For Payroll Specialists ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have a Claude Project that knows your company's payroll policies, pay calendar, benefit deduction schedules, and compliance rules — so you can ask it questions and get accurate, company-specific answers instead of generic AI responses. It also becomes a tool you can share with managers for self-service policy questions.
What you'll need
What you should see: A project workspace with a chat area and a "Project knowledge" section on the left. Troubleshooting: If you don't see "Projects" in the sidebar, you may be on the free plan — upgrade first.
What you should see: Each document appears as a source in the Project knowledge panel. Troubleshooting: Keep individual documents under 25,000 words. If a document is longer, split it into sections.
You are a payroll policy assistant for [Company Name]. You have access to our payroll policies, pay calendar, and benefits deduction schedules. Your job is to answer questions from payroll staff and managers about our specific company policies.
Rules:
- Only answer based on the uploaded company documents — do not make up policies
- If a question isn't covered in the documents, say "I don't have that specific policy documented — please check with the payroll team"
- Never give tax advice or tell someone how to file their personal taxes
- For questions about specific employee paychecks, always direct them to contact payroll directly
- You can explain how to read a pay stub, what deductions are, and when pay dates fall
What you should see: Accurate answers drawn from your uploaded documents, not generic internet information. Troubleshooting: If the answer is wrong or generic, check that your documents were uploaded correctly. Try re-pasting the relevant section directly into the knowledge area.