That distinction matters.
Paper Trails is a Maine-based payroll, human resources and compliance provider serving small and midsized businesses. Its online payroll ecosystem uses isolved, giving eligible employees a way to review payroll records and complete certain HR-related tasks without contacting a payroll administrator every time information is needed.
This guide explains what employees should expect from Paper Trails self-service, how payroll access generally works, and what to do when the expected information does not appear.
What Is Paper Trails?
Paper Trails provides payroll processing, HR support and compliance services for employers.
Its services extend beyond simply calculating paychecks. Depending on the employer’s setup, the broader platform can incorporate payroll records, employee information, time and attendance, benefits administration, onboarding and other workforce-management functions.
For employees, however, the most visible part of the system is usually self-service.
Instead of relying on HR to provide a paper copy of every payroll document, employees can potentially retrieve much of that information electronically.
Does Paper Trails Have an Employee Portal?
Yes, although employees should understand how the login structure works.
Paper Trails directs employees using its isolved services to an employee self-service portal. The company’s support material identifies myisolved.com as an employee-facing location for accessing payroll and HR information.
Paper Trails also maintains a dedicated login and support page separating employer access from employee access.
This is important because searching broadly for “Paper Trails login” may produce several different pages intended for different audiences.
An employee should generally start with the employee resources provided by Paper Trails or with the login instructions supplied by the employer.
What Can Employees Access?
Available features depend partly on which services an employer has enabled.
For eligible users, Paper Trails states that employee self-service can provide access to functions including:
- viewing payroll history;
- viewing and printing pay stubs;
- retrieving W-2 forms;
- reviewing or updating personal information;
- managing direct deposit information;
- reviewing tax withholding information;
- checking time cards;
- requesting time off;
- clocking in or out when timekeeping is enabled;
- reviewing certain benefits information;
- submitting expense reimbursements when the relevant service is enabled.
Not every employee will see every option.
For example, an organization that does not use isolved Time would not necessarily expose time-clock functionality to its employees.
Paper Trails Pay Stub Access
Pay stubs are one of the most common reasons employees search for Paper Trails online.
Within the employee self-service environment, payroll history can normally be reviewed electronically. Paper Trails documentation states that employees can access their pay history and retrieve pay stubs through the system.
A typical pay statement may contain information such as gross earnings, deductions, taxes and net pay.
The exact layout can vary depending on payroll configuration and the information supplied by the employer.
Employees should avoid assuming that an apparently missing payment means payroll was not processed. First verify that the correct pay period has been selected and that the employee is signed into the correct account.
Finding a W-2 Through Paper Trails
Eligible employees can also use self-service to retrieve year-end payroll documents.
Paper Trails specifically identifies W-2 access as part of the employee experience.
This can be particularly useful during tax season when an employee needs another copy of a previously issued document.
If a W-2 is unavailable, check whether:
- the correct tax year is selected;
- the employer has completed year-end processing;
- the employee is accessing the correct employer account;
- electronic document access has been enabled.
Questions about the accuracy of wages or tax information should be directed to the employer or appropriate payroll contact rather than changed independently.
Updating Direct Deposit
Direct deposit deserves additional attention because it affects where payroll funds are sent.
Paper Trails says employees can update direct deposit information through the secure payroll system.
The company has also published guidance indicating that it no longer makes direct-deposit changes on behalf of employees and encourages employees to make those changes themselves through the secure system.
That approach reduces the likelihood of payroll instructions being changed through fraudulent email requests or impersonation attempts.
When entering new banking information, carefully verify every field before saving it.
An incorrect routing number or account number can delay payroll delivery.
Employees should also be suspicious of unexpected messages asking them to send banking credentials through ordinary email.
Paper Trails and isolved
The relationship between Paper Trails and isolved explains why employees may encounter several names during the login process.
Paper Trails provides payroll and HR services.
isolved supplies the workforce-management platform used for many of the underlying employee and employer functions.
As a result, someone may search for:
Paper Trails payroll login
but eventually reach an isolved login page.
That is not automatically a sign that the employee has reached the wrong service.
Paper Trails’ own support materials direct employees to isolved resources.
First-Time Employee Access
New employees may need to activate self-service before they can sign in normally.
Paper Trails says new employees entered into the system can receive an activation email used to establish portal access.
If no activation message appears, check:
- the inbox;
- spam or junk folders;
- whether the employer has the correct email address;
- whether self-service access has actually been enabled.
Employees should not repeatedly create unrelated accounts if the activation process fails.
The employer’s payroll or HR administrator can usually verify whether the employee record is configured correctly.
Forgotten Paper Trails Password
A forgotten password is another common access problem.
Employees using isolved self-service should use the password-recovery tools presented by the login system rather than attempting to create another employee identity.
Paper Trails notes in its support information that it does not have access to simply retrieve an employee’s existing password.
That is normal for a properly secured authentication system.
A password reset generally creates a new credential rather than revealing the old one.
Why an Employee May Not Be Able to Log In
Several different issues can produce what appears to be the same login failure.
Incorrect email address
Employee self-service access is associated with information stored in the payroll account.
If an old or misspelled email address is attached to the employee record, activation and recovery messages may not reach the employee.
Wrong portal
Employer and employee login locations are not necessarily identical.
Use the employee link provided by Paper Trails or the employer rather than choosing an unfamiliar page from a search result.
Incomplete activation
A newly created employee record may still require account activation.
Forgotten password
Use the official password-reset process instead of guessing repeatedly.
Employer-specific access
Paper Trails states that employees of current clients should generally contact their employer for assistance when they cannot resolve account-access problems.
This distinction is useful because Paper Trails cannot necessarily make employment-level decisions or modify every employer-controlled setting.
Using Paper Trails From a Phone
Paper Trails also promotes access through the isolved People Cloud mobile app.
Mobile access can make routine payroll tasks easier for employees who do not regularly work from a desktop computer.
Depending on enabled services, mobile users may be able to review payroll information, access HR functions or interact with time-management tools.
Employees should obtain the app through the official mobile application marketplace rather than downloading installation files from unknown websites.
Time and Attendance Features
Paper Trails’ self-service documentation also describes time and attendance functionality.
For workplaces using the appropriate modules, employees may be able to review time cards, view calendars, request time off and clock in or out.
Whether those features appear is determined by the employer’s configuration.
Therefore, an employee who does not see a clock or PTO menu should not automatically assume that the portal is malfunctioning.
The company may simply manage those processes elsewhere.
Benefits and Employee Information
The same employee platform can also connect payroll with broader HR information.
Paper Trails describes isolved as housing employee payroll, human resources, timekeeping and benefits records.
Employers using the applicable services may therefore provide employees with access to benefits enrollment or employee-profile tools within the same ecosystem.
Having these functions connected can reduce the need for separate systems for every HR process.
However, the precise menu displayed to one employee may differ substantially from the menu displayed to another employee working for a different Paper Trails client.
Security Tips for Paper Trails Employees
Payroll accounts contain sensitive personal and financial data and should be treated accordingly.
Employees should:
- enter credentials only on trusted login pages;
- avoid sharing passwords with coworkers;
- use multifactor authentication when available;
- inspect unexpected payroll emails carefully;
- independently verify unusual direct-deposit requests;
- avoid sending banking credentials through ordinary email;
- sign out when using a shared device.
Direct-deposit fraud is especially important because attackers sometimes impersonate employees and ask payroll departments to redirect wages.
Using authenticated employee self-service provides a safer mechanism for making sensitive payroll changes.
Paper Trails Login vs. Paper Trails Support
Users searching for Paper Trails may have very different goals.
Someone searching Paper Trails login probably wants immediate account access.
Someone searching Paper Trails payroll may be trying to understand the provider itself.
A search for Paper Trails pay stub usually indicates an existing employee trying to retrieve payroll documentation.
And someone searching Paper Trails isolved may already know that Paper Trails operates through the isolved ecosystem.
Paper Trails maintains separate login, support and educational resources for these needs.
What Employers Can Access
The employer side is broader than employee self-service.
Paper Trails’ materials describe employer access to payroll processing, reporting, employee management and other administrative functions.
Organizations may also use services covering onboarding, applicant tracking, time and attendance, expense management, benefits and compliance.
Employees normally do not receive the same administrative permissions.
Seeing fewer menus than a manager or payroll administrator is therefore expected.
Is Paper Trails Only a Payroll Company?
Not anymore in the narrow sense of the term.
Although payroll remains central to the service, Paper Trails currently presents itself as a provider of connected payroll, HR and compliance solutions.
Its services include areas such as payroll and tax processing, HR consulting, employee experience, recruiting, onboarding, time and attendance, benefits administration and compliance support.
That broader structure explains why the employee portal can contain considerably more than paycheck information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do Paper Trails employees log in?
Paper Trails directs employees using isolved services to its employee-access resources and identifies myisolved.com as an employee-facing self-service system.
Can I view my Paper Trails pay stubs online?
Eligible employees can use self-service to view and print pay stubs and review payroll history.
Can I get my W-2 online?
Paper Trails says employees can retrieve W-2 documents through employee self-service.
Can employees change direct deposit?
Yes. Paper Trails documentation states that employees can update direct-deposit information through the secure payroll system.
Does Paper Trails use isolved?
Yes. Paper Trails’ own support and welcome documentation identifies isolved as the payroll and workforce-management platform used for employee and employer functions.
Why don’t I see time tracking?
Timekeeping features appear only when the employer uses the applicable service.
Who should I contact if my employee account does not work?
Start with the troubleshooting and password-recovery resources available through the official system. Paper Trails also advises employees of client companies to contact their employer when further assistance is required.
Final Takeaway
Paper Trails combines local payroll and HR services with the isolved workforce-management platform.
For employees, that means many routine payroll tasks can be handled through self-service instead of requiring an email to HR every pay period.
Depending on the employer’s setup, employees may be able to view pay stubs, retrieve W-2s, maintain personal information, update direct deposit, review time records, request time off and use additional HR tools.
The most important thing when searching for Paper Trails payroll access is to distinguish the service provider from the actual authentication platform.
Use the official Paper Trails employee resources or the login instructions supplied by your employer, and avoid entering payroll credentials into unrelated sites discovered through search results.