Payroll Onboarding Documents

The article outlines the process for completing payroll onboarding documents essential for payroll implementation. It details five key documents requiring signatures before the implementation start date. The IRS 8821 and 8655 forms authorize BambooHR to manage tax deposits and verify business information. The ACH Authorization form ensures banking legitimacy. Each document must be downloaded, signed, and uploaded back to BambooHR, with specific fields auto-populated. Timely completion is crucial to avoid delays in payroll. Additionally, the Payroll Services Agreement must be reviewed and accepted online without physical signatures. Proper completion of these steps is necessary for a smooth onboarding experience.

  • May 5, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
Payroll Onboarding Documents
Article Text
Payroll Onboarding Documents are a part of Payroll that is an add-on feature.

How do I fill out my payroll onboarding documents?

Purpose: There are five onboarding documents to review and complete. Four require signatures before your payroll implementation start date (outlined in payroll onboarding). This help guide will walk you through the onboarding documents and how to fill them out correctly.

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Table of Contents

How to prepare for IRS verification

On all BambooHR Payroll onboarding documents, please make sure the company's legal name and 9-digit EIN match with any IRS return form (SS-4 or 941). If you are in the process of changing your company name, please provide the name that is currently on file with the IRS. 

If you complete the documents incorrectly, you will need to work with the payroll implementation team to correct the issues. If there is no quick resolution, it may push back your first pay date.

To meet the first pay date, complete the documents by the due date outlined in payroll onboarding. 

Payroll onboarding signature documents

You can download the three documents that require signatures within the Signed Documents section under the Company & Bank Info tab in Payroll Onboarding. Once they are signed and complete, you will upload them for approval in the same place. After your documents are reviewed and processed by our payroll teams, you will find receipts of the signed documents within the Payroll settings tab in BambooHR. 

1. IRS 8821

By signing the 8821, you confirm that this tax document is correct and ensure that BambooHR makes the tax deposits correctly on your behalf.

Signature type

To comply with IRS regulations, you must download,* print, and physically sign the 8821 IRS document. You can then scan the document and upload it to BambooHR. Complete the following required fields:

  • Signature
  • Date (The date should autofill for you as of the date you printed the form.)
  • Print Name
  • Title

*Please make sure you download the current form from BambooHR. 

Document fields

BambooHR will auto-populate specific fields on each onboarding document. On the IRS 8821 document, please make sure you do not remove any auto-populated information. If you see auto-populated tax forms in column (b) that do not apply to your company, you can remove this information if needed.

2. IRS 8655

The 8655 authorizes BambooHR to make tax deposits on your behalf (Section 15) and authorizes BambooHR to verify your business information with the IRS. This document aims to ensure company legitimacy and provide BambooHR access to view tax deposit history (Section 16).

Signature type

To comply with IRS regulations, you must download,* print, and physically sign the 8655 IRS document. You can then scan the document and upload it to BambooHR. Complete the following required fields:

  • Signature of taxpayer
  • Title
  • Date

*Please make sure you download the current form from BambooHR.

Document fields

BambooHR will auto-populate specific fields on each onboarding document. On the IRS 8655 document, please make sure you do not remove any auto-populated information.

In Sections 15 and 16, you will see auto-populated dates next to specific tax forms. These dates refer to when you are granting BambooHR access to the tax form history for your company. BambooHR will not become the reporting agent and file returns for your company until after your first pay date.

Completed example

EXAMPLE - IRS Form 8655.pdf
3. ACH Authorization form

The ACH document is information for BambooHR’s bank (NPC) to implement their "underwriting" process, including but not limited to business address and penny verifications. The purpose of this document is to ensure company and banking legitimacy. 

Before the verification process, please make sure the filter is turned off for BambooHR if your company has a banking fraud filter turned on. If your company bank requires an ACH ID, please complete the banking documents promptly to prevent a delay in the implementation process and avoid debit block rejection notices from our bank (NPC).

If your company address on the IRS return form is a P.O. Box, please be sure to list a physical business address on the ACH form. A physical address needs to be in the Business Address section to process the penny verification. (See screenshot below.)

Signature type

Have the ACH Authorization form completed with a wet signature or an e-signature. Complete the following required fields:

  • Company Manager Name
  • Company Manager Title
  • Company Manager Signature
  • Date

Document fields

BambooHR will auto-populate specific fields on each onboarding document. Outside of the fields that auto-populate on the ACH Authorization document, please fill out the additional fields below:

Required

  • Type of Business
  • Website
  • Owner/Principal Name
  • Owner/Principal Title

Optional

  • Password
  • Transmission Reports
  • Business Account for Tax Payments: This section is available if you would like to fund tax payments with a separate business account.

Completed example

EXAMPLE - ACH Form.pdf

Including a copy of a voided check for each business account is not required but it is helpful and does speed up the penny verification process.

Who signs these documents?

Typically, a high-level person at the company will need to sign these documents. In most cases, we will see a CFO or member as the title of the signer.

Please make sure an authorized officer of the company signs the documents.

Payroll Services Agreement

The final legal documentation you need to review is the BambooHR Payroll Services Agreement. You don't need to download or sign anything to complete this part of onboarding. Instead, within the Review Payroll Services Agreement section of Payroll Onboarding, check the box to confirm that you have reviewed and agree to our terms and conditions. This is a legally binding contract. Completing this step is for BambooHR and our record, however, we provide this information to our bank, the National Payment Corporation (NPC), so they know you have agreed to our terms and conditions.

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