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Wave <> Fleet

Written by Janet
Updated over 7 months ago

👋 Overview

Fleet uses a secure connection to your Wave accounting and payroll system — powered by Finch, an industry-leading HRIS integration platform — to automatically sync your employee roster. This streamlines eligibility tracking, onboarding, and ongoing program management, saving your internal team an estimated 20–40 hours per month.

This guide walks your team through the exact steps required to create a Wave administrator user with the appropriate permissions for Fleet's integration.

⏱ Estimated Time to Complete

Typically 10–15 minutes if your team has Wave account owner access and the necessary permissions.

If the invited user needs to accept their invitation and complete setup, expect an additional 5–10 minutes for user activation.

🔐 Security & Compliance

Fleet's connection to Wave is:

  • Scoped and permissioned — access is limited to the minimum data required for your program setup

  • Session-restricted — only secure API sessions are used for data transfer

  • Credentials never stored — Fleet (via Finch) uses authorized sessions without storing sensitive credentials

We partner with Finch, a trusted HRIS integration platform that is:

  • SOC 2 Type II and CCPA compliant

  • Backed by end-to-end encryption and daily backups

  • Built with strict data retention and access controls

  • Automatically purges data upon connection deactivation

Learn more about our HRIS integration partner's security: Finch Trust Center

🔧 Wave Integration Setup

Wave requires Administrator-level access to connect with Fleet. You can either use your existing account owner credentials or create a dedicated Admin user for the integration (recommended for security).

Before you start

  • Ensure you are the account owner of your Wave business account

  • Verify that you can access Business Settings from the Personal tab dropdown

  • Confirm you have access to User Management features

  • Note that only Pro Plan subscribers can invite Admins, Editors, and Viewers (Payroll Manager access is available on all plans)

Option 1: Verify Your Existing Access

If you plan to use your current Wave account owner credentials:

Since you're the account owner, you automatically have full administrative access. You can proceed directly to Step 3: Connect Using Fleet's HRIS Connection Widget.

Option 2: Create a Dedicated Admin User (Recommended)

Creating a dedicated admin user for Fleet integration provides better security and audit tracking.

Step 1: Verify User Management Access

  1. Log into your Wave account

  2. At the top right corner, click the Personal toggle

  3. Verify that Business Settings appears in the dropdown menu

If you don't see Business Settings, you may not be the account owner. Contact your Wave account owner to complete this setup.

Step 2: Create a New Admin User

  1. From the Personal dropdown, select Business Settings

  2. Navigate to User Management > Users

  3. Click Invite User

Step 3: Configure User Details

Fill in the following information for the Fleet integration user:

Required User Information

  • First Name: Fleet

  • Last Name: Integration Support

  • Email Address: Create a dedicated email address for this integration (e.g., fleet-integration@yourcompany.com)

  • User Role: Select Admin

⚠️ Important: Admin users have near-full access to your Wave business, including payroll, third-party integrations, and the ability to add other users. They cannot delete the business or make changes to essential business settings (only account owners can do that).

Step 4: Send the Invitation

  1. Click Invite User to send the invitation

  2. The user will receive an email to accept the invitation

  3. Once the invitation is accepted, they will be added as an Admin user

Step 5: Complete User Setup

  1. Check the email inbox for the new integration user

  2. If the user doesn't have a Wave account:

    • Click "Join [business name]" in the email to create a new account

    • Complete the Wave account creation process

  3. If they already have a Wave account:

    • Click "Add [business name]" in the email

  4. Complete the setup process and verify Admin access

Step 3: Connect Using Fleet's HRIS Connection Widget

  1. Navigate to your Fleet Dashboard

  2. If you're not automatically redirected to the HRIS connection step, go to: My Commuters → Add Commuters → Connect HRIS

  3. This will launch Fleet's HRIS Connection Widget (powered by our secure HRIS partner, Finch)

  4. In the widget's search bar, search for "Wave" in the provider list

  5. Select Wave to begin the setup flow

  6. You'll be prompted to enter your Wave credentials:

    • Email/Username: Your Wave account email (either account owner or the dedicated integration user)

    • Password: Your Wave password

  7. The system will verify your Admin-level permissions

  8. Review the data permissions that will be shared with Fleet

  9. Click Connect to complete the integration

Step 4: Verify Connection and Data Sync

After successful connection, Fleet will begin syncing your employee data from Wave:

  1. The initial sync typically completes within 10-15 minutes

  2. Ongoing updates happen automatically every 24 hours

  3. You can verify the connection by:

    • Checking your Fleet dashboard for imported employee data

    • Confirming that employee count matches your expectations

    • Reviewing any sync status messages or notifications

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