W-4 is a tax form for US Employees. There are two types of forms: W-4 Federal and W-4 State form. Depending on the state regulations, employees might need to fill out both W-4 Federal and State forms. With a seamless native in-app experience, the W-4 forms help Enterprise companies to onboard their employees with ease. Both W-4 Federal and State forms are supported within Fountain workflows.

What's Covered

• W-4 Form Basics 
• Add W-4 Form Stage
• Applicant Completion
• Employer Signature
• Request Applicant to redo W-4
• Supported States

W-4 Form Basics

The W-4 forms function as tax withholding information collection meant to be filled out by both employee and employer.

The W-4 Forms have three main sections:

• Employee Section: Employee must fill this out on or before their start date. These fields will be editable and completed by the applicant. 
• Employer Section: Employer fills this out. This section must be completed within the first few business days of hire. Some fields such as the employer information fields will be pre-populated from Workflow Editor settings.
• Rehires: Rehires can complete the forms again in the rehire section.

1099 contractors do not need to fill out this form, only employees do.

Add W-4 Form Stage

1. Add a stage to your Opening's workflow and select W-4 Federal Form for Federal form or W-4 State Form for the W-4 State specific forms under Stage Type. We recommend that the W-4 Form stage is placed after the approval stage, or when the applicant has accepted their offer to your position. By doing this, the applicant will not automatically progress to this stage.
   
                        
2. Configure the W-4 Form stage settings within the Settings box.
   If you want the applicant to move to the next stage in the workflow after they complete the W-4 form, turn on that toggle. This will enable the automatic move rule of applicants to the next stage when the applicant completes their portion of the W-4. We recommend that you turn this setting on to keep the applicant moving through your workflow instead of waiting for the employer to complete their half of the W-4.
3. MUST COMPLETE - Employer Information                                  You must pre-fill the employer information section with the employer's information (name, address, and EIN number). This must be added manually into the W-4 Stage within the Workflow Editor in order for it to appear on the W-4 forms when the employer countersigns. 

Applicant Completion

When the applicant lands in the W-4 stage, they will see the exact state and federal W-4 forms displayed with the applicant fields editable for completion. These forms are powered by Dropbox Sign (our Fountain Native document signing provider). 

Employer Signature 

Once an applicant has completed their portion of the W-4 form, there are a few ways the user/employer can sign their section of the W-4 form.

• From the link in the email notification - by default sent to Opening Owner when applicant completes their portion of the W-4.
• Via the Status Label within the Applicant Table, Universal Applicant View, or Applicant Profile.

When an applicant has completed their portion of the W-4, a new status label called W4 Federal - Pending Action or W4 State: Pending Action will appear.

Click the W4 - Pending Action Status Label and then, Sign Document.

This will take you to a new page to sign the form.

Click on View Form to see the generated official W-4 Form in PDF. We recommend using Adobe PDF Viewer for best results when downloading and printing W-4 forms. You may encounter issues with specific fields missing or blacked out when using other clients.

Applicant Redo

If there was an error on the applicant's portion, you can request for the applicant to redo the form by moving the applicant to the previous stage.  This will trigger the form to be completed again. When the applicant sees the form, all fields will be empty. 

Supported States

Review the table below to see what states are supported by Fountain's W-4 Form. An asterisk indicates that the state uses the Federal W-4 Form. If the state is not supported, the state has no state income tax.