Have you made your end-of-year payroll checklist?

2018 Year-End

Considerations and Reminders

December and January bring many challenges for businesses every year. From trying to close out year-end books to staffing for the holiday season to finalizing payroll and reporting annual returns, it truly is the busiest time of the year. If you forget a task, you can create administrative chaos for yourself. And, depending on what you forget, you could face IRS penalties.

To help your company prepare, here are some of the common checklist items we are helping our clients with as 2018 comes to an end:

Before the Year-End

• Check each employee’s name, Social Security number, and current address. Make sure you have a current Form W-4 and any applicable state withholding certificates for each employee.
• Find out payroll tax deadlines for next year. Identify the deadlines now so you don’t have late fees in the future.
• Confirm your tax rates. Tax rates can change, so make sure you use the correct ones.
• Order blank Forms W-2 and W-3 from the IRS or a private supplier if you plan to print your tax forms.
• Make sure all earnings, deductions, and company contributions are accurately set up in your payroll system so they are reported correctly on your forms. Consider fringe benefits, third-party sick pay, personal use of company vehicles, group term life, dependant care, qualified pension plans, and health insurance.
• Record employee earnings that occurred outside normal payrolls, such as handwritten checks, cash bonuses, and benefits. Also, record voided checks.
• Tell employees about any benefit changes that begin on Jan. 1. If employees want to change their elections and payroll deductions for next year, have them tell you now.
• Determine what employees plan to do with unused time off. Depending on your company policies, employees might want to use the time before the year-end, cash out unused time, or rollover time to next year.
• Evaluate your payroll provider. Are you efficiently and inexpensively running payroll? Now is a good time to make a change. The Payday HCM Sales Team can help you assess your HR challenges for 2019. Call us today for a demonstration and a no-obligation quote: 1-888-2PAYDAY

After the Year-End

• Verify employee wages for the year after you run the year’s final payroll. Make sure you include all handwritten checks and taxable benefits in the total wages.
• Implement any new benefits and payroll deductions once the new year starts.
• Fill out Form W-2 for each employee. Also, fill out Form W-3, your business’s summary. Send out forms by their deadlines.
• Send copies of Form W-2 to employees by Jan. 31, 2019.
• Send Forms W-2 and W-3 to the Social Security Administration by Jan. 31, 2019.