This article walks you through the employee setup steps in Patriot Payroll's initial setup wizard. You will set up a pay schedule, add each employee's personal information, pay rate, and tax information, and then assign any deductions and contributions to the employee.
These steps apply to all Patriot Payroll customers (Basic Payroll and Full-Service Payroll).
Video Walkthrough
The video for this setup wizard guides you through these steps in order:
Set up a pay schedule
Add employee personal information
Add employee pay information
Add employee tax information
Assign deductions and contributions
Step 1: Set Up a Pay Schedule
Before adding employees, you need to create at least one pay schedule. A pay schedule defines how often you pay your employees (for example, weekly, biweekly, or semimonthly).
To add a pay schedule in the wizard:
From the Pay Schedule step of the setup wizard, click Add Pay Schedule.
Enter a name for the pay schedule (for example, "Weekly" or "Biweekly Hourly").
Select the Pay Frequency from the dropdown (Weekly, Biweekly, Semimonthly, or Monthly).
Select the First Pay Period Start Date.
Select the First Pay Date — this is the date employees will receive their first paycheck.
Click Save Pay Schedule.
You can add more than one pay schedule if you pay different groups of employees on different frequencies. Once your pay schedule is saved, click Next to move on to adding employees.
Step 2: Add Employee Personal Information
Each employee is added one at a time. To start adding an employee:
From the Employees step of the setup wizard, click Add Employee.
Enter the employee's First Name and Last Name.
Enter the employee's Email Address (optional, but required if the employee will use the Employee Portal).
Enter the employee's Address, including street, city, state, and ZIP code.
Enter the employee's Social Security Number (SSN).
Enter the employee's Date of Birth and Hire Date.
Select the employee's Employment Type (Employee or Contractor).
Click Next to continue to pay information.
Step 3: Add Employee Pay Information
On the pay information screen, you will set up the employee's pay rate and assign them to a pay schedule.
Select the Pay Schedule you want to assign this employee to from the dropdown.
Select the employee's Pay Type:
Salary — enter the annual salary amount
Hourly — enter the hourly rate
Enter the Pay Rate amount.
If the employee is hourly, enter their Default Hours Per Pay Period (for example, 80 for a full-time biweekly employee).
Click Next to continue to tax information.
Step 4: Add Employee Tax Information
On the tax information screen, you will enter the employee's federal and state withholding elections and note any tax exemptions.
Federal Tax Withholding
Select the employee's Federal Filing Status (for example, Single or Married Filing Jointly) as reported on their W-4.
Enter any Additional Federal Withholding amount if the employee requested extra withholding on their W-4.
If the employee is exempt from federal income tax withholding, check the Exempt from Federal Income Tax box.
State Tax Withholding
Patriot will pre-populate the employee's work state and home state based on the address entered in Step 2.
Enter the employee's State Filing Status and any state-specific withholding fields as required by their state.
Enter any Additional State Withholding amount if applicable.
If the employee is exempt from state income tax withholding, check the Exempt from State Income Tax box.
Other Tax Exemptions
If the employee is exempt from any other taxes (for example, FICA taxes for certain visa holders or student employees), check the applicable exemption boxes:
Exempt from Social Security
Exempt from Medicare
Exempt from Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Exempt from State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Click Next to continue to deductions and contributions.
Step 5: Assign Deductions and Contributions
On this screen, you can assign any company-level deductions or contributions to the employee. Deductions are amounts withheld from an employee's paycheck (for example, health insurance premiums). Contributions are amounts your company pays on the employee's behalf (for example, an employer 401(k) match).
The deductions and contributions shown here were already created during an earlier step of the setup wizard. To assign them to the employee:
Check the box next to each Deduction you want to assign to this employee.
For each selected deduction, enter the Amount or Percentage to withhold per pay period.
Check the box next to each Contribution you want to assign to this employee.
For each selected contribution, enter the Amount or Percentage your company will contribute per pay period.
Click Save Employee.
The employee is now saved. You will return to the employee list screen, where you can add another employee by clicking Add Employee again, or click Next to move on to the next step in the setup wizard.
After Adding Employees
Once you have added all your employees, the setup wizard will move you to the next step: entering payroll history. If you had employees on payroll before starting with Patriot, you'll enter any wages paid earlier in the current year so Patriot has accurate year-to-date totals for tax reporting.