Employer setup
You are the employer. We do the paperwork.
In CDS your caregiver legally works for you, which is what gives you control over your own care. On paper that means two tax registrations and a few signatures. We prepare every one of them, and this page explains what each is for.
What setup involves
Six things, none of them yours to figure out
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01
Why you are the employer
This is the whole point of self-direction. The state does not employ your caregiver and neither do we: you do. That is what gives you the right to choose who comes into your home, set the schedule, and end the arrangement if it is not working. Everything below is the paperwork that makes that legal.
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02
Your federal EIN
An Employer Identification Number from the IRS, which is your employer identity for payroll. It is free, and we complete the application with you as part of enrolling. Your part is confirming your details and signing.
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03
Your Missouri employer number
The state equivalent, for Missouri withholding and unemployment. Same story: we prepare it, you sign it. Both numbers are issued to you, not to us, so keep a copy somewhere you can find it.
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04
Appointing us as your agent
One form, IRS Form 2678, that authorizes us to file and deposit employment taxes on your behalf. Without it you would be filing payroll returns yourself every quarter. With it, we do all of it and you never touch a 941.
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05
Hiring paperwork for your attendant
The usual employee file: I-9 work eligibility, W-4 withholding, direct deposit details, and the background screening consent. We collect it and keep it, and we tell you what is still outstanding before the first shift.
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06
What you actually do each week
Set the schedule, and confirm the recorded hours early in the week so Thursday’s payday is clean. That is it. No filing, no deposits, no year-end forms. We do those.
Worth writing down
Your EIN numbers are yours to keep
Keep a note of both
- Federal EIN — from the IRS
- Missouri employer number — from the state
Store them with your other important papers, not in an email. Lost them? Call us and we will look them up.
Both numbers belong to you as the employer, permanently. They are not ours, and they are not tied to Caring Companions.
That matters most on the day you decide to change something. If you ever switch CDS provider, your EIN and your Missouri employer number go with you. You do not apply again, you do not wait on the IRS, and your new provider simply uses the numbers you already hold.
It is one of the quiet advantages of self-direction: you are the employer, so the employer identity stays with you no matter who does your payroll. Knowing both numbers puts you in the position of being able to move, and it makes any switch a matter of days rather than weeks.
Ask us for them at any time, and we will send them to you. We would rather you have them written down than need them in a hurry.
Ask us for my EIN numbersYours
What only you can do
- Choose who you hire, and let them go if it is not working
- Set the schedule within your authorized hours
- Orient your attendant on the eight required topics
- Confirm the recorded hours each week
- Tell us when something changes
Ours
What we take off you
- Both tax registrations, prepared and filed
- Payroll, withholding, deposits and quarterly returns
- W-2s at year end
- Background screening on every attendant
- EVV setup and a practice run before the first shift
- Monthly check-in calls and the annual visit