W-2 filing overview
CCIS Payroll can produce year-end information returns in a variety of preprinted paper formats and also electronically. It produces Forms W-2 and W-3. This chapter discusses:
• How to file paper W-2's
• How to file paper W-3's
• How to file W-2's over the Internet
• How to align laser W-2's
• About the Medicare test
• How to print a summary W-2
W-2 filing using paper forms
CCIS Payroll produces Forms W-2 on a variety of paper formats. Laser and inkjet printer users have the options of printing in a traditional, two to a page format, a 4-up format for employee copies, or using our Forms on a Disk™ to create black-ink copies.
Dot matrix printer users can use one-wide traditional forms in single or twin-sets. Two-wide W-2 forms are no longer supported.
Forms can be printed using either the System Printer, or the Check Printer.
W-2’s can be printed for one Client at a time, or in a batch. The batch can contain as many Clients as you like. You can also limit the employees that are printed to a group of your choosing. The group must be from the current Client only. It can contain as few as one employee. This makes it easy to reprint a W-2 for an employee.
To print W-2 forms:
1. Choose the Reports link.
2. Choose Year end reports | W-2 | Print.
3. The W-2 Paper Forms options window appears. Set up the print job using this window.
The required information appears in blue.
4. Choose a printer and form combination from the Printer and form to use section. It shows both the System and Check printer, and the type of forms they support. Select the setting you wish.
5. The types of forms that the printer supports appear in the Copies to print section. All available forms for the type of printer and options appear in the window.
• Forms that are not available either because your printer doesn’t support them, or you haven’t purchased the required Forms on a Disk™ option are grayed-out.
• You can choose any or all of the available selections. CCIS Payroll will stop every time you need to change forms or paper. This way you can choose to print all the forms from Copy A to the W-3 for each Client at once, or minimize form changes by doing all forms of a given type for all Clients.
Note the options Red and Black beside SSA Copy A and W-3. SSA accepts W-2 and W-3 forms printed entirely in black ink. People who purchase our Forms on a Disk™ option receive the black images of SSA Copy A. Many people prefer to file their SSA copies on red-ink paper, even though it is not required. If you have purchased the W-2 Forms on a Disk™ but want to print the SSA copies in Red, check the Red box, otherwise check the Black one.
6. Select any available form use it. The program displays a checkmark beside all forms you select to use.
7. The Employees to include section is where you tell CCIS Payroll the employees for which you want to print W-2’s. The choices are All employees, or a Range of Employees.
• Should you choose a range of employees, you are limited to the current Client only. Enter the beginning and ending Social Security Number that you want to be included. Remember to press [Tab] when leaving these boxes. To print a W-2 for one employee only, make the beginning and ending SSN’s the same.
• Use the Range of Employees option whenever you need to reissue a W-2 that has been lost, or you need to reissue W-2’s to the employees BEFORE you have sent them to SSA.
• Select Replacing a LOST W-2: when you are replacing W-2’s that have been lost. A Message prints on the W-2 saying it is a replacement.
• Select Correcting a W-2: when you want to re-issue employee W-2’s BEFORE any W-2’s have been sent to SSA, whether on paper or electronically. If you HAVE sent the W-2’s to SSA, do NOT choose this option. In that case you need to file a W-2c for every W-2 that needs correcting. W-2c’s can be prepared on the SSA web site www.ssa.gov.
8. Select the order you want your W-2’s to print in the Arrange Forms By section. Your choices are SSN or Last Name.
9. Use the Select clients to process list box to tell CCIS Payroll which Clients to print.
• To select a Client, use the up and down arrows on the right of the list box to scroll through the Clients. They are in client-number order.
• When the desired Client appears, select the name to have it turn blue.
• A checkmark or x (depending on your system settings) appears beside every Client that is chosen.
• The Clients selected area shows the number of Clients that you have selected to print.
10. The Print them button becomes available once you have selected at least one Client and one copy to print. To Save choices of Printer and Copies for future use select the Save button.
11. Once the setup is complete, select Print them.
CCIS Payroll cycles through the Copies to print from top to bottom starting with the first Client you selected. Every time that a paper change is required, it stops and waits for you to change forms.
Preprinted forms can be aligned at this time as needed. When CCIS Payroll finishes with the set for one Client, it starts over from the top of the Copies to print area for the next.
How to print a summary W-2
The summary W-2 shows totals for each box, and the total number of W-2's that were printed.
Here’s how to set this up for a Client:
1. Choose the Reports link.
2. Choose Year end reports | W-2 | Print.
3. The W-2 Paper Forms window appears.
4. Choose the Summary W-2 option in the Copies to print section.
5. Select the clients you want to print 6. Select Print them
How to print optional information on Form W-2
Box 14 on Form W-2 can be used to report any other information that you want to give to your employees. There is room for four lines of information in this box.
Not all lines may be available to you, depending on your situation. The IRS suggests that Box 14 be used instead of a separate statement to report the Lease value of a vehicle. Also, those states with some form of disability deduction generally require you to report deducted amounts in this box.
CCIS Payroll automatically adds this type of required information.
The available space is yours to use as you want.
Our program can add information automatically. Here’s how it works.
Our software looks to the Deduction fields to see what information you want to include, if there’s room. To tell the program which field(s) to include, open the Clients page. Choose the Client then click the Labels tab.
Note the checkboxes beside labels 18 through 26. You may select any or all of these deductions. (As you know, Deduction 17 is reserved for Deferred Compensation, reported elsewhere on Form W-2, and labels 27 and 28 are reserved.)
If there’s only room for four lines in Box 14 of Form W-2, why can we select all the deductions?
CCIS Payroll only chooses a field if the employee has had any money deducted. This allows you to differentiate between types of employees and gives you greater flexibility.
In the typical payroll, not every employee has exactly the same deductions. For example, you may have employees with Union and Uniform deductions, others with Health Insurance only, still others with Child Support or Long-Term Disability Insurance.
Make your selections by choosing Edit, selecting each box as needed, then choosing Save or pressing F10.
What you see on the W-2:
After adding any required information, our software begins at the top of the list of Deductions, looking for one that you have checked. Next it looks to see if the employee has had any money deducted for that field. If so, it prints an abbreviated label and amount in Box 14.
CCIS Payroll repeats this process until it either runs out of room in Box 14, or it runs out of deductions.
Remember, if there isn’t enough room in Box 14, our software will not generate another W-2. It will simply not print anything more in Box 14.
Other ways to add to Box 14:
The W-2 Editor can be used to add information to Box 14 as well.
W-3 filing using paper forms
The W-3’s may be printed as part of the complete W-2 set for a Client, or individually.
To print them individually:
1. Choose the Reports link.
2. Choose Year end reports | W-2 | Print.
3. Select W-3 for SSA in the Copies to print area. If you have purchased Forms on a Disk™ for the current year, choose between printing the W-3 in Red, or Black.
4. Select W-3 file copy if you have the Forms on a Disk™ for it.
5. Select the Clients to print.
6. Choose Print them.
Partial printing of W-2's
With CCIS Payroll, you can limit the number of W-2 forms that are printed to a range of Social Security Numbers, or a single employee.
The Employees to include section of the W-2 paper filing window is where you tell CCIS Payroll which employees to print. Your choices are All employees or a Range of Employees.
Should you choose a range of employees, you are limited to the current Client only. Enter the beginning and ending Social Security Number that you want to be included. Remember to press Tab when leaving these boxes. To print a form for one employee only, make the beginning and ending SSN’s the same.
The Medicare test
There have been so many mistakes made by filers of Form W-2 since FICA was split into OASDI and Medicare some years ago that the Social Security Administration has instituted computerized edits of Forms W-2, whether filed on paper or magnetic media.
These edits compare, among other things, the amount of Medicare withheld and the reported Medicare wages. If the amount withheld falls outside of the range of 1.4 to 1.5% of Medicare wages, the SSA adjusts the Medicare wages and you get a letter advising you of the change.
CCIS Payroll performs these same tests while printing Forms W-2, or producing Magnetic Media. If your client's file fails the Medicare edit, the program halts for your input. You may choose to ignore the warning.
Reporting uncollected FICA on tips
If an employee owes FICA from tip income, report the amount owed on a separate paper W-2.
Splitting New Jersey UC and TDI on Form W-2
CCIS Payroll will split the New Jersey UC/DI withholdings into their component parts for reporting on in Box 14 of Form W-2. The NJ Registration Number and UI wages are also printed in the Local Tax area of Form W-2.
You can enter or change the rate components when you prepare the NJ-927(W) quarterly reports. The rates are accessible from the Edit menu just prior to printing.
If you have used CCIS Payroll to prepare New Jersey Form 927 or 927-W, the rates are already entered.
Laser W-2 and 1099 alignment procedures
There is an alignment procedure for users of preprinted laser W-2's and 1099's.
Most people will never need to use it. It is provided for those of you whose laser printers are at the extreme ends of the manufacturing tolerance and who may need to adjust the print positions.
To use the alignment function, put forms in the printer and choose Yes when the dialog box appears.
If your Primary Printer is PCL or GDI, a test pattern prints and this window appears.
Examine the sample.
Use the sliders to move the print into position.
Choose Try Again to repeat this cycle or select OK to proceed.