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What a migration includes

Bolto brings over your company tax setup, your employees and their personal and pay details, year-to-date wages and withholding, benefits deductions, and payroll history. Your employees don’t re-enter their information. They confirm it and complete any forms Bolto requires, such as a new W-4. A migration usually takes 2 to 6 weeks from kickoff to first payroll, depending on your previous provider and how many states you’re in.

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The steps

1

Kickoff call

Have ready: your EIN, incorporation date and state, NAICS code, and your login for your current provider. On the call we’ll walk through adding Bolto as an admin on your current provider so we can pull your data.
2

Bolto pulls your data

Keep running payroll in your current provider during this time. Don’t onboard new hires there if they’ll start after your Bolto go-live. Add them in Bolto instead. See Adding Employees.
3

Sign filing authorizations

Once your data has been migrated and the Bolto platform is set up, you’ll receive emails to sign Federal Form 8655 and a Power of Attorney form for each state you operate in. These let Bolto file and pay taxes for you, and payroll can’t run until they’re signed. See Filing authorizations.
4

Invite your team

When your data is in, a migration banner appears at the top of your Bolto workspace. Use it to invite your migrated employees (and yourself, if you’re paid through Bolto). Each person gets an email, creates a login, confirms their details, and completes any missing forms. Allow your employees about 20 minutes to complete sign up.
5

Parallel run

This step requires no action on your side. We draft your first Bolto payroll and compare it line by line against the expected next payroll run from your previous provider to make sure everything looks correct. We’ll flag anything that needs your input.
6

First payroll on Bolto

You approve the first run by hand. 
7

Shut down the old provider

See the checklist below. Failing to shut down your old provider can cause serious problems, such as duplicate tax filings that lead to penalties and fines.

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Shutting down your previous provider

Missing a step here causes most post-migration problems: duplicate payrolls, duplicate tax filings, and penalties.
  • Cancel or pause their payroll runs before your first Bolto payday. Some providers keep running scheduled payrolls until you stop them.
  • Agree who files the current quarter. Payroll taxes are filed quarterly. If you switch mid-quarter, Bolto will file that quarter’s federal 941 and state returns. Ensure you notify your previous provider of this.
  • Confirm year-end filings. Switching payroll platforms mid-year means your employees will receive two W-2s for the year: one from your previous provider and one from Bolto. Your previous provider will almost always let you access these at any time with your old login.
  • Export your historical reports before you lose access. Many providers lock the account 30 days after cancellation. Bolto imports your YTD payroll history, but keep your own copy.
  • Tell your bookkeeper. They’ll pull payroll journals from Bolto from now on. See Reports for your bookkeeper.
  • Benefits and 401(k). If your previous provider ran benefits deductions, confirm the end date with Bolto and your benefits provider so deductions aren’t taken twice. See Deduction timing.

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What changes for your employees

  • A new login at team.bolto.com
  • They will be asked to complete a fresh W-4 and state withholding form
  • Paystubs from before the migration appear in Bolto once history is imported. Until then, they can download them from the old provider.
To walk your team through signing up, send them Signing up and completing onboarding.