Payroll tax setup
This Intuit project uses help content to simplify tax setup.
Project overview
Setting up payroll tax is complicated. QuickBooks has seen a large drop-off in the tax setup experience from start to finish. Incorrect tax setup results in some of our highest care call drivers including tax payments, filings, and corrections. In FY20, there were 126,000 cases related to paying liabilities, which makes up 22% of the total care calls. The work on tax setup will impact 55% of the sign-up base and help reduce care calls.
Problem statement
I’m an employer who recently purchased a payroll solution with QuickBooks.
I’m trying to set up my tax info so I can pay taxes once, on time, and forget about it. I don’t want to run into any problems later.
But I don’t have any idea where to even start.
Because I’m not sure if I have the right information and QuickBooks doesn’t help to figure out what I need. I don’t know what the questions mean, where and how to find the answers, and why you’re asking me these questions. I need assurance I’m doing it right.
Which makes me feel insecure about setup, so I keep putting it off.
Our approach
We added more help content during the process to increase completion rate and accuracy of tax setup. I worked with my design partner to create some general principles for the help content.
Page description / instruction
Create help content that:
•Provides general guidance on how to complete the page.
•Applies to every field on the page.
Form label
If the label is commonly understood or self-explanatory, use shorter form labels as a statement to make scanning the fields easier.
Form label in the form of a question
Occasionally, when the question is too complex to describe in a few words, it’s okay to ask in the form of a question.
Helper text / inline help text vs. tooltip
•Helper text or inline help text is used to convey additional guidance about the input field, such as how it will be used. It should be succinct and ideally take up only a single line or two. It should convey a single point of info. In tax setup, the inline help text is used to address any extra caution prior to interacting with the input field or to direct users to additional resource.
•Tooltips are used to provide extra info that helps users answer various questions regarding the input field. In tax setup, the tooltip is used to answer what the field is, where to find the info, and if users are unsure, what they can do now and later.
Most common choice
Indicate which item is the most common in a dropdown menu if it applies to majority of the users.
We then held customer interviews and continued to refine as needed.
Content updates
Business info
Before
After
•Content is less formal and more conversational.
•Changed field labels from questions to statements so they are easier to scan.
•I remind customers where they can find this info, and helper text is included for company legal name.
•Removed workers’ comp since that is state specific. The team felt that would be better on the state page for a future release.
•The PPO field fit better on this page instead of the federal page. We’ll add a tooltip in a future release.
•The original page asked users if they had hired their first employee within the last 6 months. User testing sessions found people were confused by this question. We realized it didn’t make sense to ask at this stage of the setup.
Federal tax info
Before
After
•I start by telling people why we need this info and where they can find it. User testing found that people didn’t know the name of the forms and were confused when we said the specific name. They found “letters and tax notices” more helpful.
•There’s a tooltip providing more info about EIN numbers. Under the field, there is a link that people can use if they need to apply for an EIN.
•Field labels were tightened up.
•The question about non-profits was removed and will be added in a different spot in the flow in a later release.
Payroll tax form dropdown
Before
After
•The original version had “not common” next to Form 944, but it made sense to remove that and just call out what is most common.
•We removed the option for “I’m not sure.” Instead, we defaulted to the most common option. The tooltip also tells users where they can change this later.
Payment schedule dropdown
Before
After
•We tightened up the options. I proposed changing “semiweekly” to “twice a week,” but we decided to match what the IRS uses.
•Removed “I’m not sure” because we default to semiweekly. In the tooltip, I tell people what to do if they’re not sure, and how they can change it later.
EIN tooltip
Payroll tax form tooltip
Payment schedule tooltip
State tax info
Before
After
•Header is more conversational, and helper text explains why we need the info and where the user can find it. The header now includes the state name.
•I removed the state name from the field labels, unless the state was part of the actual name. For example, since Colorado Account Number is the official name, we kept that as a proper noun. We want to match what the state forms have as much as possible to help our customers.
•Instead of yes or no options for account number, we tell them that it’s optional and include the format needed.
•In a future release, we will link to the page where the user can apply for an account number if they don’t have one.
•For UI rate, we provide a tool tip with the range. In a future release, we’ll tell them what to choose if they aren’t sure.
Additional states
If there is more than one state, the header changes. I wanted something conversational that continues the flow.
Most likely, there won’t be more than two states. If there is a third, we keep “next we need.” I chose that phrasing because it can be the last step, but it also works if there is something else after.