Learn how to set up your new employee in QuickBooks Online Payroll and QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.
There's a lot to do when you hire a new team member: introductions, training, paperwork, and add them to your payroll. Whether you’re setting up payroll for the first time, or have been running payroll for a while, you’ll need to add new employees. Follow these steps to get them added to your payroll.
If you need to change an existing employee’s info, see Edit or change employee info in payroll instead.
Step 1: Get employee info
Here's what you need to have before you add an employee in payroll:
- TD-1 Form: Personal Tax Credits Return of personal data such as name, address, Social Insurance number, dependents and adjustments. Your employees can enter this info when you invite them, but you are required to keep a copy of this for your records.
- Email address: Send your employees an invite to add their personal info and have access to their pay stubs and T4s/Relevé-1s online.
- Work location: The address where your employee works.
- Pay info: Employee’s salary or pay rate, other pay types, as well as pay schedule (how often you'll pay them)
- Direct deposit info: Employee’s bank routing number and account number. Employees can add up to 2 bank accounts.
- Pay history: This only applies if you're setting up your QuickBooks payroll service for the first time. If that's true, and you've paid your employees already this year, you’ll need their year-to-date pay stubs so that you can have accurate year-end totals for taxes, etc. We'll walk you through this, but be sure you have this info.
Step 2: Add your employee
Now that you have the necessary documents, let's set up your new employee.
If you need to make changes to an employee who is already in the system, see Edit or change employee info in payroll instead. Select your payroll product to get started.
QuickBooks Online Payroll
You have 2 options for how to add your new employee with QuickBooks Payroll:
- Set up some information then invite your employee to add the rest. To do this you will invite them to QuickBooks Workforce with an email link.
- Set up and add all employee information.
| Inviting your employees to add their information can save you a lot of time, especially if you have many employees. This will also give them the option to view their pay stubs and T4s/Relevé-1s online any time. Note: This is only available after you’ve completed your initial payroll setup. |
Add your employee to payroll
- Open QuickBooks Online and go to Payroll.
- Navigate to Employees (Take me there) and select Add an employee.
- If you want the employee to add some of their own info, enter the following in the Personal Info section:
- First and last name
- Hire date
- Email address
- QuickBooks will automatically email them an invite to QuickBooks Workforce. Your employee can enter their Address, Social Insurance Number, TD1, and banking information.
- Enter the information in each section.
- Select Done.
Helpful links for handling new employees:
QuickBooks Desktop Payroll
Set up employee default
You can set up employee defaults in QuickBooks Desktop for things that apply to all or majority of your employees. Each time you add a new employee, the defaults will automatically appear on the employee profile to save you some time. This can include things like:
- Pay schedule or frequency
- Sick or vacation policies
- Province worked/Federal tax
- Earnings or deductions
To access the employee defaults you must be signed in as the QuickBooks Admin:
- Navigate to Edit and select Preferences.
- Select Payroll and Employees, then Company Preferences.
- Select Employee Defaults, then enter the changes that you want.
- Select OK twice to save changes.
Add your employee to payroll
- Navigates to Employees and select Employee Centre.
- Select New Employee and enter the employee’s information. Below is a list of required fields in each tab:
- Personal: First and last name and Social Insurance number
- Address and Contact: Home address and email address if you want to invite your employees to view their pay stubs and T4s/Relevé-1s online.
- Additional Info: no required fields
- Payroll Info: Pay schedule or pay frequency, pay type and pay rate, Federal and other taxes. Add deductions, sick or vacation policies, and direct deposit if necessary.
- Employment Info: Hire date
- Select OK.
Step 3: Complete new province setup if you added an employee who lives/works in another province
If you received an email with the subject New info needed for company tax setup, or your employee lives and/or works in a different province from where your business is located, you may need to set up and pay taxes in that province.
