You may run into errors when running payroll if compensation is set up with any pay per/pay type besides hourly/salary. Here are some tips to avoid this:

• Verify that the employee's Pay Type field matches the Pay Per field and is either hourly or salary. For example, a salaried employee should have Salary listed under the Pay Type field and Year listed under the Pay Per field, while an hourly employee will have Hourly listed under Pay Type and Hour under Pay Per. 
• Check the Missing Data Report for an easy view, or head to the employee’s Job tab > Compensation table to update.

Commission employees with variable pay can be set up as $0.00 Per Year with the Salary pay type under the compensation table. Then, start your payroll and manually enter the correct rate on the Edit page.

If you have an employee set up with the pay type “Salary” and the overtime status “non-exempt,” BambooHR will request that you enter their overtime rate. Calculate the per-hour rate based on the employee's salary and then multiply this by your company’s overtime rate (typically hourly rate x 1.5). Enter this amount in the employee's Job tab > Compensation > Overtime Rate field.

Keeping dates clean in BambooHR is important so the data syncs seamlessly for payroll. Below are some tips: 

• End dates need to be one day before the start date of the current line history. The Start and End dates cannot be the same date. Multiple line items cannot have the same date.
• If you need to update compensation rates, ensure the effective date is the first date of the first pay period you wish to pay them the new rate.

The 1099 tax type will not appear in the Employee Tax Type drop-down menu. Change the employee's Employment Status to Contractor, and BambooHR will automatically populate the 1099 in the Employee Tax Type field. 

When adding a Final Pay date on the Job Information table, make sure it's at least one day after the hire date to keep the record clean and avoid errors.

• Locations must either have a full address based on USPS or be set to Remote.
• If you are using a partial location for hiring purposes, do not assign active employees in a syncing pay schedule. Instead, move the employee to an address that follows the above rules.
• Locations are used in payroll for tax withholding information (see below). This is why it must be an actual address. Employees with Remote listed for their location will have their home addresses used for tax withholding purposes.

This field should be filled out considering where the employee commonly works the most amount of time. You can choose a work location or home. If they work from home, choose Home and ensure their home address is correct. If they work in-office, choose Work, and they will be taxed off the work location set up in BambooHR settings. 

If coverage options have changed for a benefit plan still being offered, the best practice is to duplicate the plan, let the old plan expire, and update the duplicate plan by using the new rates. 

Pre-tax or post-tax? Reportable on the W-2? When does the first deduction happen (when does the employee start paying or having the money deducted from their paycheck for the deduction)? These are the first things to ask your broker or provider!

Below are some tips to find your company tax information:

• Locate your IRS letter to find your company's Federal EIN.
• Consult state documents, state websites, or call the state for tax IDs, rates, and frequencies.
• If you have you operate in California and have your CA tax ID you can use the California EDD website to verify your tax rates: https://eddservices.edd.ca.gov/tap/open/rateinquiry/_/#1

Consider the following when setting up your pay schedules in BambooHR: 

• Do you have hourly employees? If so, you need to approve payroll two days before the due date and approve hours at least three days in advance. Is your pay period set up to work with this?
• Do you have hourly employees using BambooHR’s Time Tracking? You can't approve hours during a pay period, so the pay period must be completed at least three days before the pay date.

Your federal tax deposit frequency is separate from your pay schedule or state-level tax deposit frequency. Below are some pointers on where to find the federal deposit frequency. 

• The Publication 15 on page 28.
• You can also call the IRS directly at 1 (800) 829-4933.

• Another option to find your federal deposit frequency is to locate your 941 Form and look under Part 2. Your federal deposit frequency will have a checkmark!