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Understand how Form I-9 works in QuickBooks Workforce
Form I-9, issued by the USA Citizenship and Immigration Services, verifies a new team member’s identity and US work authorization. If you don’t already have a completed I-9 for your new team member, you can use the digital Form I-9 in QuickBooks Workforce Premium and QuickBooks Workforce Elite.
Both you and your team member need to complete sections of Form I-9. Your employee also needs to show you identification and employment authorization documents (see the list of acceptable documents on page 2 of Form I-9).
For help completing Form I-9, check out the Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9 (M-274) and I-9 Central.
Video transcript
[0:00] QuickBooks helps you and your employees fill out and Complete I-9 forms to confirm an employee's eligibility for employment. Let's go over how to invite a new employee to submit their I-9 and how you can retrieve it in QuickBooks. Select Team, then Employees. Then, select Add an employee. Enter basic information about the employee, like their name…email address…and hire date.
[0:25] To invite employees to fill out their own I-9, you must select the option to let them enter their own info. This allows the employee to set up their tax and banking information in QuickBooks Workforce and fill out an I-9 to verify their employment eligibility during that setup. Select Continue to onboard to add them to your Employee list and complete their required information.
[0:50] On the document step, you'll see that the I9 is prepared and ready to send. Once you've completed the basic onboarding, select Finish to invite them to fill out their info. Your new employee receives an email inviting them to QuickBooks Workforce, where they can enter their information. First, they'll enter personal information, like their address, birth date, and other info.
[1:14] Then, they'll fill in information about their employment eligibility. They choose their status as a citizen, permanent resident, or noncitizen, and then will see a message about what documents they need to present to you within their first three days of work. Next, they'll select whether they completed the form themselves or used a preparer or translator, and sign their name.
[1:39] The employee will fill in the rest of their information, including federal, state, and local tax status, and sign their W-4 confirming their details. Finally, they'll enter their bank account for direct deposit and select Finish. This submits their info to your records in QuickBooks. When an employee completes their I-9, you'll receive an email. Then you can go back to QuickBooks.
[2:03] Select Team … Documents. You'll see a section labeled Government forms. Then View or Start for the I-9. Select the document they supplied and enter any information related to it. If you want to keep an image of the document in QuickBooks, drag and drop it into this box. Select Continue. Enter your information, and information about your company.
[2:28] Then sign your name…and check the box to attest to the accuracy of what you're submitting. If you're completing the I-9 more than three days after the employee's hire date, you'll need to enter an explanation for why you're submitting this form late and then sign your name again and then Finish. You can see the employee's I-9 at any time in their Documents tab.
[2:50] Now you're ready to invite employees to fill out their I-9s and retrieve them in QuickBooks.
What you’ll need
An active QuickBooks Workforce Premium or QuickBooks Workforce Elite subscription.
The new team member’s name and email address.
The new team member’s identification and employment authorization documents.
Send Form I-9 to an employee
When you onboard a team member, select the Self-onboard option to send them a digital Form I-9. Alternatively, use these steps to send the form outside of the initial onboarding flow:
Go to All apps
, then Team, then Employees (Take me there).Choose the specific team member.
Select the Documents tab.
Select Add Documents.
Choose Form I-9, then select Add.
Review the document preview and select Send Document.
Complete the employer section
Once your employee finishes their portion, you will receive a notification to complete your section. Employers must finish Section 2 within 3 business days of the hire date.
Go to All apps
, then Team, then Employees (Take me there)..Select your employee.
From the Employment eligibility section, select Start.
Complete the required fields and upload copies of the employee’s identification documents.
Alternatively, you can select Complete I-9 directly from the email notification you receive to finish the form.
Results
Your employee receives an email and task notification to complete their portion of the form through QuickBooks Workforce. After both parties sign, the digital record is stored securely in your payroll account.
Next steps
You must keep a completed, signed, and dated Form I-9 for every employee. Retain these records and all supporting document copies for 3 years after the hire date, or 1 year after employment ends, whichever is later.
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