Instead of stuffing all your year-end duties into December, you'll lighten the load considerably by completing some of these key tasks now.
If you handle payroll compliance, beware: The IRS is hunting down payroll-law violations more aggressively this year. That means intense new scrutiny of your W-2s, 1099s and other payroll tax reporting compliance. Year-end preparation is the key. Get ready with help from Payroll Compliance: Preparing for Year-End and 2017.
√ Confirm year-end deadlines and final 2016 federal/state deposit dates. Reminder: The day after Thanksgiving is a regular federal deposit date; schedule the deposit ahead of time, if you need to.
√ Schedule special year-end reports to/from other departments and bonus payrolls.
√ Inform IT of any special year-end needs.
√ Review state unemployment rate notices and input the appropriate data into the payroll system.
√ Update W-2 software and run samples on plain paper; shred samples before tossing them.
√ Check your Social Security Administration (SSA) website password; passwords expire every 90 days, so you may need to create a new one.
√ Check with exempts regarding their reporting of accrued time off through November, and whether they're planning to take time off next month.
Make even one critical error in your W-2 reports and you could be bumped down into nonfiler status and become perfect penalty bait for the IRS. And don't forget W-2 reporting of employees' health benefits. Plus, it's easy to overlook items that should be reported. Join us Thursday, October 27 for Payroll Compliance: Preparing for Year-End and 2017.
√ Send memos to employees showing 2017 paydays, the new Social Security taxable wage base, 401(k) pretax limit and state unemployment/disability wage bases, if applicable.
√ Review posting descriptions on nonrecurring journal entries.
√ Post employees' benefits/payroll adjustment data. Include: relocation allowances, educational assistance, group-term life insurance, third-party paid sick pay and manual and void checks.
√ Document gross-to-net calculations for manual checks; ensure that manual checks and voids are entered properly; review the general ledger accounts.
√ Reconcile the tax register; also reconcile bank accounts through November and ask your bank to prepare an early cut-off statement for December.
√ Head off last year's problems for this year. Consider: Was the mailroom notified of the volume of outgoing mail when W-2s were mailed? Was there enough postage in the postage machine?
√ Email 2016 black-and-white substitute W-2 (Copy A) and W-3 forms to the SSA for approval: copy.a.forms@ssa.gov.
Our timely new webinar, led by payroll expert Alice Gilman, Esq., editor of Payroll Legal Alert, will show you: - What's changed with W-2s and how you should respond
- 8 steps for completing 1099s that will keep the IRS off your back — forever
6 ways to manage November and December year-end stress- Step-by-step instructions and tips on how to complete new Forms 1095/1094 to report offers of health benefits to full-time employees
- How to gain cooperation from other departments to ensure a smoother year-end process
- What's on the IRS's regulatory plate for 2017 and 2018
- Mandatory reporting of employees' health benefits — even if you're off the hook for the employer mandate penalties this year
- And more!
This 75-minute training session gives you practical, easy-to-understand solutions to the complex issues you'll face in November, December and January. Plus, you'll get answers to your specific questions during our interactive Q&A session.
Bonus: Each attendee will receive a copy of our 2017 Payroll Checklist, a 14-page, step-by-step compliance guide to each pay period, month and calendar quarter of the year. The checklist has been recently updated to include every step of compliance with the Affordable Care Act.
Year-end payroll mistakes can cost a pretty penny … and cause upper management to lose confidence in your payroll department. Don't let that happen! Guard yourself with Payroll Compliance: Preparing for Year-End and 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment