accounts with verification and reveal endpoints.
- name: Money Movement
  description: ACH disbursement, fund-by-wire, payment retries, refunds, NOCs, and failure recovery.
- name: Tax Calculation
  description: Federal, state, and local tax calculation including multi-state withholdings and reciprocity.
- name: Tax Filings and Deposits
  description: Quarterly and annual filings, agency tax deposits, fulfillments, and authorization documents.
- name: Employee Tax Statements
  description: Asynchronous W-2, W-2C, and tax package generation, downloadable as PDF.
- name: Paystubs and Paper Checks
  description: Generate JSON or PDF paystubs and paper checks for employees and contractors.
- name: Webhooks
  description: Resource-scoped event delivery with signature verification and topic-based routing.
- name: Embedded Setup
  description: Delegate full company setup, EIN, tax registration, and prior-payroll migration to Check
    operators.
- name: Sensitive Data API
  description: Dedicated surface for reveal-style operations on SSNs and bank account numbers.
- name: Sandbox Simulation
  description: Sandbox-only endpoints to complete funding, complete disbursements, or fail funding for
    tests.
useCases:
- name: Vertical SaaS Payroll
  description: Add native payroll to vertical SaaS platforms in trades, hospitality, fitness, and salons.
- name: Workforce Management Payroll
  description: Tightly couple time-tracking and scheduling data with end-to-end payroll runs.
- name: HR and PEO Platforms
  description: Power HR platforms and PEO/ASO-style products without building tax infrastructure.
- name: Fintech and Banking
  description: Couple payroll with banking, EWA, lending, and card products from a single ledger.
- name: Accounting Integrations
  description: Sync payroll journals into accounting systems with workplace and GL breakdowns.
- name: Contractor Marketplaces
  description: Pay 1099 contractors on demand with paper checks, ACH, or split deposits.
- name: Multi-State Employers
  description: Handle reciprocity, courtesy withholdings, and multi-jurisdiction filings at scale.
integrations:
- name: Plaid
  description: Bank account linking and ACH verification via Plaid processor tokens.
- name: Next Insurance
  description: Workers' compensation via the Check + Next integration.
- name: Clair
  description: Earned wage access for employees via the Check + Clair integration.
- name: SimplyInsured
  description: Health benefits enrollment via the Check + SimplyInsured component.
- name: Vestwell
  description: 401(k) retirement benefits via the Check + Vestwell integration.
- name: Human Interest
  description: 401(k) retirement benefits via the Check + Human Interest integration.
- name: Benbase
  description: Benefits administration via the Check + Benbase integration.
- name: Postman
  description: First-party Postman environment templates for sandbox testing.