Product Update: January 2026

This month’s updates reflect a core Salsa principle: payroll should be responsive, not rigid. From streamlined contractor onboarding to step-up authentication, embedded partner help links, and automated employer notifications, these enhancements make it easier to build payroll experiences that are clear, focused, and deeply aligned with how your users operate.

Contractor-only onboarding, designed for speed and clarity

Not every business needs full W-2 payroll – and now, they don’t have to wade through it. We’ve introduced a simplified onboarding flow designed specifically for contractor-only employers. This tailored setup skips nonessential steps like state tax registration and focuses only on what’s required to pay contractors: company details, locations, federal tax info, banking, and signatory. This feature reduces the onboarding steps for businesses that employ only independent contractors or self-employed individuals, creating a direct path to first payout.

This simplified experience is available out of the box, with no developer effort required. Our embeddable onboarding flow dynamically adapts to the selected workforce type: W-2, 1099, or both, eliminating unnecessary friction without adding complexity to your payroll integration. Partners can predefine the workforce type via API, or let employers choose during onboarding, with seamless support for hybrid configurations.

For payroll products powered by Salsa, this helps reduce drop-off where it matters most, at onboarding. Many service-based businesses, especially in verticals like beauty, wellness, and personal care, rely on 1099 contractors as they grow – often long before hiring their first W-2 employee. This new flow is built for that reality, offering a streamlined experience that matches their needs today while staying flexible for tomorrow.

Partners can support these businesses with zero lift, no custom logic, just intuitive onboarding out of the box.

Embedded MFA for sensitive payroll actions

We’re introducing embedded multi-factor authentication (MFA) for sensitive payroll actions. With our new two-token model, you can require step-up verification for high-risk operations like changing bank details or viewing PII without disrupting the rest of the payroll experience.

​​This feature is now available out of the box in our embeddable components and integrates seamlessly with your existing authentication setup (MFA). Token lifetimes are configurable, the flow is action-based (not session-based), and Salsa stays out of your MFA strategy. You bring the authentication method, and we enforce the control.

For partners in regulated industries or those supporting platforms with elevated risk profiles, this model adds an extra layer of protection where it matters most. Existing integrations remain unchanged, and there’s no migration pressure. It’s a security enhancement that adds power without adding complexity – and a first for embedded payroll infrastructure.

📄 View documentation

Embed your own help content into onboarding flows

Onboarding is a moment of high intent – and high risk for confusion. To keep employers moving forward with confidence, partners can now surface their own help center content directly within Salsa’s embedded components. Whether it’s a persistent banner across the Employer Dashboard or contextual help icons during onboarding steps, support is now just a click away, right where it’s needed.

This capability helps reduce support escalations and onboarding abandonment by giving employers the answers they need, in the partner’s voice and brand. Instead of deflecting to Salsa-owned help docs, partners can direct users to their own guidance – keeping the experience cohesive and familiar.

Configuration is simple and flexible. Partners can provide a single URL or define links per onboarding step, with nothing appearing if it’s not configured. No broken links, no placeholder UI – just a clean experience that supports your employers exactly when they need it. Today, partners can provide their Salsa contact with the help links they wish to add, and our team will take care of the rest. In the future, this will be self-serve via API.

Automated tax rate notifications

State unemployment tax rates change every fiscal year – and keeping employers informed without overwhelming them is key. To support this, we’ve added a new embedded notification: “Notification.Employer.taxRateUpdatedFromAgency” 

When Salsa receives an updated state unemployment rate directly from a state agency, we now notify the employer automatically – no action required.

This update is part of our ongoing effort to automate tax rate updates behind the scenes, reducing friction for employers and removing repetitive work for your team.

As with all Salsa notifications, you stay in full control: use webhook events to trigger your own email, SMS, or in-app messages that match your brand and voice, a small but meaningful way to keep employers in the loop during a high-change period, giving them confidence that everything is handled.

To learn more about Salsa’s embedded notifications, check out this past product update, or connect with our solution engineering team for a quick review.

At Salsa, we’re building the infrastructure that empowers partners to design payroll experiences around their product strategy – not ours. Whether that means streamlining onboarding, tightening security, embedding your own support, or keeping employers effortlessly informed, we’re here to help you move faster and serve better. To learn more or start configuring these updates, check out the docs or reach out to our team anytime.