Understanding Check Billing
Explore how Check manages Partner billing for payroll and service fees effectively.
Overview
This guide explains how Check bills our Partners and how you can, in turn, design billing for your downstream companies. It focuses on when and how we bill for core payroll usage and common service ("passthrough") fees, and how to interpret invoices and usage reports.
1. How Check bills Partners
1.1 Monthly billing cadence
- Check bills monthly in arrears.
- Each invoice covers activity for the prior calendar month.
- Invoices are typically issued within 5–10 business days after month-end.
1.2 What activities drive billing
At a high level, billing can be grouped into:
- Core payroll fees
- Employer-level fees
- Employee and contractor-level fees
- Next-Day Pay (expedited payroll) fees, when used
- Service / passthrough fees
- Banking-related fees (returns, wires, failed validations, etc.)
- Tax filing–related fees (amendments, delayed filings, terminated-employer filings, etc.)
- Print-and-mail fees
These fees are surfaced via monthly invoices and, for many items, via the Usage API and Console reports so you can bill your customers in a way that aligns with what Check bills you.
2. Core payroll billing concepts
This section summarizes how Check defines billable activity for core payroll. Your specific agreement may vary.
2.1 Employer (company) fees
An employer becomes billable once they are eligible to run payroll, and remains billable until they are terminated from the Check platform.
A company’s billing start date is 6 business days before their scheduled start date. If a company approves a payroll or is activated for tax filing services prior to that intended start date, then we start charging in the month either of these actions takes place.
An employer is considered billable when:
- Implementation is complete, and
- It is 6 days before the scheduled start date (when implementation_status first flipped to in_review)
- The company has approved a payroll or been activated for tax filing services, even if earlier than the scheduled start.
Key implications:
- Employer fees are monthly, not per payroll run.
- Employer billing can start in the month before their start date
- Example: Start date is February 1st, but implementation is complete January 26th
- Once a company is live and eligible to run payroll, they are billed for each month until termination.
2.2 Employee and contractor fees (PEPM)
For employees and contractors, Check charges on a per employee per month (PEPM) basis:
- We count each unique employee or contractor who appears on at least one approved payroll during the billing month.
- The relevant date for billing is the payroll’s approved at timestamp (not just the payroll deadline).
This means:
- If a worker is paid multiple times in a month, they are still counted once for PEPM.
- If they are not paid in a month, they are generally not counted for that month
You can mirror this logic when designing how you bill your downstream companies (see the Help Center article on how to bill for core payroll for detailed recommendations).
2.3 Next-Day Pay (expedited payroll)
Check offers an expedited payment option (often referred to as Next-Day Pay). When this feature is enabled and used:
- Check charges an additional fee per unique payee per month for workers included in approved expedited payrolls.
- This fee is in addition to regular employee/contractor PEPM fees.
You can choose whether and how to pass these expedited payroll costs through to your companies, for example by:
- Charging a higher per-employee fee when Next-Day Pay is enabled
- Charging an additional fee per expedited payroll run or per worker using the feature
3. Service and passthrough fees
Service ("passthrough") fees are intended to make Check whole for manual operational work and fees from banking or tax authorities, especially where issues arise from employer actions (for example, invalid bank details or late setup).
Below are the main categories you will see. For specific fee names, consult your contract or invoice.
3.1 Banking-related passthrough fees
Common banking-related fees include:
- Employer funding returns
- When a debit from an employer’s bank account fails (for example, due to insufficient funds or a closed account), Check may charge a return fee.
- If the payroll is later funded by wire after an ACH return, the cost of wiring funds is typically covered by this return fee.
- Funding payroll via wire
- When an employer chooses or needs to fund payroll via wire (without a preceding ACH return), a separate wire-funding fee may apply.
- Failed employee account validation or payments
- When employee direct deposit information is invalid or a payment fails, a failed validation/payment fee may apply, often charged on a per employee per month basis for workers with returns or failed prenotes.
How to think about these fees in your own billing:
- Many partners choose to pass these fees through directly to affected companies.
- You can do this by surfacing them as itemized lines on your invoices, using the data from Check’s Usage API and Console reports.
- You may also choose to absorb some or all of these costs, depending on your pricing strategy.
3.2 Tax operations–related passthrough fees
Tax-related passthrough fees are associated with extra filing work outside normal, on-time filings. Common examples include:
- Delayed filings where the delay is due to employer behavior or late data, rather than Check error
- Amended tax returns (federal or state)
- Tax filing for terminated employers, when Check continues to file returns after a company has left your platform
- Printed and mailed W-2/1099 forms where paper delivery is required
Key points:
- These fees are intended to cover additional work that arises outside standard operations.
- Check maintains an internal view of when delayed filings and amendments occur, and exposes this activity via usage reporting.
3.3 Penalties, interest, and credits
Occasionally, tax penalties and interest ("P&I") may arise.
- When penalties and interest are due to Check fault, Check absorbs the cost.
- When penalties and interest are due to employer behavior or late data, they may be passed through to you and show up as separate line items.
Credits may also appear on invoices in situations such as:
- Service issues where Check or your team agrees to a goodwill credit
- Adjustments related to prior billing periods
When you offer credits to companies, you can choose to:
- Pass through a credit that mirrors what Check granted you, or
- Offer a larger/smaller credit as part of your customer strategy.
4. Usage API and Console reports vs invoices
Check provides multiple surfaces to help you understand and reconcile billing:
4.1 Monthly invoices
Invoices are the source of truth for what you owe Check for a period, taking into account:
- Standard contract logic
- Manual adjustments, penalties, and credits
4.2 Usage API and usage reports
The Usage API and related Console reports are designed to:
- Help you design and operate your own billing to downstream companies
For detailed guidance on leveraging the Usage API, see the Help Center articles on core payroll billing and passthrough fees.
5. Frequently asked questions
5.1 When should I expect my Check invoice each month?
You should expect invoices within 5–10 business days after month-end, covering the prior calendar month’s usage.
5.2 Why is my invoice different from what I see in usage reports?
There are a few common reasons:
- Your contract may include bespoke terms that differ from the standard logic represented in the Usage API.
- Some services and tax-ops passthrough fees are still being rolled out across both billing and usage surfaces, which can lead to temporary differences.
- Manual adjustments, penalties, and credits are reflected on invoices but may not appear in standard usage endpoints.
If you have questions about a specific difference, reach out to your Check team with the invoice ID and example companies or fees.
5.3 How can I use Check data to bill my companies?
You can:
- Use the Usage API to fetch monthly line items by company and fee type.
- Download usage reports from Console if you prefer CSV-based workflows.
- Map these usage categories to your own billing system (for example, mapping Check’s employee PEPM data to your own PEPM or bundled subscription charges).
5.4 Do I need billing fully live for early adopters?
Not necessarily. Many partners:
- Start with a small number of early adopters where billing is handled manually or with minimal automation.
- Implement a scalable billing model before broader go-to-market.
However, we strongly recommend that your billing policies are defined early, even if technical automation comes later.
6. Where to go next
For more detail and tactical guidance, see:
- How to bill for core payroll – recommended billing models, examples, and FAQs.
- How to bill for passthrough fees – how to leverage Check’s service fee data when billing your customers.
If you have questions about how your specific contract terms interact with these concepts, please reach out to your Check account team.
Last updated on February 9, 2026