Payroll Company Onboarding

Setup guide for payroll companies joining the platform — from invitation to your first test file upload.

Beginner 7 min read For Payroll Companies

What you'll learn

  1. Open the invitation email
  2. Create your account
  3. Confirm your company profile
  4. Learn how data gets in
  5. Understand processing & validation
  6. Review your clients
  7. Upload a proof of file

Before you start

1

Open the Invitation Email

You'll receive one of two types of invitations.

Employer Referral

One of your clients referred you. The email says something like: "Referred by [Company Name] — You've been invited to join the Audit1 platform as a payroll provider."

Registration page — employer referral
When referred by an employer, a purple banner at the top shows the referrer's name.

Direct Admin Invite

An Audit1 admin invited you directly. The email says: "Welcome to Audit1 — You've been invited to join the platform as a Payroll Company."

Registration page — admin invite
Admin invites show a "Welcome to Audit1" banner instead of a referrer name.

Click the link in the email to get started.

2

Create Your Account

Register with Google or email — same as the employer flow.

Fill in your first name, last name, email (may be pre-filled), and create a password (8+ characters). Or click Sign in with Google for a faster setup.

Click "Create Account" to continue.

Already have an account? If you've been invited before, you'll see a sign-in page instead. Log in and the new invitation is automatically accepted.
3

Confirm Your Company Profile

Step 1 of 7 — verify your company details.

Company profile step
Step 1: Confirm your company name (required), FEIN, address, and contact information.

Most fields may be pre-filled. Correct anything that's wrong. Only the Company Name is required to proceed.

Auto-save. Your progress saves automatically every few seconds. You can close the browser and come back later without losing your work.

Click Continue.

4

Learn How Data Gets In

Steps 2-5 — educational screens about the platform.

Data Ingestion Methods (Step 2)

The platform supports 6 ways to send payroll data. Select the methods you're interested in — you can always change later.

Data ingestion methods
Six options: Manual Upload, Manual Bulk Upload, SFTP, API Connector, Custom API Integration, and Webhook.
Start simple. Most payroll companies begin with Manual Upload during onboarding, then set up SFTP or API for automated delivery later.

Processing Pipeline (Step 3)

Learn about the 4-stage processing pipeline that every payroll file goes through:

Processing pipeline
Upload → Normalize → Validate → Calculate. Every file follows this path automatically.
  1. Upload — files arrive via any method you chose
  2. Normalize — raw data is converted to a standard CSV format
  3. Validate — class codes and states are checked against the policy
  4. Calculate — auditable wages and premium are computed

Column Recognition (Step 4)

The platform automatically recognizes 4,400+ payroll field name variations — no manual column mapping needed.

Cognitive column recognition
Example: "Gross Pay" = "Total Earnings" = "Gross Wages" = "Regular Earnings" — all recognized automatically.

Quarantine System (Step 5)

Learn about row-level validation:

Green vs Red row validation
GREEN = valid (class code matches, wages calculated). RED = quarantined (needs attention within 5 days).
Red is not an error. It's a safety net. You have 5 days to correct red rows. Uncorrected rows are auto-processed at the highest applicable rate.

Click Continue through each educational step.

5

Review Your Clients

Step 6 — see the employers linked to your account.

Your clients list
If you were referred by an employer, they appear here as your first client. You can add more later from your dashboard.

If you were referred by an employer, they'll appear here with an "active" badge. You can add more clients from your dashboard after onboarding.

Click Continue.

6

Upload a Proof of File

Step 7 — the final step. Upload a test payroll file to verify everything works.

Proof of file upload
Drag and drop a payroll file (CSV, XLS, XLSX, PDF, XML, or TXT — max 50MB) to complete your setup.

Upload a sample payroll file to prove you can send data. This is a dry run — no premiums are charged.

What makes a good test file? Any payroll export from your software — ideally with employee names, wages, class codes, and a state column.

The system processes your file and shows the result. Even if it finds issues, the upload proves you can send data. Click "Complete Setup" to finish.

You're done! You'll be redirected to your Payroll Company Dashboard where you can manage clients (Insureds), view policies, upload roster files, and handle requests.

Continue learning

Previous Requesting Policy Updates How employers request mid-term policy changes. Start over Employer Onboarding First-time setup guide for employer accounts.