When you turn on the Payroll Agent, it doesn't start from a blank page. RemotePass loads a set of built-in checks for you, and you can add your own on top. This article explains the difference between the two, and how to adjust each.
RemotePass instructions
These are 22 built-in checks that come switched on the moment you activate the Payroll Agent, covering the most common things worth flagging in a payroll run:
High severity
Standalone non-salary payment (bonus, commission, addition, deduction, adjustment, or allowance) is due
Payment's base amount exceeds the contracted salary by more than 15%
Payment is more than 1% above the last paid amount
Salary payment carries payroll adjustments (additions or deductions)
Pay-as-you-go payment deviates more than 50% from the contractor's six-month baseline
Pay-as-you-go payment is above 1.5x the contract rate
Medium severity
Commission or bonus is the first of its kind, or more than 50% above the highest previous one
Payment total includes a pending, unapproved adjustment
Payment is a statistical outlier versus its history
EOR payment includes a one-time charge with no precedent in the payment history (annual insurance, a 13th salary, an onboarding fee)
Milestone amount deviates by more than 20% from the average of the contract's earlier milestones
Milestone has no precedent in the contract and its description is vague
Pay-as-you-go payment deviates more than 20% from the contractor's six-month baseline
Submitted work is more than 50% above the contractor's own average
Active contract with earlier payments has a zero payment and no submitted work
Low severity
Salary payment differs from the contracted salary by more than 22%
Payment's gross amount falls more than 5% below the contracted salary
Contract with earlier payments has no payment for the previous month
Payment covers only part of the pay period (onboarding, termination, or a mid-cycle join)
Milestone description is generic or copy-pasted, naming no specific deliverable
Pay-as-you-go payment deviates more than 10% from the contractor's six-month baseline
Submitted work description is generic or copy-pasted, naming no specific deliverable
Each one can be turned off with its toggle, or opened with Edit to change its severity or its threshold (like the 15% or 1.5x figures above). Turning one off just removes that flag going forward, it doesn't touch decisions already made.
Custom instructions
These are the instructions you write yourself, in plain language, from the agent's setup screen ("Flag any payment over $10,000 to a new contractor," "Flag any payroll run with more than 3 adjustments"). Unlike the RemotePass instructions, nothing is pre-filled here. Because the Payroll Agent never auto-approves or auto-declines a payment, every custom instruction works the same way as the built-in checks: it flags, at a severity you choose, rather than deciding anything on its own. You can build conditions around country, contract type, amount, payment type, and more.
Custom instructions run alongside the RemotePass ones, not instead of them. Both are checked against every payment, and a payment can pick up flags from either.
Where you see this
On the agent's instructions screen, use the All / RemotePass / Custom tabs to filter the list: RemotePass shows only the built-in checks, Custom shows only the ones you've added, and All shows everything together.
The takeaway
RemotePass instructions are your starting safety net, on by default and yours to tune or switch off. Custom instructions are how you encode the judgment calls specific to your company. Together, they're what the agent checks every payment against, surfacing anomalies for you to review before a cycle closes. The final call always stays with you.