If you’re new to OnPay, and your company has already paid wages in 2026, we'll need you to provide your prior payroll information by way of payroll reports. The information you provide is used to calculate employee withholdings and deductions, and to process year-end forms and filings.

The accuracy of these calculations and filings depends on the prior payroll information provided by your reports. Read these instructions thoroughly. They detail everything you need to send us.

Your Q1 payroll report must be itemized by employee. Gross wages, taxes, and net amounts paid during this quarter must be itemized for each employee separately. These separate employee totals are needed for OnPay to accurately calculate tax contribution amounts for the remainder of the year.

• Who needs prior payroll information recorded?

  W-2 Employees: All active and terminated employees that will receive a W-2 for this year will need to be added to your OnPay account, including their prior payroll information.

  Contractors: All contractors needing a Form 1099 from OnPay for this year will need to be added to your OnPay account, including their prior payroll information.

  Learn more about how to classify employees.

  Will OnPay enter my company’s prior payroll information?

  Yes! And at no additional cost. Simply send us the employee data as described in this article, and we will take care of it. 

  Why is it so important to provide prior payroll information? 

  It is crucial that you provide this information to OnPay for several reasons:

  • An employer can only issue one W2 per employee in the calendar year.
  • Your employees can overpay taxes, creating a financial hardship.
  • Improper reporting of wages can cause employer penalties and interest.
  • An employer can overpay their Federal and State Unemployment Taxes if not reported correctly.

  Where is this information located?

  Typically, your current payroll provider will have reports that contain this information. It may be a Payroll Summary or in an Employee Detail Report that can be filtered by pay date.

Prior payroll data migration and setup

Once your employees and/or contractors have been entered into OnPay, we’ll begin entering their prior wages for this calendar year. Keep in mind, there are specific totals that we must have, so follow this guide carefully when providing your prior pay info to OnPay.

REPORT PAY INFORMATION BY CHECK DATE - NOT PAY PERIOD

Payroll tax filings report pay information and taxes based on the check date, not the pay period. Always use the check date to determine what period your prior payroll information belongs in.

How your prior pay report must be categorized

Your reports must be separated in columns by pay category. Make sure to include all of the following wage, tax, and deduction categories:

• Gross Wages
• Employee Taxes
• Employer Taxes
• Section 125 Deductions
• Other Pre-Tax Deductions
• Other Standard Post-Tax Deductions

These categories may also have multiple pay types. For example, gross wages will include regular, overtime, sick, and holiday hours, and will all be listed separately on your report. For examples, click Pay categories explained.

• Gross Wages

  All regular wages and hours, must be separated into clear categories such as regular, overtime, bonuses, commissions, etc.

  

  Employee Taxes

  All Federal Taxes, Social Security, Medicare, State Taxes, and Local Taxes, must be separated by type for correct filing.

  

  Employer Taxes

  All Federal Unemployment Taxes and State Unemployment Taxes, must be separated by type for correct filing.

  

  Section 125 Deductions

  Typically, these include Medical, Dental, and Vision deductions. Section 125 deductions must be listed separately by type for correct filing.

  

  Other Pre-Tax Deductions

  Any other pre-tax deductions that affect taxable wages. Typically, these include your 401K, Traditional IRA, and Commuter Benefit deductions. All pre-tax deductions must be separated by employee. for correct filing

  

  Other Standard Post-Tax Deductions

  Any deductions that take place after taxes must be listed separately to ensure correct filing. Examples of post-tax deductions include Roth 401K, child support, garnishments, and advances.

  

How your prior pay report must be totaled 

Now that you know how we need your reports categorized, let’s talk about how it should be totaled. You'll need to run a separate report for each check date so far in Q1 of 2026. This is to ensure your prior payroll information is entered accurately. 

Separate all reports by check date

Here's an example of a two-week pay period that spanned the 14th through the 27th of December, 2025. However, because the check date for this pay period was Friday, January 2nd, this prior pay must be included in your Q1 payroll report.

This ensures deductions are contributions can be calculated correctly, with no mistakes come tax time.

What your Q1 prior pay report must include:

Each report must include:

• Employer tax contributions
• Employee gross wages
• Any pre or post-tax deductions

Columns and rows:

• By employee: Total for each check date must be separated by employee
• By pay type: Wages for each employee must also be separated by pay type (Social security, Medicare, federal and state taxes, etc.) 

This information must detail amounts paid for each employee, company taxes, and all net wages as shown below:

Your reports may look very different than this example, depending on your report generator. What’s important is that the information detailed here is present.

How to send us your report

Reports must be totalled separately by quarter, by category, and by employee (as described above) before you Upload Reports→

Questions? Our US based support team is ready to help. To contact us, click the Submit a request button below, and log in using your OnPay credentials. 

Requests can also be submitted by clicking the link at the bottom of any help article, or by starting a chat from your OnPay dashboard. Submitting a request is the fastest and most secure way to get help with tax matters, technical advice, or any other support you may need from OnPay. 

Submit a request

Note: You will need your OnPay login credentials.

Our Tax Accuracy Guarantee

Bottom line: We take the accuracy of our payroll tax calculations very seriously — and our accuracy guarantee ensures we’ll always have your back.

However, because we file on your behalf using information provided by you, it's important that you provide and input accurate information about your company, its employees, and the states and districts in which they live and your business operates, including all IDs and tax rates. Our Tax Accuracy Guarantee picks up where you leave off by covering all our calculations, and the filings and payments we base on them.

In rare circumstances, OnPay may need additional information from you, or may request you take action in order for us to file and pay your taxes. If such information is requested by us, but never provided by you, any affected tax filings and payments will not be covered by our Tax Accuracy Guarantee.

Q1/2026

v7.26