Use this guide to identify whether a problem comes from access, source readiness, calculation state, forecasting limits, outputs, or an MCP permission. If the offered recovery does not match the problem, stop before creating duplicate work and contact support.
Prerequisites
Before retrying an action, record the selected payroll account, period dates, current run status, error code, and approximate time. Do not copy passwords, connection tokens, raw reports, or identifiable payroll results into a support request.
Troubleshooting
Sign-in and access
Why are no payroll accounts listed?
Your sign-in does not have active access to a payroll account. Ask an account administrator to verify your email, role, invitation, and account status.
Why can I see a run but not change it?
Your role may not allow that particular action, the period may not be open, or the deployment may have live mutations disabled. Payroll operators are not employee self-service users, but some account-management and dashboard resolution controls still require a tenant administrator. Use the blocker displayed beside the action.
I expected an invitation but cannot sign in. Was it sent?
Check the recipient address and spam or filtered mail first. Then ask the tenant administrator or support to verify the current membership or invitation state. A dashboard confirmation alone is not proof that an email reached the recipient. Do not forward sign-in links or share credentials to work around the problem.
Sources and calculation
Why is Calculate disabled?
PayCanvas needs all required source data, a usable validated Canvas, any required source-choice decisions, and calculation enabled for the account. It blocks calculation when a required source is unavailable or invalid, a period or Canvas is invalid, the engine or persistence fails, or source money cannot be reconciled. Local attribution questions can instead produce Complete — Needs Review when the affected amount can be isolated.
Should I create another run after a source failure?
Not automatically. Open Collect sources and use the offered retry, continuation, cancel, or saved-data recovery action. These paths preserve evidence and reduce duplicate provider work.
Why is the result provisional?
At least one unresolved question could change someone's pay. PayCanvas holds known affected money and calculates the rest. An unpriced question remains unknown rather than becoming zero. Review Resolve issues and choose an answer only when the evidence supports it.
Why did the result change after resolving an item?
PayCanvas recalculates from the same locked source data and saves a successor result without rewriting the earlier evidence. Inspect the available versions or ask support for help locating the earlier result; not every workspace offers a side-by-side difference view.
Forecasting and outputs
Why does the forecast not match accounting revenue?
The Expected revenue metric uses provisional booked subtotals from the configured booking input, not recognized revenue, cash receipts, or settlements. Expected payroll spreads the selected calculated period's daily run rate across the view. The dashboard also lacks implemented operating-expense and opening-cash sources.
Why are no files available to download?
The selected period may not have calculated output files yet. Calculation or file generation may also be unavailable or blocked for the account.
Does Totals and files reviewed approve payroll?
No. It enables the reviewed-file download action only. Run locking, official approval, provider submission, email, and payment are not implemented in that surface.
MCP connector
Why does consent say membership is required?
The public payroll connector requires active account-administrator or payroll-operator access.
What does authorization_required mean?
The connection was not given permission for that optional action, or your current role cannot perform it. The failed request changes nothing.
What does invalid_token or insufficient_scope mean?
Reconnect through OAuth and verify that you used the operator endpoint. Do not reuse a token across clients or between the operator and platform endpoints.
Why was the callback rejected?
Use the client's standard ChatGPT or Claude callback, or an HTTP loopback callback on localhost or 127.0.0.1. PayCanvas rejects arbitrary remote callbacks and callbacks containing unapproved credentials, fragments, or fixed query data.
Expected result
After following the relevant section, you either return to a valid supported state or have a safe error/reference package ready for support.
Still stuck?
Do not repeatedly submit a write action after an unknown response. Refresh once, inspect the current audit or job state, then contact support.