What to tell your previous provider
Contact your previous provider before your first Freedom payday. Tell them you are switching payroll providers. Do not say you stopped running payroll. Some providers report that to the IRS as a closed business.
If your first Freedom payday is the first payday of a quarter, ask your previous provider to:
File and pay all returns for the quarter that just ended.
Stop all tax filings and tax payments after that quarter.
If your first Freedom payday falls in the middle of a quarter, ask your previous provider to:
Not file the current quarter's returns. Freedom files the full quarter.
Refund any taxes they collected for this quarter but have not yet sent to the IRS or your state.
Whichever situation applies, also ask your previous provider to:
Not file W-2s or 1099s for this year. Freedom files them.
Remove themselves as your reporting agent (the company authorized to file and pay taxes for you) with the IRS and your state agencies. If they stay on file, your Freedom filings can be rejected.
If you paid your team by hand or through an accountant, give your accountant the same instructions and ask which tax payments they made this quarter.
If your team was paid under your previous provider's own tax ID, also called a professional employer organization, the hand-off is different. Your previous provider files everything through your last payday with them, and you need your own state tax accounts before your first Freedom payday. Message Freedom support from the chat in the app before you set your first payday.
When to cancel
Give notice now if your contract requires it. Most providers ask for 30 days. Set the end date after your first Freedom payday (when your first payroll on Freedom pays out), not your Freedom start date (when your data is all transferred and you are able to start creating payrolls).
Some providers lock the account the day you cancel, so ask them to keep it open for viewing until you have everything.
Run your first payday on Freedom and confirm your team was paid.
Cancel your previous provider.
Note: Do not cancel before your first Freedom payday has been paid. You may still need to pull pay history reports from the old account to finish your Freedom setup.
Who files your payroll taxes
Payroll taxes are filed by quarter: January to March, April to June, July to September, and October to December.
Your previous provider files and pays every quarter that ended before your first Freedom payday.
Freedom files the quarter that contains your first Freedom payday, and every quarter after it.
Freedom files this year's W-2s and 1099s. This is why Freedom asks for your full pay history for the year during setup.
Example: your first Freedom payday is May 7. Your previous provider files January to March. Freedom files April to June and everything after.