My phone has been blowing up with payroll questions and conversions lately, so I've been on a payroll kick to find the latest and greatest features and tools.
The new QBO Employee self-onboarding really grabbed my attention, because it accomplishes three things:
- Saves time
- Ensures accuracy (especially direct deposit details)
- Employees are automatically signed up for View my Paychecks
I'm not a big fan of moving over a client mid-year, but QBO Full service payroll really has changed my view about mid-year conversions. It just makes it so easy to hand over payroll details for importing.
For me, this July payroll update has arrived at a good time, so I wanted to share my thoughts.
The New QBO employee self-onboarding is available in both QBO Payroll Essentials and QBO Full Service Payroll.
How it works
QBO employee self-onboarding does not require the employee to be a user, instead the employer invites its employee to self-onboard with a unique six-digit pin.
With the six-digit pin, the employee opens his specific QBO Employee portal and then enters his address, social security number, W-4 information and direct deposit details.
That’s all there is. Once he has completed the employee self-onboarding, he is done with the six-digit code. And, the employer has all the necessary information to process payroll for that employee.
Liz's Tip: Have the employee perform this process with the office payroll processor. This saves time and empowers the employee to use the View my Paycheck in the Future. Another "win."
How and where to start
To create and send the six-digit employee code, start with the Navigation bar and select Employees:
QBO Onboard_01
- To add an employee – enter the employee's name and email address, select the Yes bubble to elect employee on-boarding. This is where the six-digit pin is created, which you'll need to share with the employee in order for him to self-onboard.
QBO Onboard_02
- The employee will get sent an email invite, and then he takes over:
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- When the employee accepts the email invite, by clicking the Get ready for payday button, QBO View-My-Paychecks will open automatically:
qbo onboard_04
- The employee must enter his six-digit code. He also must confirm his email address and create a password for the account.
- Next, he proceeds to the actual on-boarding by clicking the green Sign Up button.
Employee Self-onboarding four-step process
1. Tell us about yourself – This is where the employee provides his personal information, such as name, phone, date of birth and address. Once the information is complete, he clicks the green Next button to proceed.
qbo onboard_05
2. How do you want to get paid? – This is the payment section, where the employee decides if he wants a paper-check or direct deposit. If he selects direct deposit, he must provide his bank account information, including account type, routing number and account number. Once the information is complete, he clicks the green Next button to proceed.
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3. Provide your federal and state tax info – Even though you, as an employee, are onboarding, you cannot get out of providing essential information for federal and state taxes, including filing status, withholding allowances, additional amounts to be withheld, etc.
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This is a cool feature, because once the employee's information is entered, QBO will actually create a W-4 form that can be printed either now or later for your "paper" file.
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4. Check the details one more time – This is the review stage, where the employee checks over the information he has provided and then e-signs his tax documents.
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When the employee is finished onboarding, he receives a confirmation like the one shown below.
qbo onboard_10
Because QBO Self-Onboarding is powered by View-My-Paycheck, the employee is automatically signed up using the login and password he created.
You have to love the fact that the vast majority of the entire process is "employee" driven.
If you're not familiar with View-My-Paycheck, it's an employee portal with automatic payday email notification, including pay stubs and end-of-year W-2 via the same portal.
Special thanks to Tanmayee Potluri for the images used on her YouTube page regarding this feature.