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Set up document templates in QuickBooks Workforce Premium or Elite

by Intuit• Updated 6 days ago

Use document templates for offer letters, agreements, forms, and other documents that employees, managers, and admins need to sign, acknowledge, or approve.

Once a document is set up, you can reuse it as many times as you need—no more recreating documents from scratch.

What you’ll need

  • A QuickBooks Workforce Premium or Elite subscription.
  • (Optional) An existing DOCX or PDF file 4 mb or smaller to upload as the template.

When you upload a document to use as a template, the file format limits how much you can change. Use a DOCX file if you need to modify the document regularly, or if it contains a lot of text. Use a PDF if the document has tables, checkboxes, or needs to keep the exact same layout.

  • You can type and embed fields in an uploaded .docx file, but you can only drag-and-drop fields in a PDF file.
  • You can’t add checkboxes, headers, footers, multiple-choice fields, or tables in an uploaded DOCX file. You also can’t see page breaks while editing the file.
  • Text box sizes are fixed in an uploaded PDF file. Your text shrinks to fit the field.
  • If you need to change any text in an uploaded PDF file, upload a new PDF and place the fields again.

These templates are for documents your team members are expected to read, fill out, and send to you. Use Offer letter for documents prospective team members need to sign before onboarding. Use Agreements, forms & handbooks for new other documents. 

  1. Go to All apps A bunch of numbers and letters on a tile wall., then Team, then Documents (Take me there).
  2. Select Add document.
  3. Select either Offer letter or Agreements, forms & handbooks. 
  4. Choose how you want to build the document:
    • Upload file – Use an existing file in .pdf or .docx format.
    • Create new – Start from scratch.
  5. Select Save & continue.
  6. For each step in the Document assignees process, assign a role, and the action they need to take.
    • Document sender: The payroll admin sending the file.
    • Admins: All payroll admins on the account.
    • Manager: The manager of the specific team member.
    • Team member: The employee the document concerns.
    • Needs to sign digitally: They must provide a signature or fill fields.
    • Needs to acknowledge: They must confirm they have reviewed the document.
    • Needs to approve: They must Approve or Deny the document. 
  7. Add any additional steps you want as part of the process.
    Note: You can enter the same step number for more than one assignee to let them work at the same time.
  8. If assignees can complete the tasks in any order, turn on Complete in any order.
  9. Select the Build tab.
  10. Place fields in the document to pull data dynamically from profiles or to be filled by assignees.
  11. Select the Review tab to preview the document experience for each assignee.
  12. When the setup is complete, select Publish.

Create a document to collect

Documents to collect are templates that team members provide instead of filling out themselves. One example is a license or certification. 

  1. Go to All apps A bunch of numbers and letters on a tile wall., then Team, then Documents (Take me there).
  2. Select Add document.
  3. Choose Documents to collect.
  4. Enter a name for the requested document.
  5. (Optional) Select a folder and enter the Instructions for team members.
  6. Upload an example file.
  7. Select Save & Continue.
  8. Select Save.

Results

The document template is published and available to send to employees. Future updates to a template only affect documents sent after the update is published.

Next steps

You can now select the published template whenever you need to send that specific document to a team member.

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