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.
Steps:
- Open the roster and click the employee's row.
- In the top right of the detail page, click Edit Employee.
- The page swaps from read-only
<dl>cards to the same set of cards in form mode. - After changes, click Save Changes at the bottom; click Cancel to revert.
Who: Accountant or SMB admin.
Notes: Date of Birth can be edited inline in the Personal Information card like every other field — change it directly and click Save Changes.
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:
- Change First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone as needed.
- To rotate the SSN, click Edit SSN under the masked SSN — the field unlocks for re-entry. Save replaces the encrypted SSN on file.
- 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, schedule & job rates
What it does: Updates pay type and rate, the employee's pay schedule, and any per-job rate overrides for the next payroll run.
Where: Employment Information card (+ the Job rates section below it).
Steps:
- Pick Pay Type: Hourly, Salary, or (1099 only) Project-Based.
- Enter the new rate.
- Pay Schedule (shown only when the client has more than one) — reassign the employee to a different cadence, or Company default to inherit the client's default. Determines which schedule's Run Payroll includes them and, for salary, the per-period divisor.
- Job rates (shown only when the client has active jobs) — for each job, optionally set a rate that overrides the job's default for this employee; leave blank to use the job default. Click Save job rates. These rates apply when you enter hours by job on Run Payroll (see Run a regular payroll).
- Corporate officer — check this box if the employee holds a corporate office (president, treasurer, etc.) and is on payroll. It drives the officer indicator some states require on their unemployment (SUI) wage files — e.g. the Massachusetts DUA Officer Code. Leave it unchecked for ordinary employees and for LLC/partnership members who aren't corporate officers. This is separate from the 2% S-corp shareholder flag — see S-Corp >2% shareholder health & HSA.
- 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. If the employee is terminated, this same Employment Information card shows a Rehire button that clears the termination and reactivates them — see Terminate an employee → Rehire an employee.
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:
- 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.
- Update Steps 1-4 of the federal W-4 (filing status, multiple jobs, dependents, other adjustments).
- Update the state W-4 form fields for each work/residence state shown.
- 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:
- From the read-only detail page, scroll to the Direct Deposit card.
- The status pill at the top right shows Ready (green) or Not Set Up (yellow).
- 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.
- On an existing account, the row shows the masked account number, routing number, and verification status. The primary account shows a blue Primary badge; non-primary accounts have a Set Primary button (star icon) to promote them. 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:
- In edit mode, change Work Arrangement (In-office / Remote – works from home / Hybrid / Remote – other) and/or pick a new entry from Assigned Work Location (or leave blank for "Same as residence").
- 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.
- Fill the state W-4 for the new work state if it wasn't already on file.
- 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. Switching Work Arrangement to Remote – works from home repoints both income-tax withholding and SUTA to the employee's residence state and surfaces that state as a new registration the client needs in Settings → Taxes (State Tax Accounts), with a non-blocking advisory on payroll runs until an account is on file — see Work arrangement & remote workers.
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: The portal-invite button in the page header (next to Edit Employee). Its label depends on the employee's current portal status: Send Portal Invite (never invited), Resend Invite (invite pending), or Resend Setup Link (already activated — the reset scenario).
Steps:
- Make sure the employee has an Email on file.
- Click the button (Send Portal Invite / Resend Invite / Resend Setup Link).
- 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.