Prepare for year end

  1. Gather the state and federal government W-2 filing requirements.
    See Government resources.
  2. Verify the payroll delivered content.
    See Verifying the loaded payroll delivered content for year end.
  3. Ensure that employee social security numbers, names, and addresses are correct.
    See Verifying employee Social Security numbers.
  4. Ensure that the parameters are defined for each legal entity that requires unique parameters.
    1. Select Payroll.
    2. Select Administration.
    3. Click the Reports tab.
    4. In the Regulatory pane, click Year End.
    5. In the Setup pane, click Year End Configurable Fields.
    See Specifying year-end W-2 parameters.
  5. Ensure that no employees have negative wages and that the information on all employee records is correct.
    See Preparing employee information.
  6. Verify the pay structure.
    See Verifying pay structure.
  7. Verify the deduction structure.
    See Verifying deduction structure.
  8. Verify the EINs.
    See Verifying Employer Identification Numbers (EIN).
  9. Verify the W-2 descriptions.
    See Verifying W-2 and payment descriptions.
  10. Run W-2 Reporting to verify that the year-end parameters are set up correctly.
    See Testing year-end parameters.
  11. Run a trial report for W-2 file generation.
    See Generating a trial Federal W-2 file.
  12. Run a trial file in EFW2 format for submission to state and federal authorities.
    See Generating an EFW2 format trial file.
  13. Run the Remove Withholding Arrears action to close payroll for the year.
    See Removing withholding arrears.
  14. Generate the W-2 file.
    See Generating a trial Federal W-2 file.
  15. Run the final file in EFW2 format for submission to state and federal governments.
    See Generating an EFW2 format trial file.