Payroll Relief e-services automate financial and compliance activity surrounding an approved payroll. IRIS currently lists direct deposit, tax payments, federal and state electronic filing, child-support payments and payroll-processing charges among the electronic services available to participating employers.
The critical point is that these services require authorization and funding controls.
An accountant cannot add a client’s bank account and immediately begin sending electronic payroll. Employer banking must be validated, required authorizations must be completed and the EFT application has to be approved.
Who Does What?
IRIS’s e-services documentation defines distinct roles.
For employers using the electronic-service program, the accounting or payroll firm acts as the Payroll Processing Provider and Reporting Agent. AccountantsWorld acts as the third-party service provider supplying the electronic-funds infrastructure.
The employer remains responsible for its payroll obligations and funding.
This is more accurate than describing Payroll Relief as a wallet from which an accountant simply “sends money.”
Employer Bank Validation
Before e-services can begin, the employer’s banking information must be validated.
Current IRIS instructions say the employer bank setup is a prerequisite for submitting the EFT application used for electronic payments and direct deposit.
That process exists because Payroll Relief is dealing with real payroll funds and tax obligations.
Electronic-payment access therefore involves more controls than an ordinary software feature toggle.
Form 8655
IRIS’s current EFT application workflow also references IRS Form 8655.
The signed form authorizes the reporting-agent relationship for applicable tax activity and is part of the preparation required before the electronic-services application is completed.
This provides an important division between software capability and legal/administrative authorization.
Payroll Relief can support electronic filing, but the accounting firm still needs the authority to act for that employer.
Employee Direct Deposit
Once the employer is properly configured, direct deposit can be set up for individual employees and contractors.
Current IRIS documentation says Payroll Relief can configure direct deposit of pay and, when offered, HSA contributions. Employees or contractors electing direct deposit should complete an authorization form that the employer keeps on file.
The employee’s bank information answers where their net pay should be delivered.
That is different from the employer’s funding account.
Employee vs. Employer Bank Information
These two banking relationships should never be confused.
Employer banking funds the payroll and electronic obligations.
Employee banking receives the individual worker’s authorized direct deposit.
A payroll processor may need both sets of information for a functioning ACH workflow, but they serve opposite sides of the transaction.
This distinction also matters for security: changing employee banking should not alter the employer’s funding arrangement, and vice versa.
Payroll Taxes
Payroll Relief can also automate payroll-tax payments.
Its current compliance system uses approved payrolls, pay dates and tax-payment frequencies to calculate withholding and unemployment liabilities and determine scheduled payment dates.
The Payments area then acts as a control center for pending and past payments, manual payments, coupons and scheduling adjustments.
That makes compliance a continuing process after payroll approval rather than a year-end-only task.
Federal and State Electronic Filing
IRIS says the e-services program supports electronic filing for federal and most state requirements.
State rules still differ.
For example, Payroll Relief’s current Tennessee documentation requires employer bank setup, an ACH application, Form 8655 and state registration before applicable electronic services are used.
The lesson is broader than Tennessee: “Payroll Relief supports e-filing” does not mean every jurisdiction has identical registration requirements.
ACH Transaction Details
Payroll Relief also provides transaction-level information for electronic payments.
IRIS published updated July 2026 guidance explaining that users can review ACH Transactions and trace-number details when a tax agency needs help locating a payment.
This is an operational accounting-firm function that an ordinary employee will never need.
It reinforces why employee self-service and payroll-administrator access should remain separate.
State Tax EFT Settings
Electronic tax payments can also require special handling when an employer has state credits or other unusual situations.
IRIS’s July 2026 guidance says state EFT settings are configured at the state level in Payroll Relief, and it documents a separate process for refunding certain prefunded taxes still held within Payroll Relief.
This is another example of why “automatic tax payments” does not mean payroll compliance runs unattended in every scenario.
Professional review remains necessary.
Electronic Child Support
Payroll Relief includes electronic child-support payments among its current e-services.
This extends electronic payroll processing beyond employees and tax agencies to other legally required payroll deductions.
The accounting firm’s responsibility is not merely to calculate a garnishment amount but, where the service applies, to ensure the correct payment workflow occurs.
Funding Risk
IRIS’s e-services documentation specifically tells payroll firms to consider whether employer clients will fund their accounts on time before offering electronic services.
That warning reveals an important operational reality.
The payroll provider may automate the process, but the employer still needs sufficient funds available when electronic payments are debited.
Automation does not eliminate financial risk.
Direct Deposit Is Not an Employee Wallet
For an employee, Payroll Relief direct deposit is a payroll-delivery method.
It should not be described as a consumer wallet in which wages accumulate for arbitrary withdrawal.
The payroll is calculated and approved, the applicable electronic transaction is processed and the employee’s authorized bank account receives their pay.
ZayZoon’s newer earned-wage-access integration is a separate service layered into selected ESS environments.
Protect Bank Information
Do not send [PUBLICATION NAME]:
- employee direct-deposit forms;
- routing numbers;
- employer funding accounts;
- EFT applications;
- Form 8655;
- ACH trace information;
- payroll credentials.
We cannot alter a Payroll Relief transaction.
Actual payment changes belong inside the authorized relationship between the accounting firm, employer, AccountantsWorld/IRIS and the financial institutions involved.