Troubleshooting and Explanation of the Payroll Tax Report

Transcription

1 Last Updated: 6/4/10 Product: Peachtree Accounting, Peachtree Complete Accounting, Peachtree by Sage Premium Accounting, Peachtree Premium Accounting Accountants' Edition, Peachtree Premium Accounting for Manufacturing, Peachtree Premium Accounting for Distribution, Peachtree Premium Accounting for Construction, and Peachtree Premium Accounting for NonProfit, Sage Peachtree Pro Accounting 2011, Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011, Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting 2011, Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting 2011 Accountants Edition, Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting 2011 for Construction, Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting 2011 for Distribution, Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting 2011 for Manufacturing, Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting 2011 for Nonprofits, Sage Peachtree Quantum 2011, Sage Peachtree Quantum 2011 Accountants Edition Version: 2008 & Later Pages Page 1 of 6 Subject(s): Title Payroll Troubleshooting and Explanation of the Payroll Tax Report Question Troubleshooting and Explanation of the Payroll Tax Report Answer The Payroll Tax Report shows each employee s gross pay, taxable (adjusted) gross, and the amount withheld for a specified type of payroll deduction such as FICA, FUTA Medicare, etc. This report is mainly used for employer payroll taxes such as state unemployment. Using the information printed on this report, you should be able to prepare most (or all) state payroll tax returns. For the selected payroll field, the default Payroll Tax Report displays the following: Employee ID, Employee Name, and SS No: This information is pulled from the General Tab of the Maintain, Employees/Sales Reps window. Weeks: This field is determined by the number of weeks the employee worked in a selected quarter. The weeks field on the Payroll Tax Report is calculated the following way: Number of Weeks in Pay Period times Number of Payroll Entries this quarter. The weeks field will equal the number of payroll entries this quarter only for employees whose pay frequency is weekly. ADJ. Gross: The ADJ. gross amount is determined by the total amount of the hourly or salary pay fields entered on the Pay Info Tab of the Maintain, Employees/Sales Reps window after adjustment for any pretax deductions/additions. Taxable Gross: This amount represents wages subject to the selected tax for the period being reported. The wage amount in this column equals gross wages for the period up to the annual taxable wage limit, if applicable, after adjustment for any pretax deductions/additions. The annual taxable wage limit is found in the tax table formula for the selected tax. If the annual taxable wage limit for the selected tax was reached before the beginning of the report period, this field will show $0 for the wage amount. Pretax deductions/additions are determined by the Adjust button settings which are selected on the Employee Fields/Company Fields tabs of the Maintain Employees/Sales Reps window. Note: If Use Defaults is checked for the selected payroll field, then refer to the adjust button

2 settings on the Employee Fields/Company Fields Tabs of the Maintain, Default Information, Employees window. Excess Gross: The total amount of Gross that exceeds any limit specified in the payroll tax table used by the payroll field filtered for the quarter. Tax Amount: The total tax amount for the filtered payroll field for the quarter. The tax amount is recalculated based on the current taxable gross and payroll tax table settings. Troubleshooting the Payroll Tax Report: 1. Only tax tables for the current calendar year will appear in the Tax ID list on the Payroll Tax Report, Filter window. Therefore, verify the current Calendar/Payroll year by selecting Tasks from the Peachtree menu, then select System, and then select Change Accounting Period. If the Open Payroll Tax Years do not include the year you are displaying the Payroll Tax Report for, then close the payroll year in order to update the Open Payroll Tax Years. 2. Only tax tables with Taxable_Gross in their formulas will appear in the Tax ID list on the Payroll Tax Report, Filter window. Page 2 of 6

3 3. Only tax tables with Appears on Payroll Tax Report Menus checked appear in the Tax ID list on the Payroll Tax Report, Filter window. 4. The tax amount on the Payroll Tax Report will be different from the tax amount on the payroll checks and other payroll reports if one of the following occurred: o o o The calculated tax amount on the payroll entry screen was modified at the time checks were created for the selected payroll field. The payroll tax table for the selected payroll field has been modified since the checks were originally created. Employee beginning balances were modified after payroll entries have been made. 5. Verify the employees have a state abbreviation in the State ID field on the Withholding Info Tab of the Maintain, Employees & Sales Reps window. Page 3 of 6

4 6. Verify the Tax Name for SUI_ER has a state abbreviation in the name instead of wildcards or asterisks on the Company Fields tab of the Maintain, Employees & Sales Reps window. For example, change the tax name from **SUI ER to GASUI ER. Note: If Use Defaults is checked for the selected payroll field, then change the tax name from **SUI ER to GASUI ER on the Company Fields Tab of the Maintain, Default Information, Employees window. 7. The weeks field on the Payroll Tax Report is calculated the following way: Number of Weeks in Pay Period times Number of Payroll Entries this quarter. The weeks field will equal the number of payroll entries this quarter only for employees whose pay frequency is weekly. Page 4 of 6

5 8. Occasionally, it is necessary to run an employee/journal data synchronization test from period one to correct problems related to wrong amounts. If the suggestions on the previous pages have been tried and wrong amounts still appear on the Payroll Tax Report, please follow the instructions below. Note: Be sure you are on the latest release of your product. To verify this, you can check for on line updates through your Peachtree product. Installing the Integrity Check. Warning: It is vital that you back up your company before you use the Integrity Check; if the procedure is not successful, you may lose valuable data. This procedure can take a very long time depending on the size of your data files. If your company has passwords, please use the password that provides unlimited access. Important: Integrity Check is not to be used casually. While it is very useful, it does not repair all data problems and in some instances can cause other problems when more than one test is run simultaneously or unnecessarily. Therefore this utility is not readily accessible from the program menu. Peachtree strongly recommends that the Integrity Check should be used only after consulting Peachtree Customer Support, a FAQ from Peachtree's web site. Run Data Verification Click on File, Data Verification. Select the option for Both Tests and click START Click SAVE to save the backup. When the test is done check your reports again. If there is still a discrepancy, do the following: 1. For Windows XP Select Start, and then select Run. For Vista and Windows 7 launch the Run box by pressing the Windows logo and R keys on your keyboard. 2. If you are on Release 2011: On the Open line, type C:\Program Files\Sage \Peachtree\Peachw.exe -i (where a space, minus sign, and the letter i follow the EXE). (C:\ Program Files\Sage\Peachtree is the default directory where Peachtree is installed. Where C: is the drive Peachtree is installed on, and Peachtree is the folder you installed Peachtree into. If you installed to a different directory, change the above path to reflect that location. Or If you are on Release 2008, 2009 or 2010: On the Open line, type C:\Program Files\Sage Software\Peachtree\Peachw.exe -i (where a space, minus sign, and the letter i follow the EXE). (C:\ Program Files\Sage Software\Peachtree is the default directory where Peachtree is installed. Where C: is the drive Peachtree is installed on, and Peachtree is the folder you installed Peachtree into. If you installed to a different directory, change the above path to reflect that location. 3. Click OK to open Peachtree. Always make a Backup of your data. If you are backing up to your hard drive, choose a different location other than your company folder. If you are making your backup to floppy disks or other portable medium, use new disks and always format them prior to use. Do not overwrite a previous backup. Page 5 of 6

6 4. Open your company and change to Period 1 or January of the current year, whichever is most recent. To do this, select Tasks from the Peachtree menu, then select System, and then select Change Accounting Periods. Scroll up to the top and select Period Select File from the Peachtree menu, then select Integrity Check. Click Continue only IF you have successfully created a backup. In the File Tests box, check Reindex Files. Click once on Employee and Click OK. 6. Once the process has completed go back into the Integrity Check screen, check Reindex Files and choose JrnlHeader in the Reindex Files List. Click OK to begin this process. 7. Next, go back into the Integrity Check screen. Check Reindex Files and choose JrnlRows in the Reindex Files List. Click OK to begin this process. 8. When Peachtree has finished reindexing the files, go back to File, Integrity Check and check the box for the Employee/Journal Data Synchronization Test (in the middle of the window) and Click OK. 9. During the test it is likely you will get messages that read 'Synchronization Error Corrected'. This indicates that the test has found a problem and corrected it. Click OK to continue the test. After the test is completed, check your reports to make sure the errors have been resolved. Page 6 of 6