Sage Payroll

Year End is Approaching. Are you Ready?

Customers using the Sage Abra Suite Payroll module should start planning now for a smooth closing at year-end. Some things to think about are how to handle taxable benefits, third-party sick pay, how the earnings will appear on the W-2, making external backups and using the quarter close tech tips for balancing.

Check List for Year-End

Taxable Benefits and Third Party Sick Pay
A "tax only not in check" benefit must have sufficient gross earnings included in the check to withhold the taxes for that benefit.

How the earnings will appear on the W-2
Verify that earnings and deductions have the correct earnings category or deduction type designations to populate the correct box on the W2. Log on to Sage Customer Portal and review article Code setup for Form W2 (2004 and later), under Knowledgebase/Find Solutions. When the trial quarter close for the fourth quarter is run for the first time, deduction balances are reset for the new calendar year. Before running the trial quarter close, perform a mass update to the employee goals for 401(k) deductions in 2012.

Make External Backups
We strongly suggested that you make an external backup of your entire Sage\AbraSuite\Data files prior to installing any updates and make an additional copy of your Data files prior to running trial quarter close for the first time. Do not overwrite either backup until after your year-end is finished. An internal backup made before an upgrade becomes unusable after the upgrade is completed and because internal backups are only single-generational, (every internal backup overwrites its predecessor).

Follow the Quarter Close Tech Tips
The Quarter Close Tech Tips document provides detail as to what reports and parameters to use prior to running trial quarter close, plus how to access and print the post-trial reports and ensure that your quarter is balanced. Therefore, we recommend that you print out a copy of the Quarter Close Tech tips from the Knowledgebase on the Sage Customer Portal Website.

Order W-2 Forms
When ordering W-2 Forms, you need to determine the reporting requirements of your organization. When unsure of reporting requirements, users should contact their tax advisor.
Sage Abra Suite supports the following three Form Types: Two on a Sheet/Preprinted, Four on a Sheet/Preprinted, and Four on a Sheet from blank stock.

The Two on a Sheet form type has a Copy A (for the Social Security Administration) along with Copy B, Copy C and so forth. Each copy type (e.g. Copy A) is bundled separately. When printing, the user will print the Copy A bundle for all employees and then print again for each subsequent copy bundle until all copy bundles are printed. The copy bundles will then need to be collated by the user. Each page of this form type contain forms for two employees. If the user were printing Copy A for employees in Sage Abra Suite Sample data and sorting alphabetically, the first page would contain Copy A for Donald Adams and Copy A for Albert Albright.

The Four on a Sheet forms contain Copy B, Copy C, and two Copy 2's on each page. When printing this form type, each employee will get one page unless overflow forms are necessary. Occasionally, the Four on a Sheet/Preprinted forms require alignment adjustments.
Note: Companies with over 250 employees must submit this information electronically using the Magnetic Media File, instead of the printed Copy A.

To ensure proper alignment, Sage recommends the usage of forms ordered from Sage Checks & Forms. These are the only forms that have been tested and approved by Sage. They can be reached at 800 617 3224 8am-8pm ET (Monday-Friday), faxed at 800 688 5246, or visit their website at http://na.sage.com/sage-na/products-solutions/other-solutions/sage-checks-and-forms.

The mailing address is:
Sage Software Checks & Forms
P.O. Box 361109
Decatur, GA 30036-1109

Please contact Sage Checks & Forms for more information and a free catalog

Sage Abra Suite supports the Sage Software Checks and Forms W-2s pre-printed 2 up and 4 up forms and blank 4 up forms.

Note: If not purchasing from Sage Forms, verify that the forms are 5205.