Paper Trails

Payroll Year End

Year end for business owners and HR professionals can be a stressful time. Luckily, we have you covered with the resources you need to get you through year end without a hitch.

payroll year end

There is so much to consider when it comes to payroll year end.

From a payroll and human resources perspective, year end is one of the most important parts of successfully operating a business. Our team has put together everything you need to ensure a smooth year end. We have compiled monthly tasks, important information, and handy resources to make year-end payroll processing easier.

Our Payroll Year-End Checklist is Here!

2023 is almost gone, and we are preparing for year end – but, we need your help! Our Year-End Checklist is here to ensure your business an easy transition into 2024! Download you copy to make the transition as smooth as possible!

A few highlights from our payroll year-end checklist

Some Things to Consider in November

Be sure to have the correct data to when filing your taxes. This includes:

If you and your associated businesses are considered applicable large employers and have more than 50 full-Time equivalent employees, you will need to prepare and submit 1094-C and 1095-C forms to your employees.

W-2 adjustments are often non-cash contributions, but include the following items:

  • S-Corporation shareholders’ health insurance premiums and mileage reimbursements
  • Group term life paid on behalf of employees over $50,000
  • Third party sick pay
  • Personal use of a company vehicle
  • Non-cash payments like gift cards or other “fringe benefits”

Veterans Day is observed Friday, November 10th. Banks will be closed so submit your payroll early!
Thanks giving is Thursday, November 23rd. Banks will be closed so submit your payroll early!

Tasks to Complete in December

Have you paid employees by manual checks outside of payroll? You must record those manual checks on payroll to ensure that all wages are legal. Further, third party sick pay, personal use of an employer-provided vehicle, qualified moving expenses, club memberships and more must be reported on W2s!

Third party sick pay is an insurance benefit often called short or long-term disability insurance. If an employee has used this benefit during the year, you will likely need to report taxes and wages through payroll. While these payments are not made through the employer, the taxes must be reported by the employer. Your disability insurance provider will send you quarterly statements.

fringe benefit is any form of payment for performance of services. Generally, these are things like gift cards, employee gifts, personal use of a company car, gym memberships, etc. These are considered taxable wages and must be reported on an employee’s W-2.

Please carefully review your final payroll of the year. There are several items to review:

  • Employee names, addresses and social security numbers should be reviewed and accurate.
  • Final benefit deductions, PTO pay outs, fringe benefits, etc are accurate.

In the 2024 calendar year, there are 53 Mondays & Tuesdays. If you have a Monday or Tuesday pay day, and you pay your exempt (salaried) employees based on an annual salary, you may want to consider adjusting their weekly or bi-weekly payroll amount to accommodate for a potential additional check. This may or may not apply to you, but we don’t want you to be caught flat-footed at the end of 2024 and potentially overpay an exempt employee when you didn’t want to. Skipping a payroll for most employees is not very palatable.

Items to Wrap Up in January

You must provide 1099s to any independent contractors who have worked for you in 2023 no later than January 31st! Use this spreadsheet and email it over to vicki@papertrails.com

Many employees or owners like to maximize pre-tax retirement benefits. Update employee deduction amounts to ensure the maximum contributions are made for the year. You can find 2024 limits here.

You must display both federal and state labor law posters prominently in your business for all employees to review. These are published for free by the federal and state governments. You should download, print and display the most accurate labor law posters which are available here.

It is your responsibility to distribute/mail W-2s & 1099s to your employees before January 31st!

Maine employers with 5 or more employees will need to offer an employer-sponsored retirement plan, or enroll eligible employees in the state run plan.

Once you receive the registration email from the State, be sure to log in and mark yourself as exempt from the plan (you have a qualifying employer-sponsored plan) or enroll your eligible employees in the plan (you do not offer a plan).

Tips for Payroll Year End

A few additional tips to consider when it comes to year-end planning.

Double Check Social Security Information!

The Social Security Administration charges a fee to correct wages posted incorrectly. The SSA offers a free tool on their website to check social security information, which can help you avoid filing incorrect information.
The IRS requires that employee Forms W-2 and 1095-C must match exactly what is printed on social security cards (hyphens and all). Failure to verify this information is correct may result in penalties.

Remember New State and Federal Legislation Changes for the Upcoming Year

Depending on what state you do business in, there may be some new compliance challenges to consider. For Maine businesses, start preparing for the State’s retirement mandate that begins in 2024. You can also check out our webinar about this program on our YouTube channel.

Other Considerations

Stay Up-to-Date On Key Compliance & HR Tips

Our team at Paper Trails posts regularly on social media. These posts are most often important compliance news, HR & payroll tips and industry information that will impact your business! Be sure to follow across all of our platforms to stay up to date! Sometimes, we even post a funny video or two 😉!

Download the New isolved Mobile App

isolved has released the new isolved People Cloud mobile app for employees. This is in addition to our current self-service portal at myhrstuff.com.

Employees can access their pay stubs, change their direct deposit information, clock in and out, request time off (if enabled) and even retrieve their W2s all online without ever having to bother you! All you need to get started is each employee’s email address. Full instructions on how to enable access to the app for your employees is available at papertrails.com/self-service. If employees are having trouble logging in from the isolved app, helpful tips & tricks for password resets and more are located at papertrails.com/help.

Contact your payroll processor if you have further questions or need help activating this feature. Download the app from the app store today!    

Register for Our Upcoming Webinars

Views Navigation

Event Views Navigation

Today

Remote Employee Compliance Webinar

Online

In this webinar, we will cover all the aspects Remote employee compliance. Topics include: -Payroll Taxes -HR Labor Laws -Expense Reimbursements -Traveling to Different States for Work -Permanent Work in […]

isolved Onboarding

Online

In this webinar, we will cover all the aspects of the isolved onboarding tool and how it can streamline your employee onboarding process.

isolved Expense Management

Online

In this webinar, we will demo the powerful isolved expense management tool and show you how this can help simplifying your expense management process.

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact our local team.

We’ll stay in the weeds to manage your payroll, Human Resources, and compliance needs.