This document outlines the enrollment or onboarding process for a company new to GroundCloud Payroll. The onboarding process requires at least two weeks to complete and includes employees performing self-onboarding. Please refer to the Pre-Enrollment Checklist for helpful tips on preparing for enrollment and making the process as fast and efficient as possible.

Note: GroundCloud® Payroll is powered by Gusto®. The onboarding experience occurs across multiple browser tabs depending on the actions being performed. If you cannot finish a particular step, your information is saved as you go, and you can return later to complete your entries.

Access

The primary account owner is the only person that can enroll the company in payroll. This limited access is for legal and data security reasons as the company signatory needs to sign official documents and enter sensitive bank account information.

Getting Started

1. Navigate to the Payroll Setup page on Groundcloud.io.

2. Click Enroll in GroundCloud Payroll.

3. Read through the agreement and click Accept Terms of Service.

Pay Schedule

To set your first pay schedule:

1. Navigate to the Payroll Setup page in Groundcloud.io.

2. Click Edit Check Date.

3. Select First Check Date from the list of options.

4. Click Submit.

Only Friday check dates are currently supported. The first pay period (Saturday - Friday) is set for the week prior to the selected check date. This date cannot be changed after running your first payroll.

Initial Onboarding

To begin onboarding:

1. Navigate to the Payroll Setup page in Groundcloud.io.

2. Click Initial Onboarding.

Company Address

1. Enter company addresses.

   • Enter your mailing and filing addresses and all addresses where you have employees physically working in the United States.

   • Check the appropriate box if the address serves as your Mailing address and/or Filing address.

2. Click Save & continue.

3. Repeat the process for as many addresses as needed by clicking Add address.

4. If an address needs to be updated, click Edit.

5. When all addresses have been entered, click I've added all addresses.

The work address is significant. If you have employees working in different states, the company must register its business in each state in which it has employees working. This allows Gusto to properly withhold state taxes from each employee and pay those taxes on behalf of the company. Since rules and regulations change over time and can vary by location, we recommend you consult a lawyer, accountant or HR expert for guidance on the proper work address to use for your employees. Please note that both a mailing and filing address need to be added before you can continue. If one or both of the addresses is missing, you are not able to click the I’ve added all addresses button.

Federal Tax Information

1. Enter your federal tax information. If you don’t have or understand this information, refer to the helpful links included on the page. Enter your legal entity name, not your DBA (doing business as) name.

2. Click Save & continue.

3. If corrections are needed, click Edit tax information.

4. To proceed to the next step, click Save & continue.

You may receive a message that Gusto was unable to verify your company's Federal EIN (delays in verification sometimes occur). If this happens, and you are confident the EIN entered is correct, you can click Save & continue. Otherwise, click Edit tax information to return to the form.

Industry

1. Select the industry that most closely aligns with your business. Begin by typing a few letters into the field to see the options available and make a selection.

   1. Couriers and Express Delivery Services is recommended for P&D customers.

   2. One of the General Freight Trucking options is recommended for line haul customers.

2. Click Save & continue.

Bank Account

1. Enter your bank information for a checking account. Verify the account in one of two ways:

2. Use Plaid®. Plaid is the fastest way to complete the process because it uses Instant Bank Verification (IBV). To use Plaid:

   • Select Verify bank account with Plaid.

   • Click Verify account with Plaid.

   • Follow the workflow hosted by Plaid to select and authenticate with your institution.

3. Enter your bank account information manually. This step requires verification through two test deposits that take one to two business days to receive and are added as part of a future step.

   • Select Enter bank account information manually.

   • Enter your Routing number and Account number.

   • Click Save & continue.

4. If corrections are needed, click Edit.

5. To complete initial onboarding, click Save & continue.

Once you have entered all the information above, you may close this tab and return to the Payroll Setup page on Groundcloud.io.

Tip: Plaid is not compatible with all banks, and your bank may be unsupported if it isn't listed in the dropdown menu. In that case, you need to verify your bank account with test deposits manually.

Add Employees

Add all employees to be included in the payroll. If transitioning to GroundCloud Payroll after the start of the year, this should include inactive (dismissed) employees who have been paid in the current year (this information is needed when entering External Payroll).

1. Navigate to the Payroll Setup page on Groundcloud.io.

2. Click Add Employees.

3. Filter on Candidates.

4. Locate the employee and click Enroll Employee.

5. Select the employee’s Work Address.

6. Enter the employee’s Hire Date.

7. Select File New Hire Report by either:

   • Check the box if this is a new employee.

   • Unchecking the box if you have already filed a new hire report for the employee.

8. Click Enroll Employee. If in doubt, leaving the box checked is not an issue (even if a new hire report was previously filed).

9. Repeat the process for each employee that should be enrolled in payroll.

10. After these steps are completed, the employee is invited to complete self-onboarding by logging in to Groundcloud.io. Until the employee completes self-onboarding, their status on the Payroll Employees page will be "Self-Onboarding Incomplete". When they have completed self-onboarding, their status is updated to "Enrolled". For information on the employee self-onboarding process, refer to the Employee Self-Onboarding Help Center article.

11. For dismissed employees: Employers should onboard dismissed employees by following the steps in the Dismissed Employee Self-Onboarding help article.

Warning: Company onboarding cannot proceed to Finalize Onboarding until at least one employee has been enrolled and fully onboarded in payroll.

Finalize Onboarding

1. Navigate to the Payroll Setup page on Groundcloud.io.

2. Click Finalize Onboarding.

State Tax Information

1. Enter State Tax Information.

   • Click Continue setup.

   • Enter the tax requirements for your state. If you do not have or understand this information, refer to the helpful links included on the page.

   • Click Save & continue.

2. If corrections are needed, click Edit.

3. If the information is correct, click Back.

4. Click Save & continue.

Document

Documents cannot be signed until the first pay period has been scheduled, which is dependent on all aspects of onboarding being completed, including external payroll. Return to this flow when you have confirmation your first pay period has been scheduled.

Verify Bank Account

This step verifies that the bank account belongs to your company and is only needed if IBV (via Plaid) was not used earlier.

1. Click Bank verification.

2. Enter the amounts of the test deposits that were placed in your bank account.

3. Click Verify Deposit.

4. Now close this tab and return to the Payroll Setup page in Groundcloud.io.

Benefits

If you offer insurance or other benefits, you can set up pre-tax payroll deductions for your team. This option lets you collect employee contributions through payroll deductions, and we'll also include the reported employee and company contributions on year-end tax forms. If switching from another provider mid-year, this change should be done prior to entering external payroll, so year-to-date deductions can be captured.

If you do not need to account for pre-tax payroll deductions, you may skip these steps and proceed to External Payroll.

1. Navigate to the Payroll Setup page in Groundcloud.io.

2. Click Benefits.

3. Click Add Benefit.

4. Enter the benefit Name. This is what will be displayed on the employee pay stub.

5. Select the benefit Type.

6. lick Save & continue.

7. Select the employees that you would like to add to this benefit. Only employees that have completed onboarding can be added to the benefits.

8. If desired, set each pay period's default employee deduction and company contribution amount. This is a bulk action; you will be able to edit individual employee benefits after creation.

9. Click Submit.

10. If more employees need to be added to the benefit, click Add employees to benefit.

11. If the benefit needs to be adjusted or removed for an individual employee, click the ellipsis icon (3 vertical dots) to the right of the employee name and select the appropriate option.

12. When complete, click Back.

13. Repeat the process for any additional benefits that may be needed.

When you have completed entering all the benefits, you may close this tab and return to the Payroll Setup page on Groundcloud.io.

Warning: If set up, benefit deductions are withheld from an employee's paycheck, but the employer is responsible for sending the payment to the benefit provider. Benefit provider payments are not remitted on the employer's behalf.

External Payroll

Historical (external) payrolls are needed when transferring from a different payroll provider to GroundCloud Payroll after the start of a year. It's important to capture your previous payrolls to ensure year-to-date filings are accurate. Before entering external payrolls, please make sure:
1. Your employees are onboarded.
2. Federal and state tax information is accurate.
3. Benefits are set up if you need to account for pre-tax deductions.
If your first check date in the current year occurs on GroundCloud payroll, or you are transferring from a PEO (professional employer organization), you may skip this step and proceed to Sign Documents.

Refer to the External Payroll Help Center article for details on how to complete external payroll. When you have completed entering all external payrolls, you may close this tab and return to the Payroll Setup page in Groundcloud.io.

Sign Documents

On the Sign Documents page, you are asked to sign documents required for Gusto to file on behalf of your company. If the documents are not signed, Gusto cannot pull/deposit funds from/into your bank account. Before documents can be signed, a signatory must be identified. The company signatory is responsible for electronically signing all government forms Gusto creates. This person is usually the company's owner. Gusto’s assurance team checks the signatory’s information to verify that they are U.S. citizens and that all information is correct. This information should match what is on the signatory’s ID.

1. Navigate to the Payroll Setup page on Groundcloud.io.

2. Click Finalize Onboarding.

3. Click Documents.

4. Assign company signatory.

5. If you are the company signatory:

   • Select Yes, I'm authorized to sign official documents for the company.

   • Click Save & continue.

   • Enter your personal details.

   • Click Submit.

6. If you are not the company signatory, please contact Descartes GroundCloud Support for help to complete onboarding.

7. To sign a document:

   • Click the document link.

   • Review the document details.

   • If desired, click Download document to download a copy of the document.

   • Click Sign document.

   • Enter your legal name in the Signature text field.

   • Check I am the signatory and I agree to sign electronically.

   • Click Sign.

8. When all required documents have been signed, click Save & continue.

You may now close this tab and return to the Payroll Setup page in Groundcloud.io.

Submit for Review

You can submit your company for review when all onboarding steps are complete. Gusto reviews your company information to verify the company signatory and ensure proper tax documents can be created. We may reach out to request additional documentation, as Gusto must remain compliant with banking and financial institution regulations. The additional information helps verify your identity and make sure your account is secure. Failing to respond to the information requests prevents you from completing your company's onboarding. You can not process payroll until a response is received.

1. When all onboarding steps are complete, navigate to the Payroll Setup page in Groundcloud.io.

2. Click Submit for Review. The review may take up to 48 hours to complete, during which time you can not make any changes. Should you need assistance after submitting your information for review, please contact Descartes GroundCloud Support.

FAQ

Refer to this Help Center article for frequently asked questions.

Warning: This article is not to be taken as tax, legal, benefits, financial or HR advice. Since rules and regulations change over time and can vary by location, consult a lawyer, accountant or HR expert for specific guidance.

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