Payroll runs on your company and team details. When something changes, payroll needs to know — and out of date details can mean incorrect withholding, errors on year-end tax documents, delayed payroll, or penalties from a state.
This article covers the changes that matter most for payroll and where to make each one.
1. Where your team works
Examples include:
- Opening an office in a new state
- Someone moving to a different state
- Someone changing which office they work from
Why it matters: payroll taxes are based on where your team members work, not just where your business is registered. A move to a new state can change which taxes apply to someone and which jurisdictions Mercury files in.
Where to update it: add a work location in your payroll settings, and change someone's work location on their profile. Work location changes go through a review that can take up to three business days. See Managing your payroll settings.
Let us know as soon as someone moves. If wages go unreported in a state, you may be subject to refiling costs and penalties.
2. Pay and compensation
Examples include:
- Pay rate changes
- Stipends, allowances, and recurring reimbursements
- Wage garnishments and child support orders, including ones ordered by a court or state agency
- Paying a group of people on a different frequency
Why it matters: accurate pay details keep your team paid correctly and payroll taxes calculated properly.
Where to update it: on the person's profile, under Manage pay. See Managing someone's payroll details.
To pay a group on a different frequency, add a new pay schedule and move them to it — a schedule's frequency can't be changed once it's created. See Understanding pay schedules.
3. Team member details
Examples include:
- Address changes
- Legal name changes
- Social Security number corrections
- Tax withholding changes, including claiming an exemption
Why it matters: these feed directly into withholding and year-end tax documents, so out of date details cause incorrect withholding and errors on a W-2.
Where to update it depends on the detail:
- Most details — from the Team section of your Payroll home page. Select the person's name to view and edit certain details
- Social Security number corrections — contact support
- Tax withholding — team members change their own from their "My Payroll" page, and re-sign the updated form. See What team members see during payroll onboarding
4. Your company's legal details
Examples include:
- Changing your entity type, such as converting from an LLC to an S Corp
- Receiving a new EIN
- Changing your company's legal name or address
- Changes in ownership, including adding or removing partners
- Closing or selling part of your business
Why it matters: these affect how your payroll taxes are filed and reported, and incorrect entity information can result in refiling fees.
Where to update it: contact support. These details come from your Mercury account and can't be changed in your payroll settings. Get in touch before the change takes effect where you can.
5. Your payroll funding account
Examples include:
- Changing which Mercury account funds payroll
- Closing the account payroll is paid from
Why it matters: payroll is debited from this account, so keeping it current prevents failed debits and delayed payments to your team.
Where to update it: your "Pay schedules" page in payroll settings. See Managing your payroll settings.
If you're not sure
If you're not sure whether a change affects payroll, get in touch before you make it. It's easier to sort out in advance than to correct a filing afterwards.
The same goes for anything official you receive about payroll taxes — contact support as soon as it arrives, since these usually carry deadlines.
Mercury Payroll helps businesses manage payroll and related administrative tasks. Mercury does not provide legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice and does not act as your employer, professional employer organization (PEO), employer of record (EOR), or plan fiduciary. You remain responsible for your legal and regulatory obligations, including worker classification, wage-and-hour requirements, tax withholding and reporting, and benefits eligibility.