Enter payroll history

If you have processed any payrolls in the calendar year you switch to Wave’s payroll feature, you must enter this history into Wave before approving your first payroll for accurate
payroll calculations.

You only need to enter your current year-to-date (YTD) amounts.

If your YTD amounts are incorrect, you may over or underpay your payroll taxes. If your taxes are underpaid, you may receive penalties.

Confirm you have payroll history to enter

Enter payroll history

View payroll history in Wave

Correct payroll history

To enter payroll history, you must first enter all employee information during
your payroll setup, including employees you paid this year who are no longer employed. This doesn’t apply to 1099 (US) or T4A (Canada) contractors. Learn how to add an employee.

Confirm you have payroll history to enter

First, mark that you have paid employees in the current calendar year:

1. On the left-side menu, click Payroll > Run Payroll.
2. Click Payroll Setup.
3. Under the Business section, to the right of Business, click Edit or Add Details, then Okay, let’s go!
4. Next to Have you paid any employees this year?, select Yes from the dropdown menu.
5. Click Save and continue.

If you select Yes when you do not have a payroll history to import, you can’t complete your payroll setup. To change this, go back to the Business section of your payroll setup profile and select No, then Save and continue.

Enter payroll history

For employers in the US

Federal income tax does not include Medicare or Social Security. Wave automatically calculates those amounts based on the other wage and tax amounts you provide.

For employers in Canada

Enter the employee portion only for taxes, Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions, Second Additional Canada Pension Plan (CPP2) contributions, and Employment Insurance (EI) premiums. Wave will automatically calculate the employer tax portion.

If your previous provider does not separate Federal and Provincial tax amounts, you can enter the combined amount into the Federal tax field.

1. On the left-side menu, click Payroll > Run Payroll.
2. Click Payroll Setup.
3. Under the Business section, to the right of Prior Payrolls, click Add history, then Okay, let’s go!

You must fill out your Pay schedule, Company signatory, and Tax profile before you can add history.

4. Select the check and pay period dates in the calendar year from the applicable dropdown menu, then click Continue.
5. Enter the total wages paid to each employee per quarter, the total amount withheld per tax, and any additional contributions, if applicable, then click Done.
6. Review the payroll history. If there is an error, click Restart to discard the import and begin the process again.

You can only view quarterly summaries of your payroll history in Wave. Keep a complete copy of your original payroll information for your records.

View payroll history in Wave

1. Click your business name in the top right corner, then click Business settings.
2. In the Settings menu, under Payroll, click Payroll History Import.

Correct payroll history

Once your first payroll has been approved, you cannot update your payroll history from within your Wave account.

If you find an error with your payroll history import, open Mave, Wave’s automated chatbot, and type payroll history. Mave will help collect any relevant details and direct you to the appropriate support. Learn how to open Mave in Get support with Wave.