A firm admin checklist for EFTPS enrollment on bookkeeping and payroll clients

This page is general information about the enrollment process, not legal advice and not a deposit schedule opinion. The IRS EFTPS page, EFTPS.gov, and the employment tax deposit pages are the texts to read. This page does not invent fees, PIN wait days beyond those pages, or which deposit schedule a client is on.

Federal tax deposits must be made by electronic funds transfer. The IRS lists free methods as your business tax account, Direct Pay for businesses, and EFTPS. Other methods, including asking a financial institution to initiate an ACH credit or a same day tax wire, or asking a tax professional or payroll service to make the payment, may charge a fee. (Depositing and reporting employment taxes)

Confirm who will press submit for this client: the owner, your firm as reporting agent, or another payroll vendor. If your firm will make deposits and file certain returns as a reporting agent, collect Form 8655 first. EFTPS enrollment is not a substitute for that authorization.

Enroll at EFTPS.gov or request an enrollment from EFTPS Customer Service at the numbers on the IRS EFTPS page. The IRS page says new enrollments for EFTPS can take up to five business days to process. Individual taxpayers can no longer create new EFTPS accounts. The IRS page tells individuals to pay most individual taxes through an Online Account, and says current EFTPS users can still use EFTPS for now. EFTPS.gov states that as of 17 October 2025, individuals cannot create new enrollments on EFTPS.gov. Do not start an individual enrollment for a 1040 client. (EFTPS: The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, EFTPS.gov)

If you are a tax professional, the IRS EFTPS page says you can make payments for multiple clients under a single login, and it points to free Batch Provider Software. Use that path only when the client is enrolled and your firm is the party who should submit.

You must be enrolled to use EFTPS. EFTPS.gov says that if this is a first enrollment, the information will be validated with the IRS, and after that process is complete you will receive a PIN via U.S. Mail in five to seven business days at your IRS address of record. The IRS EFTPS page separately says new enrollments can take up to five business days to process. Log both clocks. Do not invent a third wait. (EFTPS.gov)

Collect from the client the EIN, the legal name as on the IRS account, the IRS address of record where the PIN should arrive, and the responsible party details the client must provide to complete enrollment. The PIN is not a firm asset you guess. It arrives by mail to the IRS address of record.

EFTPS.gov requires multifactor authentication through Login.gov or ID.me for system access. After authentication, the user still enters the EIN or SSN, PIN, and password. Publication 4557 tells tax professionals to implement multi factor authentication for anyone accessing customer information, to give each person a unique password, and not to share passwords among employees. Store EFTPS credentials in the firm password manager, with MFA on, under a named user. Do not paste a PIN into a team chat. (Publication 4557)

EFTPS.gov says payments using the website or the voice response system must be scheduled by 8 p.m. ET the day before the due date to be received timely by the IRS. Funds move out of the bank account on the settlement date you select. The IRS EFTPS page says you get an immediate acknowledgement of the payment. A person watches the first deposit: enrollment is complete, PIN is in the password manager, the tax type and period match the return you are depositing for, and the acknowledgement is stored. (EFTPS.gov)

This page does not tell you whether the client is a monthly or semiweekly depositor. That determination lives on the employment tax due dates page and Publication 15. Put the due dates you actually use on the same board as the sales tax filing calendar so federal deposits and state filings are not two mystery lists.

Tools can draft a chase when the PIN mailer has not arrived. They do not prepare, file, or sign returns, and they do not press submit on a deposit. Your staff approve what goes out. Your CPA reviews and signs every return.

One row per client EIN. Duplicate a row if a second enrollment is required because a new entity received its own EIN.

• This client is a business enrollment, not a new individual EFTPS account.
• Who submits is written down, and Form 8655 is in the file if the firm is the reporting agent.
• Enrollment date and PIN received date are both logged.
• Credentials sit in the password manager with MFA, not in email.
• A person watched the first deposit acknowledgement before you treat enrollment as done.

Download the EFTPS enrollment checklist and client roster. The tax season operator can draft the chase when a PIN mailer is still missing. Your staff approve what goes out. Your CPA reviews and signs every return.