How do I test forms end to end with a test employee and placement?

Last updated: October 16, 2026

Preview checks one form at a time. An end-to-end test checks the whole path: you create a test employee and a placement, your policies assign the forms that placement should get, and you confirm the tasks are there.

Before you start

  • The forms are deployed in the mode you're testing in. Test mode and live mode each get their own deployment. See 📄 How do I deploy a form version to test or live mode?

  • The policies that assign those forms are enabled in that mode. Policies are built per mode, so a policy in live mode isn't in test mode until it's copied there.

  • The employer and client your policies look for exist in that mode. To add a client, go to Clients and click New Client.

  • An email address you can check, for the test employee.

Choose test mode or live mode

Test mode is a separate sandbox workspace beside your live account, and records you create there stay there. See 📄 Understanding test mode and live mode for what's shared between the two.

  • Test mode fits when your forms are deployed to test mode and your policies have been copied there. Nothing you create reaches a real hire's record.

  • Live mode fits when your policies only exist in live mode, or your ATS only connects to live mode. Before real hires start flowing into the account, a test employee in live mode is safe. After that, add a condition only your test employee can match. See 📄 How do I test a policy in live mode without assigning it to real employees?

Test mode separates records. It doesn't fake outbound messages. Automations send real emails and texts in test mode too. Give the test employee an email address you control.

Steps

Create the test employee

  1. Set the Test mode toggle in the organization selector at the top of the sidebar: on for test mode, off for live mode. It turns amber while test mode is on.

  2. Go to Employees and click New Employee.

  3. Enter a First Name and Last Name that read as a test, like Jordan Testperson, and an email address you can check.

  4. Click Create Employee.

Create a placement that matches your policies

Policies decide which forms to assign by reading the placement: its employer, client, job, and custom attributes. The placement has to carry the same values your policy rules check, or the forms won't be assigned.

  1. On the test employee's page, open the Placements tab and click Create placement.

  2. Choose the Employer and Client your policy rules look for, and a Job if your rules check one.

  3. Under Custom attributes, fill in every placement value your rules check. Take an account whose policies match on placement.custom_attributes.worker_type and placement.custom_attributes.worksite_state: to test its Colorado W-2 forms, set worker type to W-2 and worksite state to CO.

  4. Check Required tasks for this placement. It lists each form this placement will get and the policy requiring it, and it updates as you fill in details.

    You should see every form you expect. If one is missing, a value doesn't match that policy's rules. Fix it here, before you save.

  5. Leave Assign tasks now? on and click Create placement.

View the tasks

  1. On the Placements tab, find the new placement and click a task under Created tasks.

    Required by names the policy that assigned it.

  2. To work through the tasks as the candidate, go to the test employee's page and click Create Link. Leave Delivery Method on Create Link and click Create Link.

    You should see Copy Link and Open Link. Open Link opens the tasks the way the candidate sees them.

  3. Complete the tasks, then open each one in the dashboard and click View in its PDF row to check the finished PDF.

Verify

The placement's Created tasks match the forms you expected, and each task's Required by names the right policy.

If something looks off, check:

  • Nothing was assigned. Policies run when a placement is created. If you enabled a policy or deployed a form afterward, create a new placement. Editing a placement in the dashboard doesn't re-run policies.

  • One form is missing. Its policy is disabled, a placement value doesn't match the rule exactly, or the form isn't deployed in this mode. A published version that isn't deployed in the mode you're in shows Deployable (Read-only) on the form's Versions tab.

  • A second run shows an old task. Onboarded reuses an employee's existing task for a form when the reuse criteria match. Use a new test employee for each run, like Jordan Testperson2. See 📄 Understanding task reuse criteria

  • The test employee disappeared. Check the Test mode toggle. A record made in one mode only shows in that mode.

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