Last updated: Jul 14, 2026, 2:38 PM
How to add new employees in Toast Payroll, handle onboarding emails, missing email addresses, documents, passcodes, and direct deposit.
To create a new employee in Toast Payroll, navigate to Team and select + Add team member to start the new hire workflow. You will enter the employee's basic info, jobs and pay, benefits, and onboarding documents, then select Add to team to finish your portion. For the full step-by-step walkthrough, see Toast Payroll: New Hire Employees (Employer Guide).
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Yes, you can create multiple new employees at once using an import feature during Toast Payroll onboarding. Work with your onboarding consultant to import multiple employees, then send those employees the link in Toast Payroll: Imported New Hire Guide so they can fill out their profiles. Employees who do not fill out their profiles cannot log in or receive pay by direct deposit.
Before an employee can complete their onboarding, you need to enter the following information when you create their profile:
You should also upload any company documents you want the employee to sign, such as a company handbook or a state-specific document. For details on assigning more than one job, see Toast Payroll: Assign or Change Employee Jobs or Locations.
The employee receives their onboarding email automatically after you select Add to team to finish your portion of the new hire workflow. This "welcome" email is sent to the email address you entered and directs the employee to set a password, create their Toast account, and complete their own onboarding steps.
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If your new hire did not receive their onboarding email, first ask them to check their spam or junk folder. If the email address was entered incorrectly and the employee has not yet used the original welcome email, navigate to the employee's profile and select Profile > User Account > Update to correct the address. If the email needs to be sent again, see Toast Payroll: Resend New Hire Onboarding Email.
Note: The original "welcome" email cannot be resent. A separate "invite" email can be sent from the Team page instead.
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If your new hire cannot log in from the onboarding email, the most common cause is that they are trying more than one entry point or their profile is not yet active. Direct the employee to log in only from the link in their onboarding email, then create a password when prompted. If they still cannot log in, confirm the employee is active and appears on your Team page, then send an invite email from the Team page. For details, see Toast Payroll: Resend New Hire Onboarding Email. If the issue continues, contact Toast Customer Care.
Yes, you can add an employee who does not have an email address, but Toast strongly recommends every employee have one. On the Basic info step of the new hire workflow, select No for Will you provide an email address? Employees added without an email address cannot log in, complete Form I-9 or Form W-4, set up a payment method, view paystubs, or access year-end documents such as Form W-2. For full details, see Toast Payroll: Employees Without Email Addresses.
Yes, you can add an employee's email address later if you did not have it when you hired them. Navigate to the employee's profile and select User Account from the Profile tab, then add the email address. After the email is added, follow Toast Payroll: Resend New Hire Onboarding Email to send the employee a link to complete their onboarding.
To complete onboarding for an employee with no email address, you complete their required steps on their behalf. You can enter direct deposit information for the employee, fill out their Form W-4 from a paper copy by navigating to the employee's profile and selecting Taxes & Documents > Tax Forms, and upload a paper Form I-9. For the full process, including how to mark the new hire as complete afterward, see Toast Payroll: Employees Without Email Addresses.
To upload documents you want your new hires to sign, you have two options. During the new hire workflow, you can attach a document on the Documents step, and only the employee currently being hired will see it. To deliver a document to all new hires, see Toast Payroll: Upload Documents for New Hires.
A new hire signs company documents after signing in to Toast Payroll. On their dashboard during employee onboarding, the employee selects the Sign Company Documents checklist item, which brings them to a page to view and sign the documents.
Note: Documents that do not require an e-signature are marked complete when the employee opens them, but they are not saved to the employee's profile.
Yes, you can upload a paper copy of a Form I-9 into Toast Payroll. First, have the employee complete the remaining steps of their portion of onboarding. Then navigate to Team > Onboarding, select the edit pencil for the employee, and choose Mark this new hire as complete to remove them from the new hire workflow. Finally, follow Toast Payroll: Upload a File to an Employee's Document Library to upload the Form I-9.
The passcode is created in Toast Web when you add a new employee in Toast Payroll, because Toast Payroll syncs the new profile to Toast Web. The POS access code (also known as a PIN or punch-in code) is set on the Jobs & Pay step of the employer new hire workflow. It defaults to match the employee number and can be changed on that step before you finish your portion. After that, the passcode cannot be edited in Toast Payroll, only in Toast Web.
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To change a passcode after the employee is hired in Toast Payroll, you make the change in Toast Web, because the passcode can no longer be edited in Toast Payroll. See the Edit an Employee Profile in Toast Web section of Add and Manage Employees in Toast Web.
To know which employees are set up for direct deposit, in Toast Payroll navigate to Settings > Payroll > Direct Deposit. The top of the page lists employees with incomplete direct deposit information, and you can send them an email notification from this page. The second section lists each employee who is successfully set up. For details, see Toast Payroll: Get Help With Direct Deposit Accounts.
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The "may already have a profile" screen means Toast Payroll detected an existing profile with a similar name, email address, or phone number. Review the suggested profiles. If one matches the person you are hiring, select it to consolidate records and avoid a duplicate. If none match, select Continue creating a new profile. For details on badge types, see Toast Payroll: Duplicate Profile Detection in Toast.
If your new hire is a former employee and their onboarding will not complete, a duplicate or old profile is most likely blocking the new one. During the new hire workflow, review the "may already have a profile" screen and select the matching profile to consolidate records instead of creating a duplicate. If you cannot resolve the conflict yourself, contact Toast Customer Care.
If the SSN field shows "This SSN is already in use," select X in the upper-right corner, then select Discard & exit to close the workflow without saving. Follow Toast Payroll: Resolve Duplicate Social Security Numbers (SSNs) to identify the duplicate profile and resolve it before restarting the new hire workflow.
Yes, you can run payroll for a new hire even if they have not finished onboarding. The employee can complete their steps later without affecting payroll. However, an employee who has not finished onboarding cannot be paid by direct deposit until their bank information is on file, and their tax withholding may not be set up correctly without a completed Form W-4.
Before you can pay a new hire, the employee needs to complete their portion of onboarding. This includes Form W-4, Form I-9, and selecting a payment method such as direct deposit. For each step the employee takes, see Toast Payroll: Employee Onboarding (Employee Guide).
This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for advice.