Payrollix handles some of the most sensitive data a business holds: Social Security numbers, employee bank accounts, federal and state tax IDs, and wage records. This page describes the controls we have in place to protect that data, the compliance posture we operate under, and how to report a security issue.
Payrollix runs on Amazon Web Services in the us-east-1 (N. Virginia) region. All production workloads, databases, queues, and document storage are located in the United States.
Compute: Application services run on AWS managed compute behind a load balancer; application hosts are not directly reachable from the public internet
Database: Managed relational database with encryption at rest and automated, encrypted backups
Document storage: Encrypted object storage with server-side encryption, in private buckets
Dedicated static IP: Outbound traffic to government tax systems originates from a fixed, dedicated IP address that is registered with the IRS e-file gateway and state revenue agencies that require source-IP allowlisting. The address is intentionally pinned and never released.
Isolation: Services run in isolated environments with least-privilege access roles
2. Encryption
All data is encrypted both in transit and at rest using industry-standard algorithms.
In transit: TLS 1.2 or higher for all HTTPS traffic between browsers, mobile apps, our API, and our sub-processors
At rest: AES-256 encryption for the database and all document and tax-filing archive storage
Backups: Encrypted with the same AES-256 standard and retained within the United States
Key management: Cloud-managed encryption keys; no plaintext key material is handled by application code
3. Authentication & Access
Access to Payrollix is gated by per-user credentials with optional second-factor authentication.
Password storage: All passwords are hashed with bcrypt using a per-user salt; we never store plaintext passwords
Session tokens: Signed JWT session tokens with short-lived expiry
Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Available for all user roles; required for administrative roles
Role-based access control: Separate portals for accountants, clients, employees, SMBs, and platform administrators, each with scoped permissions
Biometric login (mobile): Face ID and Touch ID on iOS, fingerprint on Android, gated by the device's secure enclave (Payrollix never receives biometric data — see our Privacy Policy)
4. Data Handling & Retention
Payrollix retains records for the period required by federal and state tax law, then destroys them.
Tax filings: All filed 941, 940, W-2, W-3, 1099-NEC, 1096 and related documents are archived with a minimum 4-year retention to satisfy IRS recordkeeping requirements
Payroll records: Retained 7 years per IRS regulations (see Privacy Policy)
Data residency: All customer data resides in the United States. We do not replicate data outside the US
Document archive: Each tax filing artifact is stored in private, encrypted storage, isolated per client and tax year
Deletion: On verified account closure, we retain records for the legally required period and then securely destroy them
5. Compliance Posture
Payrollix operates under several regulatory and certification regimes. We do not claim certifications that we have not earned — current status is listed below.
SOC 2 Type 2:In progress. We are aligning our cloud environment to the audit scope ahead of the engagement, and will publish the report and audit window once it is complete.
IRS-authorized e-file transmitter: Payrollix is an IRS-authorized electronic filer for the 941, 940, 943, 944, and 945 family of forms, filing directly with the IRS rather than through a third-party service.
E-SIGN Act & UETA: Our in-house electronic signature implementation (we do not use DocuSign or third-party e-sign vendors) captures a full audit trail per signature, including IP address, user-agent, timestamp, authentication method, and document hash
PCI DSS scope: Minimized. Subscription card payments are tokenized and processed by Stripe; Payrollix systems never store full PAN data
Banking compliance: ACH origination is performed by our partner Moov Financial through a federally insured banking partner; see Privacy Policy § 3
6. Sub-Processors
Payrollix relies on a small set of contractually bound sub-processors to deliver the service. The full list with data categories and locations is maintained in our Privacy Policy.
Amazon Web Services (AWS): Cloud infrastructure, database, and document storage (us-east-1)
Moov Financial: ACH origination and payment orchestration
Middesk: Business identity verification (KYB) and state tax registration assistance
Sentry: Application error tracking and monitoring
Stripe: Subscription billing for Payrollix accounts (keeps PCI scope off our infrastructure)
7. Audit Logging
Every state-changing action on the platform is recorded in an append-only audit log. Each entry captures:
The acting user ID and role
The action performed and target resource
The source IP address and user-agent string
A UTC timestamp
Audit logs cover payroll runs, tax filings, e-sign events, banking changes, employee onboarding, and administrative actions. Logs are queryable by authorized administrators for incident investigation and customer-facing audit-trail exports.
8. Incident Response
Payrollix maintains an internal incident response process. In the event of a data breach affecting your personal or payroll information, we commit to notify affected customers within 72 hours of discovery, consistent with applicable state breach-notification laws and the timeline referenced in our Privacy Policy.
Notification will include, at minimum, the nature of the incident, the categories of data involved, the steps we have taken in response, and recommended actions for affected users.
9. Responsible Disclosure
We welcome reports from security researchers. If you believe you have found a vulnerability in Payrollix, please email security@payrollix.com with:
A description of the issue and its potential impact
Steps to reproduce, including any proof-of-concept code or screenshots
The URL, endpoint, or component affected
Your name or handle for acknowledgment (optional)
We ask that researchers give us a reasonable opportunity to investigate and remediate before public disclosure, avoid accessing or modifying customer data, and avoid actions that degrade service for other users. We will acknowledge receipt within two business days.
10. Contact
For questions about Payrollix security practices, or to request additional information for a vendor security review:
Address: ReasonWorks AI Inc. (d/b/a Payrollix), Attn: Security, 1449 South Michigan Avenue, STE 13207, Chicago, IL 60605
This page describes the security posture of Payrollix as of the "Last updated" date above. Controls and sub-processors may change as the service evolves; material changes will be reflected on this page.