Set up an employee

Follow these steps to enter basic employee information to set up an employee.
  1. Go to
    Setup
    ,
    Employees
    , then the
    Main
    tab.
  2. In the Identification section, enter
    • Employee ID
    • 1st name
    • Middle name
    • Family name
    • Suffix
    • Social Security Number (SSN)
    note
    • If you intend to use ASCII format time clock entry for the client (for live payroll processing only), the Employee ID can only be limited to 4 numeric characters.
    • When you try to save the employee record, the application checks that the social security number you've entered for the employee is using a valid format. You can't save the record until you enter an SSN using a valid format.
    • You can verify that employee social security numbers and names entered in the application match those on file with the Social Security Administration (SSA).
  3. Adjust the employee type in the
    Type
    field. Your choice in this field determines which agent federal liabilities will be created for this employee and the forms to include them on.
    • Standard
    • Agricultural
    • Household
    • Independent Contractor
    note
    • Changing the employee type prompts an update for existing checks. Select
      Yes
      to apply to all checks, or
      No
      for future checks only. This prompt doesn’t appear if you are changing from or to an Independent Contractor employee type or if you are changing the employee type using the
      Edit Multiple Employees wizard
      .
    • If you choose
      Independent Contractor
      as the employee type, only the pay items that use special type
      Nonemployee compensation
      or
      Nonemployee reimbursement
      will be available for selection in the
      Payroll Items
      tab for that employee.
    • If the client's employer type is set to
      Agriculture (943)
      on the
      Payroll Taxes
      tab of the
      Clients
      screen, then
      Agricultural
      is the default
      Employee type
      selection here in the Identification section.
    • If the client's employer type is set to
      Household
      on the
      Payroll Taxes
      tab of the
      Clients
      screen, then
      Household
      is the default
      Employee type
      selection here in the Identification section.
  4. Enter the street address and ZIP Code, or city and state in the lookup field of the Addresses section, separated by a comma.
    note
    • For the application to calculate taxation correctly, all addresses entered in the application need to be verified as accurate and valid. The address verification feature helps you ensure accuracy by looking up and verifying the validity of city, county, state, and ZIP Code combinations and, if appropriate, determining taxes based on address-level verification.
    • Specify an address as the mailing address by marking the
      Mailing address
      checkbox. This is the address that will be used on employee tax forms. (The checkbox is marked for the Home address by default).
    • If this address is the one that should be used for determining taxes applicable to the employee, select the
      Resident
      address checkbox. (The checkbox is marked for the Home address by default).
    • If this employee has an
      International ACH
      format selected on the
      Direct Deposit
      tab, all fields in the Addresses section need to be completed before the employee record can be saved. Entries in the state and ZIP Code fields are required only for those countries to which they apply.
  5. Provide phone and fax numbers in the
    Phone and fax numbers
    section. Select
    Selection
    to enter multiple phone numbers.
  6. Enter the employee's email address and website URL in the
    Email and web addresses
    section. Selecting 
    Email
    opens your default email client. Selecting
    Website
    opens the site in your default browser.
  7. Select primary and alternate payroll schedules in the
    Payroll schedules
    section. The dropdowns are populated from the list of payroll schedules set up on the
    Payroll Information
    tab of the
    Clients
    screen.
    For live payroll processing.
    If you plan to enter payroll checks for this employee using the
    Enter Batch Payroll Checks
    screen, you'll need to select at least 1 valid payroll schedule in this section.
  8. In the Locations and Departments section, select the location and department combinations (there may be one or multiple) in which the employee works and specify which is the primary location/department combination.
    note
    • The application calculates unemployment and insurance taxes for the state associated with the employee's primary location based on wages earned in any state, unless the
      Do not combine state unemployment
      checkbox is marked in the
      Payroll Taxes tab
      of the
      Clients
      screen.
    • To remove a location/department combination from the grid, select the button to the left of the row to select it, and then press the
      Delete
      key on your keyboard.
  9. If you want to specify a distribution percent for each location/department, select the
    Enable auto pay distribution by %
    checkbox and enter the percentage amounts in the
    %
    column of the grid. The distribution percent needs to total 100%. If you specify a distribution percentage, this will be used to automatically split pay and deduction amounts between locations or departments during payroll check entry for the employee.

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