Add an employee payroll profile

To pay your employees, you must have a profile for each employee in Wave. During payroll setup, you are prompted to add an employee, and you can add additional employees at any time.

To add an employee payroll profile, you must be using Wave in a web browser.

Add an employee payroll profile during payroll setup

Add an employee payroll profile after payroll setup

Determine an employee’s vacation accrual rate

Add an employee payroll profile during payroll setup

When you’re setting up payroll, to add an employee:

1. Open the Payroll Setup page.
2. In the Team section, next to Employees, click Add employee.
3. Follow the steps from step 3 below.

Add an employee payroll profile after payroll setup

To add additional employee profiles:

1. On the left side menu, click Payroll > Employees.
2. At the top right, click Add an employee.
3. Enter the employee’s personal information.
4. To invite them to view their pay stubs and tax forms in their own Wave account, enter their email and click the checkbox next to Invite employee to onboard and enter their information. Learn how an employee can accept a payroll invite and update their payroll information.

5. Enter the employee’s work information.

   The work location is used to calculate taxes for the employee. For Canadian employers, taxes are calculated based on the province the business is located in, not where the employee lives.

6. Select whether the employee is paid by direct deposit. You can update this anytime under the employee’s profile.
7. Set a vacation policy, if applicable. Learn how to Set a vacation policy for your employees.
8. Click Save Employee.

If you set a vacation policy, ensure it meets all requirements your business is subject to. If your business is in the US, see vacation guidelines in the United States. If your business is in Canada, see [Canada] Federal and provincial vacation guidelines.

Determine an employee’s vacation accrual rate

Vacation accrual rates determine how many days of paid vacation your employee gains within the calendar year. Hours accrued for hourly employees are based on how many hours have been entered on their timesheets for approved payrolls. Hours accrued for salaried employees are based on the average weekly hours set when their employee profile was created.

A general approximation of accrued hours:

• If you want to provide 2 weeks of vacation in a year, set the vacation accrual rate as 4.0%
• If you want to provide 3 weeks of vacation in a year, set the vacation accrual rate as 6.0%
• If you want to provide 4 weeks of vacation in a year, set the vacation accrual rate as 8.0%

After you’ve added an employee to payroll, enter their tax details.