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Available for the following user access levels: Admin
Before using Payroll, your business must complete Know Your Business (KYB) verification, which is a legal requirement that confirms your company is legitimate and compliant. KYB helps prevent fraud, money laundering, and other financial risks by verifying business details, ownership, and structure.
Getting started
In this article, you’ll learn what KYB is, why it matters, what documents you’ll need, and how to complete the process easily using Persona, our secure verification partner.
KYB Verification Overview
KYB, or "Know Your Business," is a legal requirement in the financial industry that verifies businesses' legitimacy.
It is key in preventing fraud, money laundering, and other high-risk activities, particularly in financial and corporate settings. KYB is especially important in B2B (business-to-business) relationships, ensuring companies work with trustworthy and compliant partners.
- Business Verification: This step confirms that the business is real and legally registered. It typically involves checking official records for details like the company’s legal name, registration number, and registered address using government databases or trusted third-party sources.
- Understanding Business Structure: KYB also determines who owns and controls the business. This means identifying major shareholders and determining the ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) to prevent financial crimes like money laundering through complex corporate setups.
- Assessing Business Reputation: Knowing if a business has a good track record is important. This may include reviewing media coverage, legal disputes, and financial stability to spot any potential risks before working with them.
- Compliance Checks: Businesses need to follow local and international rules, including anti-money laundering (AML) laws and sanctions. KYB ensures they’re not on any blacklists and checks for politically exposed persons (PEPs) to avoid compliance issues.
We would recommend that you gather all the necessary documents before you start the KYB verification process. Having everything ready before you start helps avoid delays, ensures a smoother experience, and speeds up the approval process.
To verify your business, you will need:
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Business Information
- Legal business name
- Business tax identification number
- Year of incorporation
- Business address
- Entity structure (Sole proprietorship, Corporation, Partnership, Co-operative)
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Associated people :
Signing Officers and UBOs are individuals authorized to bind the company through their signature legally. You'll need to provide their name, job title, email address, and percentage ownership.
What's an Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO)?
UBOs are individuals who hold 10% or more ownership of your business.
Each UBO must be linked to the business and complete identity verification with a photo ID and selfies. If they're also an Employment Hero admin, they only need to do KYC once.
Accepted IDs for UBOs:
- Driver’s License
- Passport
- National ID -
Pay verification documents:
You’ll need to provide one of the following documents which includes the company name, a bank institution, an account, and a branch/transit number.- A void cheque
- A bank verification letter, etc.
- A direct deposit form from your bank
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Place and History of Business Documents:
You’ll need to provide a utility bill showing your business's legal name and address exactly as they appear in Employment Hero.
If there’s a suite number, ensure it’s included and matches the bill before completing KYB. -
Payor Relationship Documents: This document should detail the UBO as the signing officer or director of the company.
You’ll need to provide one of the following:- Articles of incorporation
- Business registration
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Bank verification letter confirming signing authority
Keeping Your Account Details Accurate
To make sure your information remains accurate, we may periodically ask you to confirm your account details. You will be given 180 days to complete this verification.
If any of your information has changed, you will be required to complete our full Know Your Customer/Business (KYC/B) process to update your account.
Now that you understand KYB and why it's essential for using Payroll, let’s get you set up!
Click here for a step-by-step guide on completing KYB with Persona, our trusted tool for KYB/C verification.
Explore related content
- How to complete KYB Verification with Persona This article walks you through each step of the KYB verification process using Persona, our secure identity verification partner.
- Know Your Customer (KYC) Verification Overview This article explains what KYC is, why it’s important, and how to complete the quick verification through Persona.