Before you can hire employees and start running payroll, most states require you to register as an employer with them. This registration will generate account ids that will be used by the Payroll software (Gusto) to file returns and pay taxes on behalf of your business. Once you’ve completed the registration process and received your Payroll Tax Account IDs, you’re officially registered as an Employer with the state. This process is known as the Employer Registration process.

If your business is located in the state of Arizona, you're required to share the following information to continue running payroll successfully:

1. Unemployment Tax Rate: The standard new employer tax rate is usually 2% but the state might assign you a different rate if you were previously registered as an Employer.

2. Unemployment Account Number: This is usually an 8-digit number assigned by the Arizona Department of Employment Security after the registration process.

The good news is that Collective will take care of the Withholding and Unemployment Registration process for you. For most states, we receive the Unemployment Account Number immediately after registration but AZ can take anywhere between 4 - 6 weeks to process the application. The state then mails 2 letters to the LLC.

The first one will be a Withholding Registration Confirmation from the Department of Revenue. Simply upload it to your documents via the Collective dashboard. This is what the letter looks like:

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The second one is from the Arizona Department of Economic Security with your Unemployment Account ID. This is important as it is needed to file reports and pay taxes for your LLC. Once you receive this letter, please upload it to your documents via Collective Dashboard and let our team know, so we can add it to the payroll software. This is what the Unemployment Registration letter looks like:
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If you don’t receive these letters within 4 weeks after registration, call the state at 602-771-6602 to check the status of your application and get your account ID. Please note that the lines are usually busy and it can take anywhere from 30 - 60 mins to get hold of a live representative.

Got Questions: Drop us an email at hello@collective.com - Attn: Employer Registration Team and one of our experts will get back to you with answers :)

Disclaimer: The information contained in this document is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or tax advice. It is not intended to be a substitute for obtaining accounting or other financial advice from an appropriate financial adviser or for the purpose of avoiding U.S. Federal, state or local tax payments and penalties.