When a pre-go-live check should delay cutover

Delaying a payroll cutover is unpopular. Paying the workforce incorrectly on the first live cycle is worse. Pre-go-live checks exist to make that trade-off visible with evidence.

Parallel-run differences that matter

Small rounding differences on a handful of payslips may be acceptable with a documented workaround. Systematic differences on joiners, leavers, or leave balances usually are not. If fixed-term staff or shift cohorts diverge as a group, treat the pattern as a cutover risk.

Statutory tables still on last year’s values

If tax or social insurance parameters were not loaded for the new version, no amount of user training repairs the first remittance file. Confirm tables before debating cosmetic payslip layout issues.

Administrator confidence

When the people who will run the first live cycle cannot complete a correction path without vendor screen-sharing, the organisation is not ready—even if test scripts passed in a lab.

How we write the go / no-go note

Our pre-go-live payroll system check ends with a plain recommendation: proceed, proceed with named workarounds, or delay one cycle. The note is written for the sponsor who must defend the decision internally, not only for the project team.