How we automatically pay out referral bonuses on time, every time

Word of mouth is PureCars’ biggest recruiting asset. When our talented employees tap into their networks and help us land stellar candidates for available roles, we want to reward them. With that in mind, we set up a referral bonus program. If we hire a new team member that a current employee sent our way, we pay them a $2,500 bonus, doled out in two $1,250 installments. 

But juggling all the referrals, start dates, and bonus pay runs was chaotic to keep track of manually. Here’s how we made it one-click simple. 

The problem: Manual referral payments

We get a ton of employee referrals and used to manage them all in a spreadsheet. Since we give out half the bonus after the referred employee’s first six weeks, then the rest after 12 weeks, we had a hard time keeping track of all the payroll changes manually. It was a lot of mental math across a lot of different start dates. And if I didn't set calendar reminders to check the spreadsheet and make payroll changes, the bonuses weren't processed on time, which meant we’d make off-cycle pay runs and pay some of them out late.

The solution: Automated reminders

I used Rippling to turn employee referral bonuses from a manual mess into an automated breeze. Here’s how we pay them out on time, everytime:

Step 1: Set up an onboarding workflow

Within Rippling’s Workflow Studio, we added an onboarding action that asks admins whether an incoming employee was a referral and, if yes, who referred them. 

Step 2: Receive reminders

The workflow from step 1 triggers reminders that automatically go out exactly six and 12 weeks after a referred employee’s start date. The email and dashboard reminders tell me that the next time we run payroll, the employee who referred a new team member is due for their bonus.

Step 3: Run payroll

After I’m automatically reminded, it’s easy for me to go into Rippling Payroll and add in bonus payments. 

The impact

This referral workflow helped me spare hassles and pay punctual bonuses out like clockwork. 

Time saved

I don’t have to comb through spreadsheets and research who’s owed a referral bonus anymore. I also don’t have to manually keep track of payroll dates for bonus eligible employees, or start dates for referred employees. Now, Rippling does all the administrative legwork for me. 

This was also our company’s first ever Rippling workflow and it inspired us to make more. Now, we use 146 of them, which amounts to countless hours of extra time saved. 

Zero payments missed

Since implementing this onboarding workflow back in 2022, we’ve never missed a bonus referral payment. 

Better record keeping

If employees reach out inquiring about whether they’re eligible for a bonus and if so, when to expect it, I have an easy-to-access paper trail that helps me update them.

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of March 18, 2025.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.