If you were using another payroll provider, issue ROEs to your employees before switching to Wave. Select Code K17—Change of Service Provider. Visit the CRA website for a complete list of reason codes.
To use Wave’s payroll feature to pay employees or contractors, set up your payroll profile. Begin with Step 1 and work your way through each section entirely for an accurate payroll profile. Some sections will not be available until earlier steps are completed.
Step 1: Open your payroll setup page
When you first begin using Wave’s payroll feature, your Run Payroll page is where you will complete your payroll setup steps. When your setup is complete, your Run Payroll page is where you run your payroll.
To begin your payroll setup, on the left-side menu, click Payroll > Run Payroll. Click Get started, then select Next to move through the prompts in the pop-up window.
Step 2: Add a company signatory
A company signatory is the individual in your business who has signing authority on behalf of the company.
To add a company signatory, you need the following information:
- Their full name
- Address
- Date of birth
- Phone number
- SIN
Learn how to Add or edit your company signatory.
Step 3: Add your employees
If you have employees, add their information so Wave can accurately calculate their pay, and so they can be added to future payrolls.
Add all employees that you’ve paid in the calendar year, even if they are no longer active on your payroll. If you have paid employees within the calendar year, you will enter their payroll history, at a later step to ensure the tax forms Wave generates for your business are correct.
You need the following information for each employee:
- Name
- Email, if you want to invite them to access their payroll information in Wave
- Date of birth
- Address
- SIN
- Date of hire
- Salary or wage
- Banking information, if you plan on paying your employee(s) with direct deposit
- Tax details. Collect them by having your employee(s) fill out a TD1 form
Learn how to Add an employee to payroll.
Step 4: Add your contractors
If you pay contractors, add their information so Wave can generate T4A tax forms at year-end for your business. Click Add contractor and enter their information. Learn how to add an independent contractor.
Step 5: Enter your business details
To complete your Business profile, click Add details to the right of Business. For this section, you will need:
- Business address
- Business type (corporation, S-Corp, partnership, sole proprietorship)
- Incorporation date
- What you produce or sell, or what type of service you provide
- CRA Payroll Number. This is the number issued to you by the CRA to identify your business as officially registered with the government. Find this number on your business’s articles of incorporation, or on a tax return. It will be in the format: 12345 1234 RP0001.
If you do not have a CRA Payroll Number yet, select I applied and am waiting for my Payroll Account Number to continue setting up your payroll profile.
Step 6: Set an employee pay schedule
Select when and how often you want to pay your employees. Learn how in Set your payroll pay schedule.
Step 7: Add a payroll and tax funding account
To pay your employees by direct deposit, add the details of the bank account to fund your payroll. This bank account will also be used to pay your payroll taxes.
If you do not want to use direct deposit or remit taxes with Wave, you can skip this step.
Step 8: Fill in your payroll tax profile
Enter your payroll tax details so that Wave can accurately track your tax liabilities and due dates. To complete this section, you need your CRA Payroll Account Number and CRA tax remittance deposit frequency.
The frequency you remit to the CRA depends on how much you withhold in payroll taxes on a monthly basis. Determine which frequency applies to your business:
- Monthly: You withhold between zero and $24,999.99 in taxes on a monthly basis
- Threshold 1: You withhold between $25,000.00 and $99,999.00 on a monthly basis
- Threshold 2: You withhold $100,000.00 or more on a monthly basis
Learn more in Complete your tax profile.
Step 9: Enter your payroll history
If you have run any payrolls within the calendar year outside of Wave, enter the wage and tax history into Wave. Learn more in Enter payroll history.
Step 10: Submit a direct deposit application
To pay your employees by direct deposit, submit an application. You must have added a payroll funding account to be able to click Authorize and begin the application process.
If you do not want to use direct deposit, skip this step.
Without direct deposit authorization, Wave cannot remit taxes to the CRA on your behalf.
Step 11: Authorize Wave to submit ROEs on your behalf
For Wave to submit employee Records of Employment (ROE) to the CRA on your behalf, click Authorize. On the new page, review the information, select the checkbox, and provide a digital signature. Click Save.
If you do not authorize Wave to submit ROEs on your behalf, you must submit them outside of Wave as needed.
Now that your payroll is set up, learn how to Approve a payroll.