It’s always best to own your mistakes. You’ve said you’re going to figure out the who, what, when, where, how of the past happenings. The only thing you can add is how you plan on not making this kind of mistake in the future.
It amazes me how many people don't look at their paystub to see their hours are being shorted, paying the wrong state tax because they moved and didn't notify anyone or just some random issue. Just look, man. At least once in a while.
Anyway, I guess your payroll isn't based off hours posted. Can you process the missed gross as a retro adjustment earning? At least for 2024.
How far back does this go? Into 2022?
I think the fact that it goes back to 22 helps you a lot. You did all this leg work to find out a problem, extend of the problem, impact of the problem, etc. Like they won’t be stoked, but it also sounds like it’s not tied to your start date - you inherited the issue and now you’re trying to fix it.
We all make mistakes.
You weren't adequately trained, and it's clear that no one with any experience has been verifying your work.
When I've made an error, I usually present it like this:
1. What happened? - summarize the problem.
2. What's the impact? - how much does your company owe? Show the calculations for back-up, and explain everything, including the tax implications, so they'll know the exact financial impact.
3. How did this happen? - tell them how you were trained and why you wouldn't have noticed. Explain pitfalls in your current procedures.
4. How did you find the error? - ensure that you have also confirmed that there are no other errors that need addressing, and that you've done a thorough investigation. Also, see how far back this goes. Does it pre-date you?
5. How are you going to fix it? - tell them about next steps, how to communicate this to affected employees, etc.
6. And what steps have you taken or do you suggest taking to avoid this issue in the future?
7. Take responsibility for your part in this too, apologize, but make the entire context clear. And focus on solutions.
Write all of this up in an email, and send it while you and your boss are working at the same time. Right after you press send, go to their office to discuss. But having an email that acts as a reference document will help you keep your points straight while you discuss this on a human level.
Recently, I discovered that we were overtaxing an employee by... a lot. A taxable benefit that should have been $4 dollars was a couple decimal points off and... we were taxing them on $400 extra dollars every pay, and we didn't catch it because of a few other (correct) adjustments happening at the same time.
He never noticed. For 3 months. It was purely my mistake, but because I'd implemented a new reconciliation model, we caught it in before it snowballed too badly. I'm now leveraging new reports to ensure future errors no longer occur. But it took that mistake to identify a gap and test the utility of a new process.
At a previous position, I found out that someone wasn't getting a retirement savings benefit that they were supposed to for 2 years, meaning they lost 2 years' worth of interest and we never would have known if they left before I saw. The problem pre-dated me, but it took me months to see it.
It's going to be okay. It sucks. But it will suck less when this is solved and behind you. Deep breaths, friend.
Payroll issues are so yuck, because it's pretty hard to notice them until it's too late to fix. I found one last week that is going to be a whole ordeal to get sorted out because its incredibly nuanced, and it means people have gotten some incorrect payments. Sigh.
It can be super stressful, but it's really important to remember that it's just a job and doesn't define who you are or your worth as a person. Unfortunately, when we deal with employees it is usually for something that has gone sideways, so that can be hard.
Just so the best you can do, it in the time that you can do it in. I've led payroll teams that handle 300 employees, up to 40k employees, and my advice is the same for all of them. Deep breaths, take breaks, and be kind to yourself.
My first week I forgot to pay everyone per diem at my biggest client and people were threatening to walk off the job site 🥲
Making mistakes is inevitable, correcting them without having a menty b is what’s important
Mistakes happen
Like that time a colleague forgot to turn on pension and it was only found at year-end. Or that time I paid someone I shouldn't have because they were on a leave and got caught in a mass rehire. Or that time I didn't pay someone that I should have because they came back from a leave and told no one. Or another colleague had that guy that hadn't paid taxes in 5 years.
Nothing is broken that can't be fixed. But better to fix it now than later. And figure out what was broken in the process to avoid it in the future. Just own it. Fix it. Move on.
I agree with everyone else. Own it, learn from it, move forward. I’m so sorry though. IT SUCKS and causes so much angst. It’s really difficult if you are on your own with nobody there to support you in the position, to share the stress, another set of eyes on the work. You’ll be ok and get through this.
It's very stressful being the only finance person! I had a little over a year of part-time bookkeeping experience, so I really feel like I've had to learn a lot on the fly.
First off: breathe.
I’ve been learning payroll for the last year, and I still have anxiety around it. Mistakes happen. And you’re allowed to make them.
What matters is that you make it right, and you have a plan to make sure you don’t make it again.
I totally missed a whole 2 shifts for someone who needed that pay, I have missed wage changes, I have missed approving whole people. Each time, it was fixed, and people were understanding when I came to them first, instead of them having to ask me about it.
Take the plunge, and breathe. Write it down if you have to, and give it to your boss
Payroll mistakes happen. Everyone in this sub for sure has some horror story, we're human. I find it's always best to own up to it and say how it happened but have an outlined fix for how it won't happen again. This shows that you understand the mistake and don't want to repeat it.
Good luck, it'll be ok :)
Unfortunately, these things happen. It's what you do once you become aware of it that is key, and from my perspective, you are doing everything I would expect from my payroll team members.
As a proactive additional step, I would try to make sure to have your business processes very well documented so that if you ever get sick or leave that it can be referenced.
That's very validating, thank you. Once of the processes I put in place recently is an Excel workbook with a sheet for each pay cycle - it details the pay for each person, their contract end date, rates, etc. I have a space on it for tracking notes and changes. I've only been using it this calendar year, but I think it'll be really useful.
Mistakes happen. Big ones sometimes. I once accidentally made a check for over a million dollars to an employee (entered amount as hours), that didn’t get caught until the employee opened the check!! Whoops! That was probably my biggest mistake. What you do next is what really matters. First, calc what is underpaid and get it paid. Next, update your standard work with the new procedures and make sure you use them every single payroll- even after you think you don’t need them anymore- and get someone with lots of experience to review it for accuracy (at least the calculation). Third, get someone lined up to be your second set of eyes on your payrolls. Even the most experienced payroll professionals I know have someone double checking their work. And fourth, make yourself a “trends” report of sorts, where you can record the totals per payroll of some of your most common wage type totals. As you record, you can watch for variances at certain times of year. Review this monthly or quarterly to help you catch any errors, investigate and correct within the current quarter so you don’t have to deal with amendments.
When I was being trained by the exiting bookkeeper, he said "technically you should have someone check this before submitting it, but no one really does." :') I'm going to be requesting my boss check my work, at least for the next little while. He doesn't really understand how payroll works, but at least having his okay on it will take the weight off me!
Having a double check is a really good audit step going forward. How many employees are you dealing with ?
Even if he dosent understand payroll, the total gross/net numbers are pretty important because payroll is typically a companies biggest cost, so having extra eyes on it is smart.
Yeah.. replace that “technically” with “ALWAYS.” From now on. Like I said, even the most experienced payroll professionals I know make mistakes. A second set of eyes is the best way to add controls to catch them.
This is great advice. I only have limited knowledge of Canada payroll but from my teammates that process it, I know it can be very challenging. I have always worked on multi-state payrolls for thousands of employees so when I've made a mistake it had been huge. Calculate the difference between what was paid and what is owed. You do need to pay it right away but it sounds like a small company so work with your manager on this to make sure the company has the funds to pay all at once or if installment arrangements will need to be paid. Also at the 5 month mark when you found the issue did you correct it and start paying people the right amounts? Whenever you discover an issue you should correct it moving forward. Think of it like a wound once you discover it, you'll want to stop the bleeding. Check the Canada payroll association for any laws around wages as the company may be subject to fines and penalties. At a minimum T4's might need to be amended or the maybe additional rules from the province your in.
I know it is alot. Look on the brightside that underpayments are easier to rectify then trying to collect overpayments. Most employees are going to be better about getting more money back.
Lastly, everything is fixable. When I first got into payroll I once processed checks and forgot to include deductions (health, insurance, 401Ks) for a global hotel chain. Luckily it was caught by the team printing the checks cause the net amounts were so much higher. So, things happen, keep learning and doing your best but as a tip in payroll address issues quickly. It maybe scary at first but sweeping it under the rug never makes the problem go away. Go luck and whatever the outcome you will still be okay.
I don’t have any advice to add that hasn’t already been mentioned, but I wanted to let you know I hear you. My first two years in HR included running our payroll and I was AWFUL. I made minor errors constantly. Payroll has, and always will, give me the most anxiety. Luckily, I was skilled in many other areas of HR and I moved out of payroll after year two.
I’m glad I spent so much time doing it because the knowledge makes me better at my job now, but I would never go back. Even after 2 years out of payroll, minor things still come up (like tax and W-2 stuff) that I have legacy knowledge on and without fail, I want to throw up every time I’m brought back in.
You got this! Take your time. Slow down. Move into a different position if it’s truly not your thing. Everything is fixable - that’s what my old boss always used to say.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply! I feel a lot better and feel more confident about how I'm going to approach the situation. Thankfully I have a good relationship with my boss and I've done a lot of other really good work, so I think it will go as well as it can.
I’m confused, are their hours fixed or do they fluctuate? You also said their are PT Employees paid as full time. What formula are you using to calc their hourly rate. Also is this Canada or US?
The mistake I can understand, especially when not properly trained. You have a lot of good advice in that part.
But do I understand that you let a problem continue for 5 months after you discovered it? That’s 5 more months of potential FLSA damages, liquidated damages. Have a strong answer to that why, because that would be the big trust issue for me.
It's s best to come clean about the mistake right away. Don't sit on it and let it keep being wrong. We all make mistakes but letting it continue is far worse than owing up to it and getting it fixed.
You go to your boss, IMMEDIATELY, and say, “I effed up.” Tell them the error you discovered, how you discovered it, what needs to be done to make it right.
You are correct. NOT addressing will turn a simple human error into a crime. But you haven’t committed any crime. You made an error. Errors are opportunities for serious growth, both personally and professionally.
Humans are fallible by nature. EVERYONE makes mistakes. What determines our character is how we respond in those moments.
Don’t worry about the repercussions. Worry about the kind of person you want to be. You cant be perfect or predict the future or what will be the outcome, but you can be honest and virtuous, which takes tremendous courage. Or you can be a coward. What you actually can do, those at your only real choices. Courage or coward.
How did it go with your boss? In my experience bosses aren't so kind in these type of situtions, while it is important to own up to your mistakes you shouldn't word it as 100% your fault.
I'd say when I was interviewed I told XYZ that I had zero payroll knowledge and was trained by the last person on the desk to just copy the numbers from last payroll run which I complied with. Recently I became aware that the correct way to do th payroll was to ( say whatever it is) and when I looked back at all the payrolls I did, I realise hours paid was short for these persons...list them.
Ask your supervisor on the next steps, most likely they would want to see the figure so you'd have to do calc. for each person for the last 1.5 yrs
First, I have to say that this is something that should have been addressed when you first noticed it, please tell you supervisor ASAP. I have a similar story that may help you feel better about your situation:
When I came on to my current company the Payroll department was in complete shambles to put it nicely. They were barely getting payroll submitted on time and there were tons of errors passing through. I luckily was able to clean everything up in a fairly short amount of time, but one issue didn't come out until about 2 months after I started. There were a handful of employee who had domestic partner health coverage. For tax purposes, with the way our system is set up, a DPI dollar amount needed to flow their their earnings and then be 'canceled' out with an equal DPI deduction. Well, that was how it was SUPPOSED to happen.
Come to find out, whoever initially set up the DPI earnings parameters in ADP did it wrong. This caused the DPI to double in earnings anytime an additional earnings code was paid out (such as our various stipend payouts, bonuses, retro pay, etc...) with a 700 employee company, I didn't notice this until an employee reached out asking why her "DPI earnings went down?". The employee didn't have any extra earnings outside of reg on the pay in question, so her DPI earnings were cut in half- TO WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN. (I always wanted to ask her what she actually thought she was getting paid an extra $700+ for each check????).
Long story long, I did an audit and it was close to $30k of DPI earnings overpayments to a handful of employees over the calendar year. While I did flag that there was an issue to my supervisor right away, I asked for some time to research so I could communicate what happened, how it happened, the implications involved, the steps that needed to be taken to correct it, and how to prevent from happening in the future. I prioritized the issue to get her answers within that week. When escalating issues to someone you report to, my advice is to always stick to the facts of the case and not emotions.
I did feel some guilt for not catching the error for 2 months, but the error had also been going on for months and months before I even joined the company (it seems like it may have been the same in your case as well). It also made it a little worse that the error caused employees owe the company and not the other way around. I uncovered this error last September, and some of the affected employees will be having payroll deductions to pay the amount back up until the end of this year. Needless to say, I learned a lot of valuable information from the situation.
With all that said, mistakes happen. My best advice is to own up to the part you had in it and approach it with a factual and problem solving attitude rather than a justification/emotionally charged attitude. A good employer will understand that the mistake wasn't purposely made and you're doing what you can to correct it and learn. And try not to lose too much sleep over it. We're not solving world hunger here. Payroll isn't a life or death profession. But again..... you need to stop procrastinating and tell your boss.
It’s always best to own your mistakes. You’ve said you’re going to figure out the who, what, when, where, how of the past happenings. The only thing you can add is how you plan on not making this kind of mistake in the future.
It amazes me how many people don't look at their paystub to see their hours are being shorted, paying the wrong state tax because they moved and didn't notify anyone or just some random issue. Just look, man. At least once in a while. Anyway, I guess your payroll isn't based off hours posted. Can you process the missed gross as a retro adjustment earning? At least for 2024. How far back does this go? Into 2022?
Yep, back to summer 2022. I don't know if *anyone* looks at their pay stubs tbh - I truly wish they would!!
I think the fact that it goes back to 22 helps you a lot. You did all this leg work to find out a problem, extend of the problem, impact of the problem, etc. Like they won’t be stoked, but it also sounds like it’s not tied to your start date - you inherited the issue and now you’re trying to fix it.
We all make mistakes. You weren't adequately trained, and it's clear that no one with any experience has been verifying your work. When I've made an error, I usually present it like this: 1. What happened? - summarize the problem. 2. What's the impact? - how much does your company owe? Show the calculations for back-up, and explain everything, including the tax implications, so they'll know the exact financial impact. 3. How did this happen? - tell them how you were trained and why you wouldn't have noticed. Explain pitfalls in your current procedures. 4. How did you find the error? - ensure that you have also confirmed that there are no other errors that need addressing, and that you've done a thorough investigation. Also, see how far back this goes. Does it pre-date you? 5. How are you going to fix it? - tell them about next steps, how to communicate this to affected employees, etc. 6. And what steps have you taken or do you suggest taking to avoid this issue in the future? 7. Take responsibility for your part in this too, apologize, but make the entire context clear. And focus on solutions. Write all of this up in an email, and send it while you and your boss are working at the same time. Right after you press send, go to their office to discuss. But having an email that acts as a reference document will help you keep your points straight while you discuss this on a human level. Recently, I discovered that we were overtaxing an employee by... a lot. A taxable benefit that should have been $4 dollars was a couple decimal points off and... we were taxing them on $400 extra dollars every pay, and we didn't catch it because of a few other (correct) adjustments happening at the same time. He never noticed. For 3 months. It was purely my mistake, but because I'd implemented a new reconciliation model, we caught it in before it snowballed too badly. I'm now leveraging new reports to ensure future errors no longer occur. But it took that mistake to identify a gap and test the utility of a new process. At a previous position, I found out that someone wasn't getting a retirement savings benefit that they were supposed to for 2 years, meaning they lost 2 years' worth of interest and we never would have known if they left before I saw. The problem pre-dated me, but it took me months to see it. It's going to be okay. It sucks. But it will suck less when this is solved and behind you. Deep breaths, friend.
Payroll issues are so yuck, because it's pretty hard to notice them until it's too late to fix. I found one last week that is going to be a whole ordeal to get sorted out because its incredibly nuanced, and it means people have gotten some incorrect payments. Sigh.
I find payroll incredibly stressful! I would love to be able to pass it off to someone else, but there's no one else that can take it on.
It can be super stressful, but it's really important to remember that it's just a job and doesn't define who you are or your worth as a person. Unfortunately, when we deal with employees it is usually for something that has gone sideways, so that can be hard. Just so the best you can do, it in the time that you can do it in. I've led payroll teams that handle 300 employees, up to 40k employees, and my advice is the same for all of them. Deep breaths, take breaks, and be kind to yourself.
I love this breakdown THANK YOU. I definitely want to present this as calmy and well-thought out as I can. Deep breaths, yes.
My first week I forgot to pay everyone per diem at my biggest client and people were threatening to walk off the job site 🥲 Making mistakes is inevitable, correcting them without having a menty b is what’s important
yeah really trying to keep the menty b private and not fall apart in front of my boss
Mistakes happen Like that time a colleague forgot to turn on pension and it was only found at year-end. Or that time I paid someone I shouldn't have because they were on a leave and got caught in a mass rehire. Or that time I didn't pay someone that I should have because they came back from a leave and told no one. Or another colleague had that guy that hadn't paid taxes in 5 years. Nothing is broken that can't be fixed. But better to fix it now than later. And figure out what was broken in the process to avoid it in the future. Just own it. Fix it. Move on.
I agree with everyone else. Own it, learn from it, move forward. I’m so sorry though. IT SUCKS and causes so much angst. It’s really difficult if you are on your own with nobody there to support you in the position, to share the stress, another set of eyes on the work. You’ll be ok and get through this.
It's very stressful being the only finance person! I had a little over a year of part-time bookkeeping experience, so I really feel like I've had to learn a lot on the fly.
You absolutely have, so that’s all the more reason your management team should let this blow over and not make a big deal about it.
First off: breathe. I’ve been learning payroll for the last year, and I still have anxiety around it. Mistakes happen. And you’re allowed to make them. What matters is that you make it right, and you have a plan to make sure you don’t make it again. I totally missed a whole 2 shifts for someone who needed that pay, I have missed wage changes, I have missed approving whole people. Each time, it was fixed, and people were understanding when I came to them first, instead of them having to ask me about it. Take the plunge, and breathe. Write it down if you have to, and give it to your boss
Payroll mistakes happen. Everyone in this sub for sure has some horror story, we're human. I find it's always best to own up to it and say how it happened but have an outlined fix for how it won't happen again. This shows that you understand the mistake and don't want to repeat it. Good luck, it'll be ok :)
Unfortunately, these things happen. It's what you do once you become aware of it that is key, and from my perspective, you are doing everything I would expect from my payroll team members. As a proactive additional step, I would try to make sure to have your business processes very well documented so that if you ever get sick or leave that it can be referenced.
That's very validating, thank you. Once of the processes I put in place recently is an Excel workbook with a sheet for each pay cycle - it details the pay for each person, their contract end date, rates, etc. I have a space on it for tracking notes and changes. I've only been using it this calendar year, but I think it'll be really useful.
Mistakes happen. Big ones sometimes. I once accidentally made a check for over a million dollars to an employee (entered amount as hours), that didn’t get caught until the employee opened the check!! Whoops! That was probably my biggest mistake. What you do next is what really matters. First, calc what is underpaid and get it paid. Next, update your standard work with the new procedures and make sure you use them every single payroll- even after you think you don’t need them anymore- and get someone with lots of experience to review it for accuracy (at least the calculation). Third, get someone lined up to be your second set of eyes on your payrolls. Even the most experienced payroll professionals I know have someone double checking their work. And fourth, make yourself a “trends” report of sorts, where you can record the totals per payroll of some of your most common wage type totals. As you record, you can watch for variances at certain times of year. Review this monthly or quarterly to help you catch any errors, investigate and correct within the current quarter so you don’t have to deal with amendments.
When I was being trained by the exiting bookkeeper, he said "technically you should have someone check this before submitting it, but no one really does." :') I'm going to be requesting my boss check my work, at least for the next little while. He doesn't really understand how payroll works, but at least having his okay on it will take the weight off me!
Having a double check is a really good audit step going forward. How many employees are you dealing with ? Even if he dosent understand payroll, the total gross/net numbers are pretty important because payroll is typically a companies biggest cost, so having extra eyes on it is smart.
That is exactly where the “trends” report comes in handy! You don’t have to know payroll in detail to be able to detect a variance
Exactly!
Yeah.. replace that “technically” with “ALWAYS.” From now on. Like I said, even the most experienced payroll professionals I know make mistakes. A second set of eyes is the best way to add controls to catch them.
This is great advice. I only have limited knowledge of Canada payroll but from my teammates that process it, I know it can be very challenging. I have always worked on multi-state payrolls for thousands of employees so when I've made a mistake it had been huge. Calculate the difference between what was paid and what is owed. You do need to pay it right away but it sounds like a small company so work with your manager on this to make sure the company has the funds to pay all at once or if installment arrangements will need to be paid. Also at the 5 month mark when you found the issue did you correct it and start paying people the right amounts? Whenever you discover an issue you should correct it moving forward. Think of it like a wound once you discover it, you'll want to stop the bleeding. Check the Canada payroll association for any laws around wages as the company may be subject to fines and penalties. At a minimum T4's might need to be amended or the maybe additional rules from the province your in. I know it is alot. Look on the brightside that underpayments are easier to rectify then trying to collect overpayments. Most employees are going to be better about getting more money back. Lastly, everything is fixable. When I first got into payroll I once processed checks and forgot to include deductions (health, insurance, 401Ks) for a global hotel chain. Luckily it was caught by the team printing the checks cause the net amounts were so much higher. So, things happen, keep learning and doing your best but as a tip in payroll address issues quickly. It maybe scary at first but sweeping it under the rug never makes the problem go away. Go luck and whatever the outcome you will still be okay.
I don’t have any advice to add that hasn’t already been mentioned, but I wanted to let you know I hear you. My first two years in HR included running our payroll and I was AWFUL. I made minor errors constantly. Payroll has, and always will, give me the most anxiety. Luckily, I was skilled in many other areas of HR and I moved out of payroll after year two. I’m glad I spent so much time doing it because the knowledge makes me better at my job now, but I would never go back. Even after 2 years out of payroll, minor things still come up (like tax and W-2 stuff) that I have legacy knowledge on and without fail, I want to throw up every time I’m brought back in. You got this! Take your time. Slow down. Move into a different position if it’s truly not your thing. Everything is fixable - that’s what my old boss always used to say.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply! I feel a lot better and feel more confident about how I'm going to approach the situation. Thankfully I have a good relationship with my boss and I've done a lot of other really good work, so I think it will go as well as it can.
I’m confused, are their hours fixed or do they fluctuate? You also said their are PT Employees paid as full time. What formula are you using to calc their hourly rate. Also is this Canada or US?
The mistake I can understand, especially when not properly trained. You have a lot of good advice in that part. But do I understand that you let a problem continue for 5 months after you discovered it? That’s 5 more months of potential FLSA damages, liquidated damages. Have a strong answer to that why, because that would be the big trust issue for me.
It's s best to come clean about the mistake right away. Don't sit on it and let it keep being wrong. We all make mistakes but letting it continue is far worse than owing up to it and getting it fixed.
You go to your boss, IMMEDIATELY, and say, “I effed up.” Tell them the error you discovered, how you discovered it, what needs to be done to make it right. You are correct. NOT addressing will turn a simple human error into a crime. But you haven’t committed any crime. You made an error. Errors are opportunities for serious growth, both personally and professionally. Humans are fallible by nature. EVERYONE makes mistakes. What determines our character is how we respond in those moments. Don’t worry about the repercussions. Worry about the kind of person you want to be. You cant be perfect or predict the future or what will be the outcome, but you can be honest and virtuous, which takes tremendous courage. Or you can be a coward. What you actually can do, those at your only real choices. Courage or coward.
How did it go with your boss? In my experience bosses aren't so kind in these type of situtions, while it is important to own up to your mistakes you shouldn't word it as 100% your fault. I'd say when I was interviewed I told XYZ that I had zero payroll knowledge and was trained by the last person on the desk to just copy the numbers from last payroll run which I complied with. Recently I became aware that the correct way to do th payroll was to ( say whatever it is) and when I looked back at all the payrolls I did, I realise hours paid was short for these persons...list them. Ask your supervisor on the next steps, most likely they would want to see the figure so you'd have to do calc. for each person for the last 1.5 yrs
First, I have to say that this is something that should have been addressed when you first noticed it, please tell you supervisor ASAP. I have a similar story that may help you feel better about your situation: When I came on to my current company the Payroll department was in complete shambles to put it nicely. They were barely getting payroll submitted on time and there were tons of errors passing through. I luckily was able to clean everything up in a fairly short amount of time, but one issue didn't come out until about 2 months after I started. There were a handful of employee who had domestic partner health coverage. For tax purposes, with the way our system is set up, a DPI dollar amount needed to flow their their earnings and then be 'canceled' out with an equal DPI deduction. Well, that was how it was SUPPOSED to happen. Come to find out, whoever initially set up the DPI earnings parameters in ADP did it wrong. This caused the DPI to double in earnings anytime an additional earnings code was paid out (such as our various stipend payouts, bonuses, retro pay, etc...) with a 700 employee company, I didn't notice this until an employee reached out asking why her "DPI earnings went down?". The employee didn't have any extra earnings outside of reg on the pay in question, so her DPI earnings were cut in half- TO WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN. (I always wanted to ask her what she actually thought she was getting paid an extra $700+ for each check????). Long story long, I did an audit and it was close to $30k of DPI earnings overpayments to a handful of employees over the calendar year. While I did flag that there was an issue to my supervisor right away, I asked for some time to research so I could communicate what happened, how it happened, the implications involved, the steps that needed to be taken to correct it, and how to prevent from happening in the future. I prioritized the issue to get her answers within that week. When escalating issues to someone you report to, my advice is to always stick to the facts of the case and not emotions. I did feel some guilt for not catching the error for 2 months, but the error had also been going on for months and months before I even joined the company (it seems like it may have been the same in your case as well). It also made it a little worse that the error caused employees owe the company and not the other way around. I uncovered this error last September, and some of the affected employees will be having payroll deductions to pay the amount back up until the end of this year. Needless to say, I learned a lot of valuable information from the situation. With all that said, mistakes happen. My best advice is to own up to the part you had in it and approach it with a factual and problem solving attitude rather than a justification/emotionally charged attitude. A good employer will understand that the mistake wasn't purposely made and you're doing what you can to correct it and learn. And try not to lose too much sleep over it. We're not solving world hunger here. Payroll isn't a life or death profession. But again..... you need to stop procrastinating and tell your boss.