Get started with Arketa Payroll
What to gather before your Arketa Payroll onboarding call, and what has to be in place before your first payroll run.
Getting set up on Arketa Payroll starts with an onboarding call. The more you bring to that call, the faster you can run your first payroll. Most studios are live within 10 business days.
To get started, book a demo, or contact your onboarding specialist or Arketa Support and let them know you're interested in payroll.
What to bring to onboarding
Business information
- Legal business name
- DBA or trade name, if you have one
- Entity type (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, S-corp, C-corp, nonprofit)
- Business website and phone number
- Legal business address, and primary business address if different
Tax information
- Federal EIN, along with your Form SS-4 or EIN confirmation letter from the IRS
- 501(c)(3) status, if applicable
- State tax account numbers, if you already have them
Team information
- Number of W-2 employees
- Number of 1099 contractors
- The states your workers are located in
Banking and payroll
- The business checking account you'll use to fund payroll
- Your current payroll provider, if you have one
- The date you'd like your first Arketa payroll to run. We can help you pick this.
Filing authorizations
- Federal Form 8655
- State payroll tax authorization forms, where applicable
Have access to
- Year-to-date payroll reports
- Your most recent payroll register
- Recent tax filings
Before you start
Two things are worth sorting out first, because they'll stall you mid-setup otherwise.
Your business mailing address. Payroll reads your address from Settings → Business settings → Public-facing settings. If it isn't set there, the setup form won't populate. Worth knowing before you fill it in: this address is public-facing and also appears in the footer of your marketing emails, so use one you're comfortable sharing.
Staff types. Everyone you plan to pay needs to be marked as an employee or a contractor. You confirm this on the very first payroll screen, and it decides which tax form each person completes, a W-4 or a W-9.
What setup looks like
Go to Payroll → Pay team members, then work through:
- Confirm each team member's staff type, employee or contractor
- Agree to the payroll terms
- Enter your organization details: industry, entity type, DBA, business phone, legal address, and how many W-2 employees and contractors you have
- Connect your business checking account, either through Plaid or by entering your account and routing numbers
- Enter your EIN and sign the filing authorization
Two details that trip people up. For industry, fitness and wellness studios choose Arts, entertainment, and recreation. And your legal address should match whatever is on your tax and LLC paperwork, which isn't always your studio's street address.
A single-member LLC is fine here. Select LLC as your entity type.
After setup
- Set your pay schedule to match how you pay your team today. See Pay schedules.
- Invite your team and confirm they've completed their own onboarding. Invitations aren't sent automatically, so this is a step you trigger. See Worker onboarding and tax forms.
- Register for state payroll tax accounts in every state where you have W-2 employees. See State payroll tax accounts.
If you're moving from another payroll provider, don't cancel it until your first Arketa payroll has run successfully. See Switch from another payroll provider.