📄 Step 4: Configure Tax Docs
After successfully linking your business bank account in Step 3, you're now ready to complete one of the most vital pieces of your payroll setup: Configuring Tax Documentation. This is the step that unlocks legal compliance, automated tax filings, and ensures that every dollar you pay your employees or contractors is accurately tracked, reported, and submitted to the proper tax authorities. Every decision you made earlier — from the business type you selected in Step 1 to the locations and roles you configured in Step 2 — directly impacts the way your tax setup works. And now, FlexPay takes those foundational inputs and ties them together into a comprehensive tax configuration flow that requires just a few minutes of thoughtful review.
Many new users assume this step is about uploading tax forms, but it’s much more dynamic. Instead, you’ll input key identifiers such as your Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN), State Tax IDs, and Unemployment Insurance Account Numbers, along with choosing how frequently you want to file: monthly, quarterly, or annually. FlexPay’s smart form system dynamically responds based on your previous entries. For example, if your company operates across multiple states (identified in Step 2 when you added your remote or in-office team), FlexPay will automatically ask for additional State ID fields and provide registration guidance if you haven’t registered with that state yet. This step also introduces the Auto-Filing and Auto-Payment system, which allows you to authorize FlexPay to handle all payroll tax filings on your behalf, reducing your administrative load and helping prevent costly IRS or state compliance issues.
These identifiers are used in every payroll run and tax filing. For instance, your EIN links your business to the IRS, and your State Tax IDs allow FlexPay to file state income tax, disability insurance, and unemployment insurance in your name. Each time you run payroll (which we’ll preview in Step 5), FlexPay will calculate and queue up these taxes in real-time, display a breakdown on your Payroll Summary screen, and store the withholding data for quarterly and year-end reports. The automated logic engine ensures that your tax configuration is always synced with your team’s current structure. If someone changes work locations, transitions to a contractor, or if you expand into a new state, FlexPay’s built-in tax assistant will prompt you to make the necessary changes.
💡 Hint: If you're unsure whether a state requires registration, FlexPay links directly to that state’s payroll tax registration portal in a side panel for convenience.
In this step, you’ll also choose your filing frequency, which is often determined by the size of your payroll. Larger companies with higher liability are usually required to file monthly, whereas small startups may qualify for quarterly or even annual schedules. FlexPay will pre-fill a recommended filing cadence based on your company info and employee compensation estimates from Step 2. You can override these defaults, but we recommend sticking to the platform’s recommendation unless you’ve been specifically assigned a different schedule by your state’s Department of Revenue or Labor.
Once your tax IDs and filing frequency are locked in, you’ll encounter the Tax Authorization screen. This is where you officially grant FlexPay permission to file and pay taxes on your behalf. It’s a one-time authorization using Form 8655 (for the IRS) and state-specific power-of-attorney forms. FlexPay stores and encrypts these securely, and you’ll receive copies via email. If you prefer to file manually, you can skip this section — but you’ll need to handle all filings on your own outside the platform, which may limit your visibility into upcoming tax liabilities and form deadlines.
FlexPay also includes built-in warnings and review logic. If your entered ID doesn’t match known formatting rules for your state, you’ll receive a live error message. You can temporarily skip these fields, save your progress, and return once your ID has been issued by the state. A lot of customers choose to register new State IDs directly from the FlexPay interface during this step, especially when hiring across state lines. You can start that process with just one click from within the form, and FlexPay’s internal compliance center will help track the request status in real-time.
⚠️ Important: Your payrolls cannot run until at least one valid federal and state tax ID are saved. FlexPay will prevent unfiled or uncompliant payroll activity automatically to protect your business.
You’ll also see a summary screen after all forms are submitted — this page will show you the tax jurisdictions currently linked to your business profile, filing frequency by tax type, and a status label for each (e.g., Verified ✅, Pending ⚠️, or Missing ❌). These labels are synced with FlexPay’s Compliance Overview Panel, accessible from the dashboard once onboarding is complete. If any items are left pending, you can continue onboarding and return later to finish.
Here’s an example of how your configuration summary might look after Step 4 is complete:
Federal EIN
✅ 86-9984412
Monthly
✅ Verified
CA Income Tax
✅ 123-554888
Monthly
✅ Verified
CA UI/SDI
✅ 667-093221
Quarterly
⚠️ Pending
OR Income Tax
❌ Not Provided
—
❌ Missing
📝 Note: Pending or missing items will not prevent you from completing onboarding, but may delay your first live payroll. FlexPay will provide reminders post-onboarding to help you stay compliant.
✅ Summary
You’ve now set up the critical tax components that allow FlexPay to become your compliance engine — calculating, withholding, reporting, and remitting all required payroll taxes on your behalf. Thanks to the smart logic built into FlexPay, your tax setup evolves automatically with your business structure. Your inputs from Steps 1 through 3 are now fully powering FlexPay’s filing engine. The foundation you’ve built is about to pay off in the next step.
🔍 What’s Next?
Your final onboarding task is to finalize and review your full setup. In this next section, we’ll generate a live preview of your first payroll cycle, flag any missing configuration items (such as pending state IDs or unpaid tax authorizations), and give you the chance to test-run payroll before going live. This will be your “pre-launch checklist” — and after that, you’re ready to roll. See you in Step 5.
Last updated
Was this helpful?