Edit and manage employees

This guide covers: Edit personal info, Change pay rate, Update W-4, Update direct deposit, Change work location, Reset employee portal access.

Open the employee for editing

What it does: Loads the employee detail page in edit mode.

Where: Accountant dashboard → Employees → click the employee → Edit Employee (/clients/{clientId}/employees/{employeeId}).

Steps:

1. Open the roster and click the employee's row.
2. In the top right of the detail page, click Edit Employee.
3. The page swaps from read-only <dl> cards to the same set of cards in form mode.
4. After changes, click Save Changes at the bottom; click Cancel to revert.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: Date of Birth is locked in edit mode (the read-only input is grayed) — to correct a DOB, contact support so the change is logged for audit. Everything else can be edited inline.

Edit personal info

What it does: Updates first/last name, email, phone, emergency contact, and (separately) SSN.

Where: Personal Information and Emergency Contact cards.

Steps:

1. Change First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone as needed.
2. To rotate the SSN, click Edit SSN under the masked SSN — the field unlocks for re-entry. Save replaces the encrypted SSN on file.
3. Fill or change Contact Name, Contact Phone, Relationship in the Emergency Contact card.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: Editing the SSN is intended for encryption-key rotation or correcting a typo — it overwrites the stored value rather than adding history. If you've already filed a return with the old SSN, also contact support so the prior filings can be amended.

Change pay rate

What it does: Updates pay type and rate for the next payroll run.

Where: Employment Information card.

Steps:

1. Pick Pay Type: Hourly, Salary, or (1099 only) Project-Based.
2. Enter the new rate.
3. Click Save Changes.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: The change applies to payrolls created AFTER the save — any draft payroll already created uses the snapshot from when the run was started. To apply the new rate to an existing draft, delete the draft and re-create it. For mid-period raises, run an off-cycle correction — see Off-cycle, bonus & correction payrolls.

Update the W-4

What it does: Updates federal and per-state withholding inputs.

Where: Federal Tax Withholding (IRS W-4) and State Tax Withholding cards.

Steps:

1. Under Citizenship & Work Authorization, pick the right status. F-1, J-1, M-1, Q visa status surfaces a Date First Entered U.S. in This Status input and the Nonresident alien — exempt from Social Security, Medicare & FUTA checkbox.
2. Update Steps 1-4 of the federal W-4 (filing status, multiple jobs, dependents, other adjustments).
3. Update the state W-4 form fields for each work/residence state shown.
4. Adjust Additional State Withholding, Additional Local Withholding, Local Tax Residency as needed.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: When citizenship moves off a FICA-exempt visa, the FICA-exempt flag and start date are auto-cleared so you don't silently keep zeroing Social Security and Medicare. The state W-4 cards persist to a dedicated employee_state_w4 table (one row per state) — replacing the older single-blob model — so multi-state employees keep both forms.

Update direct deposit

What it does: Adds, swaps, or removes the employee's linked bank account for ACH credit.

Where: Direct Deposit card in view mode (NOT in edit mode — direct deposit is managed separately).

Steps:

1. From the read-only detail page, scroll to the Direct Deposit card.
2. The status pill at the top right shows Ready (green) or Not Set Up (yellow).
3. Click Add Bank Account to enter Bank Name, Account Type, Routing Number (9 digits), Account Number (4-17 digits). Save to send the account to Moov for verification.
4. On an existing account, the row shows the masked account number, routing number, and verification status. The star icon marks the primary account. Click the trash icon to remove. Click the eye icon to view full details (rotated).

Who: Accountant or SMB admin. The employee can also self-manage from the employee portal.

Notes: New accounts are non-routable until Moov verification clears. The Ready badge requires both a linked account AND a Moov-verified payment_method_id. The status checklist in the card breaks the two checks apart so you can see exactly what's missing. Account rotation: add the new account, set it primary, then delete the old.

Change work location

What it does: Reassigns the employee to a different work location — which can change the work state and trigger a state-tax reconfiguration.

Where: Work Location card.

Steps:

1. In edit mode, pick a new entry from Assigned Work Location (or leave blank for "Same as residence").
2. If the new work state differs from residence, the reciprocity check re-runs and shows the same Same State / Reciprocity / No Reciprocity card patterns documented in Add an employee.
3. Fill the state W-4 for the new work state if it wasn't already on file.
4. Click Save Changes.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: Changing work location mid-quarter affects which state SUI account gets charged. The change applies to all subsequent payrolls — prior payroll items keep their original work state stamp. If you need a retroactive change, contact support.

Reset employee portal access

What it does: Resends the employee portal invite email — they click the link, set a password, and access their pay stubs and self-service.

Where: Send Portal Invite button in the page header (next to Edit Employee).

Steps:

1. Make sure the employee has an Email on file.
2. Click Send Portal Invite.
3. The toast confirms the invite was sent. The link expires after a short window for security — repeat the step if needed.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: The button is hidden for 1099 contractors and for any employee missing an email. The portal lets employees update their own address, direct deposit, W-4, and download pay stubs and W-2s — every change goes through the same backend pipelines and is audit-logged.

---

Related: Add an employee · Employee roster · Terminate an employee.