Partner Implementation Hub
Your complete step-by-step guide to setting up Employment Hero for your first client. This central hub provides links to resources that will help you get set up as a partner. We recommend starting with Get started as a partner and Manage users, then exploring the hub from there.
Implementation Guide: 4 comprehensive phases | Key Outcome: Successfully processing your first live payroll
Other resources: Partner Help Centre Articles
Phase 1: Understand Your Account & Get Ready
Essential knowledge about your partner account, capabilities, and restrictions before you begin
What You'll Accomplish
- Understand your brand level access and user creation restrictions
- Set up your partner team and determine who needs access to Employment Hero
- Explore Partner and Bureau Dashboards to understand their different purposes
- Review available support resources and documentation
- Plan your implementation approach and identify your first client
- Understand key stakeholder roles within your organisation
Good to Know
- Key stakeholders: Identify who will handle payroll processing, client communication, technical setup, and quality assurance
- Portfolio review: Start with a client that has straightforward payroll needs (5-20 employees, monthly pay, standard employment arrangements)
- Access levels: Partners with brand level access can create unlimited client businesses and have full user management capabilities for individual client businesses. The restriction is that partners are limited to brand-level users only (cannot create partner-level users)
- Support structure: You have access to comprehensive documentation, standard support channels, and this implementation guide
- Project considerations: Allow adequate time for data collection, testing, and client approval phases
Phase 2: Business Configuration & Setup
Complete comprehensive business and payroll system configuration
What You'll Accomplish
- Create business with complete company information
- Configure HMRC settings including PAYE and Auto Enrolment
- Set up tax codes and student loans processing
- Configure payment details and BACS setup
- Set up pension schemes and contribution settings
- Create pay schedules and payment timing
- Configure statutory payments (SSP, SMP, SAP, SPP)
- Set up company cars and benefits for P11D reporting
Essential Resources
Phase 3: Employee Setup & Data Migration
Import employee data and configure individual employment settings
What You'll Accomplish
- Import employee data and employment information
- Import YTD figures for tax and pension calculations
- Set up pay rates and templates for efficiency
- Configure benefits and salary sacrifice schemes
- Set up holiday schemes and leave management
- Configure directors and shareholdings for compliance
- Set up agency workers if required
- Create client user access for payroll approval
- Validate data migration and run integrity checks
Good to Know
- Client user access: You can create both full access and restricted users for client businesses - choose based on their needs
- Data validation: Double-check all employee details are complete before proceeding to testing phase
Phase 4: Pay Run Testing and Going Live
Run parallel pay runs to test and validate all calculations before going live
What You'll Accomplish
- Create a pay run
- Review payroll settings and ensure everything is configured correctly
- Add earnings lines and configure deductions if required
- Set up pay run inclusions and handle any warnings
- Compare calculations between old and new systems
- Test RTI procedures in test mode (without submitting to HMRC)
- Finalise test pay runs with manual submission settings
- Identify and resolve discrepancies before going live
Testing Only - Critical Reminders
Do not finalise or submit RTI returns during testing phase. Ensure you are in TEST mode for RTI and/or have set pay schedule finalisation options to 'submit manually' to avoid accidentally triggering an FPS to HMRC.
Do NOT set EPS to trigger automatically yet. Wait until after your first LIVE pay run. Your EPS can be triggered manually from HMRC reports when ready.
Essential Resources - Creating Your Parallel Pay Run
Validating Your Parallel Pay Run Results
Once you've completed your parallel pay run, check the following reports to ensure calculationsare as expected. Pay special attention to totals and employees with specific circumstances that impact pay.
Finalising a pay run
Once you've completed your parallel pay run and are happy with the results, it's time to go live.
Implementation Complete!
You've successfully completed your first Employment Hero implementation and are now ready to scale your operations.
Implementation Complete - What's Next?
You've successfully completed your first Employment Hero implementation! Now explore our comprehensive Partner Dashboard resources and help centre for ongoing operations.
Introduction to Supporting HR Integration for Your Clients
Learn how to help your clients integrate their HR systems with Employment Hero for streamlined operations and enhanced functionality.