Check the actual connection before changing your process.
On Pro, the QuickBooks Online connection imports customers and invoices from your own company and does not write back. It still needs checking with your company. Other provider names and the information flows below describe requirements to assess, not ready-to-use connections. Confirm the provider, plan, permissions, direction and any setup cost before work begins.
What these systems normally control
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
Employee master records, tax setup, pay schedules, gross-to-net calculation, deductions, direct deposits, tax filings, and pay stubs.
Why the specialized system usually stays
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
Payroll providers are regulated. They handle tax filings, direct deposit rails, and multi-state compliance in ways your business platform is not — and should not become — responsible for. The Forge stays adjacent so payroll processing continues where it already runs.
Information to review for import
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
Employee master records and employment status
Pay rates and pay schedules where exposed
Standard cost centers, departments, and locations
PTO balances where provider APIs allow
Information to review for export
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
Approved time entries and hour summaries
Job, location, and department context for each entry
Approved reimbursements and one-time earnings where supported
Scheduled shifts for providers that consume them
Employee status changes originating in The Forge (with approval)
Events to consider during setup
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
Time entry approved by a manager
Pay period boundary reached
Shift published or edited
Employee inactivated or transferred
Wage change approved
Manual work the proposed connection may reduce
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
Retyping approved hours into payroll each pay period
Reconciling schedules against actual hours by hand
Building department or job breakdowns for wage summaries in spreadsheets
Chasing missing approvals in email
Maintaining employee records in two systems
Whose work improves
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
Workforce, HR, or payroll administrator
Operations manager
Finance and accounting
Owner / executive
Reports that become possible
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
Approved hours by job, location, department, and entity
Labor cost as a share of completed revenue
Overtime concentration by department or crew
Scheduled vs. actual hours
Access and permission notes
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
Payroll integrations are scoped to the minimum objects required (usually employees, time entries, wage summaries).
The Forge does not run payroll or hold tax-filing credentials.
Sensitive fields (SSN, bank routing) are not read.
Common category-wide limitations
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
Not every payroll provider exposes an API. Some require managed file exports.
Retro-active edits inside the payroll provider may not sync back until the next period.
Provider plan tier can limit which objects are readable or writable.
What might be replaced after review
Requirements for assessment; confirm supported actions before relying on this workflow.
The Forge does not replace payroll processing. It replaces the schedule / time / payroll spreadsheet ping-pong that surrounds it.
