Managing Third-Party Access in Payroll Settings

This article provides a comprehensive guide for managing third-party access within BambooHR Payroll. It emphasizes the importance of establishing third-party access for tax accounts to ensure accurate tax filings and compliance. The guide includes sections on setting up access, reviewing access status, and confirming access completion. Users are instructed to navigate to payroll settings to check the third-party access status and to manually add tax accounts if necessary. The article highlights the need for a Power of Attorney or similar authorization for secure access. It also outlines the confirmation process, indicating that access status will be updated once confirmed by the state. The information aims to help users avoid penalties and ensure timely tax processing.

  • Jul 9, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
Managing Third-Party Access in Payroll Settings
Article Text
Part of Payroll that is an add-on feature.

How do I manage Third-Party Access with BambooHR Payroll?

Purpose: The purpose of this guide is to help payroll users understand how to set up and manage third-party access within BambooHR.

Table of Contents

Third-Party Access Overview

Our payroll customers must set up third‑party access for all required tax accounts so that BambooHR can securely access tax account information and file, adjust, or remit payments on your behalf. Without this access, we cannot pull in real‑time information from your state tax accounts, leaving us unable to file or pay accurately. This can lead to penalties and interest imposed by the agency, and additional fees may be payable to BambooHR for servicing late filings and payments.

By notifying you when access may be missing, BambooHR helps reduce the likelihood that you'll incur these extra costs. This secure setup—typically authorized via a Power of Attorney or similar process—ensures that critical tax details are synchronized, filings occur on time, and compliance with state requirements is maintained.

For more details on how to grant third‑party access within each jurisdiction of your required payroll tax accounts, please visit the following guides: 

Third-Party Access in Payroll Settings

Whether you are going through implementation or a payroll change requires setting up a new tax account, BambooHR Payroll will notify you of the tax accounts' third-party access (TPA) status (see help guides above). Navigate to Settings > Payroll > Taxes.

If you have a new tax account to set up with third-party access or a POA, you may see one of the following banners at the top of the page (please note that only one banner will show at the top of the page in order of importance):

  • You have [#] tax accounts that need to be set up
  • Set up your tax account

A "! Pending access confirmation" status will appear under the tax account name only if you are required to provide third-party access (TPA) or a Power Of Attorney (POA). This status means that the tax account requires either TPA or a POA, and BambooHR is waiting for you to complete the setup or for the state to confirm access. 

The ! Pending access confirmation is important to note if it appears within one of your tax accounts. Click the Review Access button to double-check you have completed the steps to set up third-party access or a Power of Attorney. If you have already checked the acknowledgment box and completed the steps, then BambooHR is waiting for the state to send confirmation that we have received the necessary info to access the tax account.

Setting up Tax Filing Access Manually

When manually adding a tax account within Settings > Payroll > Taxes > + Add Tax, there are a few things to remember. The Tax Filing Access section will appear at the bottom of the tax setup if the tax account requires third-party access (TPA) or a Power of Attorney (POA). This section will appear grayed out until you add your Tax Account ID.

Once you add your Tax Account ID, instructions for how to set up TPA for the specific state or a link to the state's POA will appear. You must also check the box to acknowledge you are responsible for completing these steps before saving the tax account. You will not be able to save the account until you check the box. 

Tax Filing Access Confirmation

After you have finished setting up third-party access or filling out the Power of Attorney and BambooHR confirms access is complete, the status within the Tax Filing Access section will show a green banner that reads "Access to your account has been confirmed." Please note that this may take a few business days to appear, depending on how long it takes the state to process the access request. 

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