*Check employee information:
  • Addresses
  • Social Security Numbers
  • Emergency contacts
  • Terminated employees
  • Name Spellings


Make any corrections as necessary as incorrect information could cause delays in areas such as W-2’s for tax purposes.


*Report all fringe benefit items that should be reported on the W-2. These are things like:
  • 3rd party sick pay
  • Company paid Group Term Life in excess of $50,000
  • Personal use of company vehicles.


Some of these items are FICA taxable, so if they are not reported with an actual payroll, the employer will end up paying both the employee and employer share of those taxes.


*Review and prepare any year-end tax filing documents:
  • 1099/Independent Contractor Payments – use form 1099-NEC
  • FICA and FUTA forms – Be aware of the filing deadlines
  • Any FFCRA tax credits – Employers who were impacted by COVID and utilized the FFCRA are eligible to receive a refund for qualifying wages covering sick and family leave time paid to employees directly relating to COVID-19
  • CARES Act retention credit – Pertains to any employer who took advantage of this program offered during the pandemic and wages were paid between March 20, 2020 and January 1, 2021
  • If company is an S-Corp, review the 2%+ owners (and employee family members that fall under the family attribution rule) to ensure none of them are receiving pre-tax benefit deductions as well as report any S-Corp Medical benefits paid on behalf of those people by the company


*2021 Social Security Wage base increase

The wage base for social security in 2021 is increasing to $142,800 from the 2020 level of $137,700. For those of you that have employees that earn in this level, it means a higher tax burden for both you as the employer and your employees.


*NYS Paid Sick Leave for 2021

If you have not done so, in regards to the new New York Paid Sick Leave, be sure you are in compliance with this new law. We can help you set this up for tracking in ADP if you would like. Just reach out to us.


*Consider Direct Deposit

Nobody likes to be paid late. There are instances where payroll packages either go missing or are delayed due to weather conditions where the courier cannot get the package delivered on time. This is a great time to reinforce to your employees to use direct deposit. Consider running a contest where anyone who signs up a new direct deposit gets entered in to a raffle for something like a gift card.


*Make life easier with General Ledger Integration

Did you know that ADP has built in modules that can create general ledger files from your payrolls runs, and in some cases, even feed those directly to your accounting software? Let the system do the work for you!! If interested, please call your Business Partner at (585) 750-3246, option #1, to set up a time to discuss getting this implemented for you.


*Be sure to have recorded any manual checks or voids you have done

*Go over all benefit offerings and policies to see if:
  • Changes are needed
  • Ensure all ACA requirements are still in compliance, i.e., 50 employee thresholds
  • What needs to be compiled for any open enrollment meetings
  • What needs to be established for any new or changing FSA plans
  • Information is available to provide to Payroll showing employees who took advantage of FFCRA leave for tax filing purposes


*Review your job descriptions for all your employees along with the compensations for each to ensure the employees in each position are classified correctly, i.e., Exempt, vs. Non-Exempt

*Re-visit employee time off bank(s) to ensure balances (if available) are correct and everything matches with company policy. This will allow a company to make any adjustment prior to the start of a new year.

*Re-visit employee handbook to ensure all company policies are still in line with the company mission, vision and values and adjust, as necessary.  With all the changes of late, i.e., COVID-19, NY State Paid Sick Leave to name a few, if a company has an employee handbook, it is imperative these policies are included, current and in compliance.


To download a printable copy of this check list, click here.


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