Registration Process Overview
Overall, the Middesk registration process can be broken down into a number of stages:
Pre-Submission
The registration process begins with setting up your Middesk account and logging into the dashboard at agent.middesk.com. To learn more about the creation process, you can learn more by reviewing our article How do I set an account up with Middesk?
Once you’ve set up your account and logged into the dashboard, you’ll kick off the registration process by submitting an order to our team, via your dashboard. To learn more on submitting an order, please visit How do I start a registration order?
Middesk Processing
Once a registration order is submitted to Middesk, it moves into queue to be reviewed and processed by our team. Our team will check the registration information provided to ensure there are no errors or issues, before submitting the registration(s) to the state agencies in question. Typically it will take our team 1-2 business days to process and submit a registration.
Once a registration is submitted, the “Contact” on your Middesk account (which can be changed under the “Edit Information” section of your dashboard) will be sent an email confirming the submission.
If your registration is not able to be submitted for whatever reason, the status will be updated and the contact will be notified. Please consult the Understanding Registration Statuses article for more information on this topic.
Waiting for Government Agency Processing
Once the submission process is completed by Middesk, the registration(s) will begin processing with the state tax agencies. This is the part of the registration process that will vary the most depending on the state or agency in question. Some registrations are completed almost instantly after the submission, and some will take months for the agencies to process and return the information.
To learn more about different tax agencies and their expected “turn around times” you can consult the state-by-state resource section of the help center.
Retrieval of Tax Information
Once our team is notified that a registration is completed, or the expected processing time has passed, our team will retrieve the completed tax information from the agencies. Tax agencies vary in how they distribute completed account information. Whether via the agency’s online portal, and email, or physical mail - our team will monitor and retrieve account information as soon as it’s available.
Once our team retrieves the registration information, it is added to your Middesk dashboard, under the relevant state account page. Typically the information included will involve some mix of tax IDs, rates, or filing/deposit frequencies. If the agency in question is one that Middesk creates an account for, you will also find your agency log-in credentials here.
Once our team adds the tax information to your dashboard, your payroll provider will have access to the details - however, as detailed below there is one more step that most customers will have to complete.
Third Party Authorization
Middesk does not file taxes on your business’s behalf, or manage customer’s tax accounts. Instead, Middesk is here to support the registration process, and then hand over the completed registration details so your payroll provider can file your taxes and manage your payroll tax accounts on your behalf.
Before your payroll provider can file your taxes, you will need to provide them with the legal authority to do so. This is the one part of the registration process that must be completed by the business, as Middesk cannot provide authorization to your payroll provider on your behalf.
The TPA process varies case by case depending on the registration and can be done multiple ways, but most commonly you’ll need to submit some kind of access or authorization form on the agency online portal - or fill out a power of attorney form that will be sent to the state.
Due to the variance in the TPA process, Middesk’s status as a third party, and the fact that this is something provided to the payroll provider specifically, Middesk cannot provide step by step guidance on how to complete this process. Should you require assistance in completing this process we recommend consulting with your payroll provider.
Account Maintenance
Once TPA is assigned to your payroll provider, the registration process can be considered complete, but we always recommend reaching out to your payroll provider to confirm everything is being handled from here on.
Middesk does not maintain your agency accounts, file taxes, or monitor your accounts for changes, so it is your responsibility to ensure that any required actions are being handled by your payroll provider.
From this point forward, Middesk will continue to manage your agency mail in the ‘Communications’ section of your dashboard, and maintain your log-in credentials (for Middesk-created agency accounts). For any issues related to your account access or mail, you can reach out to our support team at agent@middesk.com.