7 Obligations That Come With Your First U.S. Employee.

You've found the right person to serve your clients in the United States, and you want to hire them. It looks like an HR decision: set the salary, the schedule, and a start date. But the moment the first paycheck goes out, your LLC or corporation becomes an employer in the eyes of the IRS and the state, and that brings a calendar of obligations that didn't exist before.

Many Mexican companies operating in the U.S. hire first and find out later. The result is usually the same: penalties for late deposits, reports that don't reconcile, and months spent fixing what could have been done right from the start. These are the seven obligations worth having in place before you sign the offer letter.

1. Register your company as an employer with the state

The EIN you already have identifies you to the IRS, but it isn't enough. Each state has its own employer registration, used to administer state income tax (where it applies) and state unemployment insurance. You register in the state where the employee will work, which isn't always the state where you formed the company. When Aurum CG LLC supports a first hire, this registration is completed before the start date is set, not after.

2. Verify work eligibility and set up withholding

Every employee completes two forms. Form I-9 verifies that they are authorized to work in the U.S., and reviewing the documents they present is the employer's responsibility, not the worker's. Form W-4 determines how much federal income tax should be withheld from their pay. Both are kept on file and may be requested during an inspection or audit.

3. Get workers' compensation insurance

In most states, businesses with employees must carry workers' compensation insurance, which covers work-related injuries and illnesses. The rules vary from state to state, so it's worth reviewing before the employee starts.

4. Withhold and contribute on every payroll

From the employee's pay, you withhold federal income tax, their share of Social Security and Medicare, and, in many states, state income tax. The company also pays its own share: 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare on wages, plus federal and state unemployment taxes. In other words, an employee costs more than their gross salary, and your budget needs to account for it.

A simple example: if you hire someone at $4,000 a month, the company doesn't pay out just that amount. On top of the $4,000 come roughly $300 in employer Social Security and Medicare contributions, plus federal and state unemployment taxes and workers' compensation insurance. If your cash flow was planned around salary alone, the first quarter will remind you.

5. Deposit taxes on time

The money you withhold isn't yours: you hold it on behalf of the government. It must be deposited with the IRS and the state on fixed dates that depend on the size of your payroll, and late deposits trigger penalties even if the return is filed correctly. This is one of the most expensive mistakes and one of the easiest to avoid: when the deposit calendar is managed by a bookkeeping team like Aurum's, it no longer depends on someone remembering.

6. File quarterly and annual reports

Every quarter, you file Form 941 with the IRS, along with your state reports. Once a year comes Form 940 for federal unemployment tax, and each employee must receive a W-2 by January 31. For everything to match, your books must record wages, withholdings, and employer contributions separately and reconcile them every month. At Aurum CG, we close payroll and the books at the same time, so what's reported to the IRS matches your financial statements.

7. Classify every worker correctly

To avoid running payroll, some foreign companies pay their first team member as an independent contractor on a Form 1099. It works on paper until that person keeps a fixed schedule, uses company tools, and takes daily instructions: to the IRS and the state, that's an employee. Reclassifying them later means paying the taxes that weren't withheld, plus penalties and interest.

One more that isn't on the list: your own salary

Before you sign the offer, check this

• Is your company already registered as an employer in the state where the person will work?

• Do your books separate wages, withholdings, and contributions every month?

• Do you know who will deposit payroll taxes, and on what dates?

If any answer is “I'm not sure,” resolve it before the first day on the job.