Payee Management Introduction
Understanding payee types and management in Greenroom
Payees are the individuals and entities you pay through Greenroom. Understanding payee types and the payee lifecycle is essential for accurate payroll processing and compliance.
Payee Types
Greenroom supports four payee types, each with different tax treatment and processing workflows.
| Type | Definition | Tax Treatment | Payment Workflow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee | Worker hired directly by production; you control their work and schedule | W-2 with all taxes withheld | Employees & Loan-outs step |
| Loan-Out | Worker whose services are provided through their own LLC or corporation | 1099 (corporate); no taxes withheld | Employees & Loan-outs step |
| Contractor | Individual or business providing labor or creative services | 1099; no taxes withheld | Vendors & Contractors step |
| Vendor | Individual or business providing goods, rentals, or operational services | Not automatically 1099 — many vendors qualify as W-9-exempt | Vendors & Contractors step |
Tip: If you're unsure which payee type to use, see Payee Types Detailed Guide for comprehensive guidance on classification. The + Add payee drawer also has a built-in "Not sure? See examples" helper with the same guidance.
Payee type is set when you create the payee and can't be changed afterward — there's no "change type" control anywhere on the payee's page. If you picked the wrong type, archive the record (see Archiving Payees) and add a new one with the correct type.
Payee Lifecycle
Every payee moves through a standard lifecycle from creation to active status.
| Stage | Description |
|---|---|
| 1. Adding | Create a payee record: pick a type and enter their name and email. Everything else — union, pay rate, address, tax ID — is filled in afterward on the payee's own page. No invitation goes out at this step. |
| 2. Onboarding | A manager fills in engagement, pay, allowances, and deductions on the payee's page, then either finishes the rest themselves or sends the payee a link to do it (tax ID, payment method, signed documents). See Payee Onboarding. |
| 3. Active | Two separate signals matter here: manager approval (the setup was reviewed and signed off) and payroll readiness (a pay rate, required documents, and tax setup are all on file). A payee needs both before they can join a payroll run. |
| 4. Management | Update information, manage documents, configure payments, maintain tax settings |
| 5. Archival | Archive payees no longer active; historical payroll data is retained. There's no separate "delete" — archiving is the only removal action, and it's fully reversible. |
Payee Detail Sections
Each payee profile is one continuous scroll, not a set of tabs. The sections below always render in this order; a manager fills them in top to bottom during onboarding, and every field stays directly editable afterward.
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Basics | Legal name (business name for a loan-out or vendor), email, and phone. Once the payee is approved, this section also shows date of birth, tax ID, and mailing address. |
| Engagement & union | Union and agreement, job title, department, and effective start date. See Union Configuration. |
| Pay, allowances & deductions | Pay rates, per diem/housing/other allowances, and any deduction lines. See Pay & Compensation. |
| Representatives | Agent, manager, or lawyer assignments and payment-direction authorization. See Representatives & Payment Direction. |
| Child trust (Coogan) | Routes part of a minor's own pay into a blocked trust account. Only shown for employees and loan-outs. See Child Trust Accounts. |
| Payment history | A read-only record of every payroll line this payee has been paid on. |
Two more pieces of the record sit alongside these sections rather than inside the numbered scroll:
- Payment method — direct deposit or paper check, shown in its own card with account numbers masked to the last 4 digits. See Payment Details.
- Tax ID and signed documents — tax ID is entered as part of Basics; signed documents (I-9, startwork packet) are tracked in a Documents card once the payee has started setup. See Payee Onboarding.
Status at a glance
Rather than per-section badges, the payee's header shows two independent signals:
- An onboarding status pill — Not started, Invited, Review submission, Changes requested, Complete, or Invite expired. This tracks where the payee is in filling out their own setup. See Payee Onboarding for what each value means.
- A payroll-readiness dot — solid green once the payee has a pay rate, required documents, and tax setup on file; an amber ring with a count (like "2 to finish") otherwise. Hover it to see exactly what's missing.
These can disagree: a payee can show Complete on onboarding status while the readiness dot still says something's missing (a pay rate that was later deleted, for example), or the reverse. Both need to be green before a payee can join a payroll run.
Profile Changes After Approval
Editing a payee's information doesn't go through a separate review queue — changes save immediately from the one page. The exception is a payee's legal name, business name, and date of birth, which lock once they're approved (those fields are tied to the signed I-9). See Payee Profile Changes for details.
Payee Status
Greenroom tracks payee state along two axes, both described above, plus one more:
| Signal | Where it shows | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding status | Pill in the payee header | Not started → Invited → Review submission / Changes requested → Complete |
| Payroll readiness | Dot in the payee header and the payee list's Status column | Whether a pay rate, required documents, and tax setup are all on file |
| Active / Archived | Segmented control on the payee list | Archived payees are hidden by default and can't join new payroll runs, but nothing about them is deleted |
Archiving Payees
Payees who are no longer active can be archived from the payee list or from their own page. Archiving is a soft-delete: historical payroll records and tax documents are preserved for compliance, and the payee can be restored later. Archived payees cannot be added to new payroll runs.
For details, see Archiving Payees.
Payee List View
Access payee management by clicking Payees in the main navigation. The payee list displays all payees with filtering, sorting, and search capabilities.
Filtering Options
| Filter | Options |
|---|---|
| Type | All, Employees, Loan-outs, Contractors, Vendors — shown as tabs with live counts |
| Search | Matches name, email, or department as you type |
| Active / Archived | Toggle between active payees (the default view) and archived ones |
| Union | Any union, a specific union, or Non-union |
| Onboarding status | Complete, Review submission, Changes requested, Invited, Invite expired, or Not started |
Sorting Options
Click a sortable column header to sort by it; click again to reverse the order.
| Sort By | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Alphabetical — the default |
| Type | Groups by payee type |
| Union | Groups by union |
| Rate | Highest or lowest pay rate |
Export and Import
Use Export CSV in the top right to download exactly the payees currently shown — it honors whatever filters and sort you have applied. Use Import CSV to add many payees at once; see Adding Payees for the template and validation rules.
There's no bulk-edit or bulk-archive action — archiving is done one payee at a time, from that row's ··· menu (or from the payee's own page).
Next Steps
Continue with Adding Payees to learn how to create new payee records, or see Payee Onboarding to understand the onboarding process.