Symptom
You open the Payroll Dashboard and cannot start payroll, or you have entered everything and approval is blocked. The usual message is "Please submit pending critical information to proceed further."
Who this affects: Any user whose role includes the Payroll permission. This is usually the Employer Admin, but other admin roles can be granted the same access.
Where to look first
- The dashboard notices. Every critical blocker announces itself on the Payroll Dashboard before you start hunting through settings. Critical notices are red and block the run. Yellow warnings let payroll proceed.
- The Payroll Action Center. Its Blockers group lists the same data-setup gaps under the heading "Data setup required" so you can fix them in one place. See Payroll Action Center and Payroll Health Check.
[Screenshot: Payroll Dashboard critical-notice banner showing pending blocker messages; use demo data]
Company-level causes
Cause 1: Company bank account not verified
How to check: A critical notice says the company bank account information is pending verification.
How to fix: Verification is done by UZIO, not from the portal. If the notice has been there for more than a few business days, contact UZIO Support. If you recently changed the routing or account number, the account reverted to Pending and needs re-verification. See Adding Company Bank Account Information.
Cause 2: State tax information missing
How to check: A critical notice says "State tax information for [state] is missing in the system."
How to fix: Usually a new employee lives or works in a state you have not configured. Add the work location if needed, then complete that state's withholding ID, unemployment account, and rate. See Adding State Tax Information.
Cause 3: No pay periods for the pay group
How to check: A critical notice says pay periods have not been created for the pay group.
How to fix: Generate the pay group's schedule. New accounts have five seeded pay groups with no periods until you set them up. See Understanding and Setting Up Pay Groups.
Cause 4: A tax reconciliation is in progress
How to check: You see "A tax reconciliation process has been initiated and is in progress. Please reach out to support@uzio.com."
How to fix: Payroll cannot start until UZIO completes or cancels the reconciliation. Contact UZIO Support and quote the message.
Cause 5: Employees incomplete in payroll setup
How to check: Employees show Incomplete on the Employees Payroll Setup list.
How to fix: Complete the three mandatory tabs (Federal Tax Withholding, State Tax Withholding, Payment Method) for every active employee. See Setting Up Employee Payroll.
Cause 6: A previous payroll is still open
How to check: You see "You cannot add pay stubs because one or more payrolls have been initiated", or Void and Special Payroll actions are disabled with "One or more payrolls are initiated. Please either cancel or approve them to proceed."
How to fix: Approve or cancel the in-flight payroll first. Only then can you start another run, including a special payroll, for those employees.
Per-employee blockers
UZIO also blocks on data gaps for individual employees. On a Special or Adjustment run the list is shown under "Following critical information is missing:". Each is fixed on the employee's record.
| What the message says | What to do |
|---|---|
| "[Employee] SSN is missing in the system." | Add the SSN on the employee's profile. |
| "[Employee] Payment Method is missing in the system." | Complete the Payment Method tab. See Setting Up Employee Payroll. |
| "[Employee] State Tax withholding is missing in the system." | Complete the State Tax Withholding tab. |
| "[Employee] worker's compensation code is not valid for their work location." | Assign a Workers' Compensation code valid for that state. See Setting Up Workers' Compensation Codes. |
| "[Employee] SOC code is missing in the system." | Add a SOC code on the employee's payroll record. Required in the states that collect it. See Understanding and Finding SOC Codes. |
| "[Employee] Routing number(s) and/or account number(s) are invalid." | Correct the direct deposit routing or account number. |
| "[Employee or location] address is incomplete." | Complete the employee's home address or the work location's address. See Adding Company Address Information. |
| "One or more prior paystub information for [pay group] pay group is either incomplete or not approved in system." | Finish and approve Prior Payroll History for that pay group. |
DailyPay approval blockers
If your company uses the DailyPay earned wage access integration, approval is blocked whenever the run's payment routing disagrees with an employee's current DailyPay enrollment. This happens when someone enrolled or unenrolled after you initiated the run, or a check override rerouted an enrolled employee.
"This payroll cannot be approved. The following employee(s) are enrolled in DailyPay but are not being paid through their DailyPay account: {name}. Cancel and re-initiate this payroll to pick up the current DailyPay enrollment, or exclude these employee(s) from this payroll and pay them separately."
"This payroll cannot be approved. The following employee(s) are no longer enrolled in DailyPay but their pay is still routed to a DailyPay account: {name}. Cancel and re-initiate this payroll, or exclude these employee(s) from this payroll and pay them separately."
How to fix: Do what the message says. Cancel and re-initiate the run so it picks up the current enrollment, or exclude the named employees from this run and pay them in a special payroll. Background and the enrollment-time locks: Earned Wage Access (EWA) Integrations.
Warnings that do not block
Yellow warnings let payroll proceed: unapproved timesheets for time-tracked employees, and incomplete optional employee tabs (earnings, deductions, contributions, workers' compensation). Fix them before approving. Unapproved timesheets mean missing hours in the run.
"Payroll process takes longer than expected"
If you see "Currently, your payroll process takes longer than expected. From the dashboard, click Resume Payroll to try again in a few minutes.", this is a processing timeout, not a data problem. Return to the Payroll Dashboard and click Resume Payroll (or Resume Special Payroll) after a few minutes. The run picks up where it left off.
Still stuck?
If a blocker does not clear after the fix, please reach out to us at support@uzio.com or call +1-571-601-1752. Include the exact on-screen message, the pay group and pay period, a screenshot of the dashboard notices, and the employee IDs named. Do not send SSNs or bank account numbers. If you are inside the two-business-day direct deposit window, call rather than email, and see the late-approval options in Processing a Regular Payroll.
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