This article applies to Wave Payroll in the U.S.
In order to complete your Federal W2 filing with Social Security Administration, you will need to register with Social Security Business Services Online (SS BSO). Enrollment can be completed in minutes. After enrolling, you will just need to upload the Formatted Wage File that Wave provides. The SS BSO site can be found here.
You must register in order to use BSO. You do not need to re-register every year; however you will be prompted to change your password if you login after 90 days.
Every BSO user must register personally. You may not register on behalf of another person. Even if you are working on behalf of a client, register as yourself.
In order to complete registration quickly and easily, please have the following information available:
- Name as it appears on your Social Security card,
- Social Security Number,
- Date of birth,
- Home mailing address,
- Telephone number,
- Fax number (optional), and
- Email address.
To register, go to: www.socialsecurity.gov/bso/bsowelcome.htm. Choose Register at the right hand side of the page, and complete the following steps.
- Select the I Accept button to indicate that you have read and understand the user certification statement and agree to its contents. This will open the registration form.
- Provide the requested information on the registration form. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk (*). Any field without a red asterisk (*) may be left blank.
- When you have completed all required fields in the registration form, select the Next button.
- On the next page, select a password and enter it in the Enter Password and the Re-enter Password boxes.
- Below the password boxes, you will select 5 questions and answers to be used if you forget your password. Select a question from the Question 1 dropdown list. Then type its answer in the Answer 1 box. Repeat for questions 2 through 5.
- After completing the Password and Forgot Password questions, select the Next button.
- BSO will verify your information against SS records and re-display your information on the Review and Submit page. If changes are required, select Edit Security Information or Edit Personal Information.
- Read the User Certification statement and check the box at the bottom to agree to it.
- Select the Submit button.
- You will now be assigned a User ID, which is displayed. Write down your User ID. This is what is used to log into BSO. This cannot be changed at a later date.
- Select the Next button below your User ID. The page for selecting services will display.
You're all set! If you have any further questions, the SS BSO provides very complete resources here.