Introducing Documents (Beta) – Expanding our Unified API Platform to Employee Documents

We’re thrilled to announce the beta launch of the Finch Documents API, a completely new employment data endpoint, beginning with support for W-4 federal tax withholding forms. This milestone brings a first-of-its-kind programmatic approach to accessing and standardizing the data from employer and employee tax documents. 

By automating the delivery of W-4 data from employers’ payroll systems to end applications, this new API unlocks use cases across health benefits, retirement, tax and accounting, lending, and so much more. Finch Documents represents a major step toward democratizing access to data across the entire employment ecosystem. 

Our solution not only centralizes access to these documents, but leverages cutting-edge, machine-learning-based document parsing to standardize filing statuses and withholding details across platforms.

The challenges of accessing W-4 data (and other documents)

W-4 documents hold critical data needed for a wealth of employment functions — information like an individual’s marital or filing status, whether they have any dependents, and their withholding details. 

But accessing that data presents a challenge. Either the employer has to extract the details from paper or digital documents and collect them in a single repository, like a spreadsheet, to send to their providers; or they might send the full W-4 documents to the provider for data extraction. Either way, this process is typically manual, introducing the potential for human error and adding unnecessary complexity for both the employer and the provider. 

Providers that work with this sensitive employee information — including employer-sponsored benefits providers, insurance underwriters, lenders, and tax and accounting applications — need a cleaner, automated way to pull this data directly from the source: the employer’s payroll system.

How Finch Documents Works

Our Documents API integrates seamlessly into Finch’s ecosystem, maintaining the simplicity you’ve come to expect. W-4 data is pulled directly from the documents in the employer’s payroll system and delivered to your application in a standardized format.

Finch Documents consists of a few simple endpoints under /employer/documents, allowing users to retrieve all documents from an employer or only those for specific individuals. 

Here’s how it works:

1. Invite employers: Invite employers to connect their HRIS or payroll system with Finch. Finch Connect can be embedded into  your application or sent via a secure link, generated in the Finch Dashboard. 
2. Connect providers: Employers can then go through the Finch Connect process to authenticate the connection between your application and their system of record. Finch walks them through any nuances between providers.‍
3. Receive data: Finch retrieves the document, then uses machine-learning-based data parsing to extract the information and deliver it to your application in our standardized format.

Benefits of Finch Documents

Finch’s Documents API makes it easy to pull employee data straight from the source without handling thousands of individual documents. Save time, automate routine data collection, and deliver value to your customers faster with secure, standardized data flow.

• Streamlined data collection: With the introduction of the Documents API, you can now use Finch’s product suite to collect all of the employer data relevant to your use case — from individual pay statements to census information and tax withholdings — through a single automated connection.
• Easy-to-use API for developers: The Documents API is built to be developer-friendly and future-proof, offering straightforward endpoints and the flexibility to extract all W-4 documents for an employer or for specific employees. Any user with access to the Developer Dashboard can use the API Explorer to make a simple call under the /employer/documents endpoint. See which providers are supported with this beta release in our Docs.
• Simple employer onboarding: Our built-in tool, Finch Connect, makes it easy for employers to connect their system to your application. Finch Connect will walk them through the authentication process and any nuances specific to their provider.
• Standardized data: Machine-learning-based data parsing extracts and standardizes data, delivering consistent and reliable results directly to your application.
• Automated processing: Data processing is completely automated. Extracted data is delivered within 24 hours.
• All the benefits you expect of a unified API: Finch automatically standardizes and extracts filing status and withholding details, whether an employee has dependents, and more across multiple W-4 versions and payroll providers.

Data Integrity and Security You Can Trust

As always, Finch prioritizes data integrity and security with every product we deliver. The Documents API is no exception, offering the highest standards in data handling. We are SOC 2, HIPAA, CCPA and GDPR compliant. You can trust that your organization’s sensitive data is secure and handled with care. For more information see our Trust Center.

Ready to Join the Beta?

Extracting data from W-4 documents is just the beginning. We look forward to introducing new capabilities through the Documents API in the near future, including W-2s, Form 941, and more.

If you’re an existing Finch customer, connect with your account manager today to enable the new scopes to access the Documents API. Not a Finch user yet? Our Sales team is here to help—reach out to learn how Finch can streamline your document data workflows and beyond.