Plan for about two to four weeks to get fully set up. Most steps are straightforward and quick on your end. The waiting happens between steps like bank verification and your year-to-date data import, so we recommend starting early.
📣 Heads up: Add everyone you've paid in the current calendar year to Jane Payroll, even if they no longer work with you. This ensures your year-end tax forms are accurate.
1. Start Gathering Your Year-to-Date Payroll History
Year-to-date (YTD) payroll history is a record of all amounts paid to each staff member so far in the current calendar year. If you've paid staff this year, whether through another payroll provider, by cheque, bank transfer, or e-transfer, you'll need to bring that history into Jane Payroll before running your first payroll.
Gather this data as early as possible since payroll cannot run without it.
For independent contractors, you'll need:
- YTD gross wages
- YTD collected GST/HST (if applicable)
For employees, you'll need:
- YTD gross wages
- YTD employee and employer tax contributions
- Benefits and voluntary deductions
- Vacation balances
- Sick time balances
Make sure to include your last payroll outside of Jane before running your first payroll in Jane. Use our sample spreadsheet for a detailed breakdown of all required fields. The spreadsheet has separate tabs for contractors and employees. Add your staff under the correct tab and upload everything as a single document.
Once your file is ready, see our guide on How to Import Your Payroll History into Jane Payroll for the full import process.
2. Turn On Payroll
Only the Account Owner will be able to see and access this area to activate Jane Payroll. Once complete, a payroll admin can be assigned to take over the remaining onboarding steps.
- Go to the Billing tab.
- Click the Account tab under Payroll.
- Activate Jane Payroll for your clinic.
Once enabled, a new Payroll section will appear in your navigation.
3. Add Staff to Payroll
Select the staff members you'd like to add to payroll and choose their contract type from the drop-down (Employee or Contractor). This determines what information staff are required to provide during their onboarding. For example, employees need to provide tax deduction information, whereas contractors don't.
📣 Heads up: Add everyone you've paid in the current calendar year, even if they no longer work with you. This ensures your year-end tax forms are accurate.
After confirming the staff members you're adding to payroll, you'll be prompted to set up a Payroll Admin. This is a staff member who can manage payroll on your behalf, with the same access to Jane Payroll as the Account Owner. This access is limited to Jane Payroll only and doesn't apply to any other area of your Jane account.
Your team members will receive a welcome email from Jane to confirm their details and add their banking information. We recommend giving them a heads-up beforehand so they know to expect it.
For more on the staff onboarding process, see our guide on How to Complete Your Payroll Setup in Jane.
For more on Payroll Admin access, see our guide on Jane Payroll: Payroll Admin Permissions.
4. Complete the Welcome to Jane Payroll Checklist
You'll land on the Welcome to Jane Payroll screen, which is the start of your setup checklist. Complete the following:
- Choose your first pay date. This sets the frequency for your pay schedule going forward.
- Indicate whether you paid your staff in the current calendar year. This determines whether you need to import historical payroll data.
- Select how you paid your staff members from the list. Indicate whether you used payroll software or paid staff manually.
- Click Save.
5. Add a Work Location
Work locations are addresses assigned to each staff member to indicate where they perform their work. Jane uses the province of the primary work location to determine which provincial tax rules apply when calculating deductions.
Work locations are set up in your Payroll Account Settings under the Billing tab and then assigned to each staff member during their onboarding.
Employees
The goal is to indicate where each employee primarily works:
- In-person: assign the physical location where they work the most
- Hybrid: assign the physical location they're primarily attached to, even if they work from home part of the time
- Remote only: assign the clinic's primary business address. As long as the province is correct, payroll will calculate correctly.
Contractors
Since contractors handle their own taxes, the location should reflect where their work is primarily performed:
- Remote only: use the contractor's home address
- Hybrid or in-person: assign the physical location where they do most of their work
Work locations are completely separate from the location addresses used in Jane for booking and patient-facing purposes.
Enter your business's work location address, select the appropriate toggles, and click Save.
If you're unsure what address to assign, reach out to the Jane Payroll support team at [email protected] for guidance.
6. Set Up Pay Groups
Pay groups define how often payments are made to your staff. You might have one group for full-time employees and another for contractors, for example.
When choosing your pay date, keep in mind the time needed to gather your totals after the pay period closes, submit before the cut-off, and allow four business days for processing.
Enter the details required to define your pay cycle and pay date, add the relevant staff members, and click Save. Click Set Up Pay Groups again if you need to create additional pay groups.
For a full walkthrough, see our guide on How to Set Up and Manage Pay Groups in Jane Payroll.
7. Enter Tax Information
In the Tax Info section, you'll complete your business information in two parts: general business information and federal tax information.
- Enter your business name and address.
- Click Next.
- Complete the Federal Tax Info section.
- Click Save.
If you have a business number, the Federal Tax Information section requires your Business Number, Payroll Reference Number, and Remitter Type. All of these can be found in your CRA account.
Business Number
A Business Number (BN) is a unique 9-digit identifier assigned by the CRA to your business.
Reference Number
Your reference number is part of your full CRA number. The CRA structures all Business Numbers with a 9-digit base number followed by a two-letter program code and a four-digit reference number.
For example: 123456789-RT-0001
- The first 9 digits identify the business
- The 2 letters indicate the program account (such as RT for payroll)
- The final 4 digits identify the account sequence number, usually 0001
Remitter Type
The Remitter Type determines your CRA-assigned remittance schedule, which is how often payroll deductions are sent to the CRA. Enter your current frequency (Regular Monthly, Quarterly, or Accelerated).
If you're unsure where to find these details, contact the CRA directly at 1-800-959-5525.
8. Add Bank Account Details and Sign the PAD Agreement
To pay your team, Jane Payroll needs your banking information. You can connect your bank account manually or through Plaid.
Manual connection
Enter your bank details and Jane will send two small micro-deposits (each less than $1) to your account within a couple of days. Once they arrive, return to Jane to verify the amounts and complete bank verification.
Connect with Plaid
Select Connect with Plaid to verify your bank account instantly through Plaid, a third-party platform used for secure bank verification.
After entering your banking details, you'll be required to complete and sign a Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) Agreement. A copy of the signed agreement will be available in the Documents tab of your Jane Payroll account.
9. Sign Company Documents
Next, you'll add a Company Signatory, which is the person authorized to sign on behalf of your business. You'll need their name, role, date of birth, email, phone number, and address.
- Enter the Company Signatory's details.
- Click Next.
- Click Done.
📣 Heads up: You can't proceed with the remaining steps until both your KYB (Know Your Business) check and bank verification are complete. Once both are confirmed, you'll receive a notification and can continue.
10. Create Pay Types, Time Off Policies, and Benefit Policies
Before uploading your YTD history, you'll need to create your pay types, time off policies, and benefit policies in Jane Payroll. This is what allows the imports team to map your historical data correctly.
Head to the Account tab within the Payroll area to complete these steps:
- Pay Types: see our guide on How to Set Up and Assign Pay Types in Jane Payroll
- Time Off Policies: see our guide on Jane Payroll: Managing Vacation Pay and Vacation Time
- Benefit Policies: see our guide on How to Set Up Benefits in Jane Payroll
11. Finish Setting Up Staff Profiles
With your policies in place, go into each staff member's profile to complete their payroll setup, assigning work locations, contracts, pay types, time off policies, and benefits where applicable.
At the same time, your staff members will receive an email invitation to complete their own setup, entering their personal information, SIN, date of birth, home address, and direct deposit details. Employees and contractors will see slightly different fields based on how you categorized them when you added them to payroll.
See our guide on How to Complete Your Payroll Setup in Jane for a walkthrough of the staff onboarding steps.
12. Provide Payroll History
Once your pay types, vacation policies, and benefit policies are created, and your KYB check and bank verification are complete, upload your year-to-date payroll history from the Dashboard.
- Click Start beside Provide Payroll History.
- Select how you paid your team.
- Upload your payroll reports.
- Confirm the upload is complete.
- Click Save.
Once uploaded, the Jane Payroll imports team will review your data and map it to the correct areas in your account. Jane will send you a notification when the import is complete. You can review the imported information in the Documents tab.
Once all profiles are set up and your import is complete, your Dashboard will show your upcoming pay groups at the top with a Run Payroll button beside each one.
For a full walkthrough of the import process, see our guide on How to Import Your Payroll History into Jane Payroll.
You're all set to run your first payroll! If you have questions about any of these steps, reach out to the Jane Payroll support team at [email protected].