Ghost employee
- Gross pay for the period
- $1,826
- Hours worked in the period
- 73
- PTO hours paid, not worked
- 8
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs you enter, by the method stated below it. The only constants HeadcountDesk supplies are the published federal payroll tax rates and the overtime multiplier, each cited where it is used. The defaults are a worked example to replace with your own.
A ghost employee is a name on the payroll that does not work for the business: a leaver never removed, a fictitious hire, or a real person paid for hours never worked, with the pay going to whoever set it up. The controls are ordinary: a timesheet for every paid hour approved by someone who saw the work, a change form with an approval for every hire and every leaver, and a periodic match of the payroll against the people. The PTO and overtime calculator on this site totals the sheets, free; HeadcountDesk Pro keeps every sheet and every change form against a real record.
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A sheet for every paid hour
No hours are paid without a timesheet approved by the supervisor who was there. The free pto and overtime calculator on this site totals it; Pro keeps it. A ghost has no supervisor.
A form for every hire and leaver
Nobody joins the payroll without a hire form approved by the owner and an I-9 with documents seen; nobody leaves it without a leaver form. Pro routes both for approval and files them.
The periodic match
Once a quarter, the payroll list against the people: the manager confirms each name on their team. A name nobody claims is the finding.
Separation of duties
The person who approves hours is not the person who runs payroll, and the person who adds a name is not the person who pays it. In a small business that is two people, and it is enough. From the vendors' own pricing pages: Homebase lists Essentials at $24 per location per month billed annually or $30 monthly, with a free Basic plan for one location of up to ten employees; BambooHR lists Core at $10 and Pro at $17 per employee per month; Deputy lists Core at $6.50 per user per month. HeadcountDesk Pro is $24 a month per location.
Ghost employee: common questions
How do ghost employees happen?
A leaver never removed, a fictitious hire by someone with payroll access, or hours approved for a real person who did not work them.
What is the simplest control?
A timesheet for every paid hour approved by someone who saw the work, and a quarterly match of the payroll against the people.
Is the timesheet tool free?
Yes, with no account. Pro keeps the sheets and the change forms.
Will it do what you need for Ghost employee?
Tell us what your business needs and we will tell you straight whether HeadcountDesk Pro does it today, whether it is coming, or whether you are better off with something else. A person reads these and replies.