If you are not a TaxBeGone customer, here is how to view your saved W-2 forms for individual employees. If you are a TaxBeGone customer, follow the instructions in the following article: TaxBeGone: Viewing Saved W-2 Forms.
You must first download and print your W-2 forms before you can view them. If you have not yet done this, see How to Print W-2 Forms in Patriot PAY.)
When you download and print a W-2 PDF, Patriot PAY saves the most recent version of the downloaded W-2 form for each employee. You can view each employee's saved W-2 form, one employee at a time.
To View Your Saved W-2 Forms:
- Click the PAY tab > Year-End Tasks > View Saved W2 Forms.
- Select the year, and click Run.
- Select an employee from the employee list.
- A PDF will open in a new browser window, displaying the W-2 for that employee.
- Save this file to your computer or print using your browser's instructions. Close this window when you are finished.
- To view another employee's W-2 form, click on their name.
When you enter a new payroll on Step 1: Payroll Entry, and you want to pay additional money such as Bonus or Commission, click the "Add Hours/Money" link at the end of the row for the employee you want to pay. Any active Money Types in your Payroll Settings will appear in the dropdown list. Enter the dollar amount, and select the Money Type from the list. If you do not see the Money Type in the dropdown list, you will need to either add or activate the Money Type under Company Payroll Settings.
If the money is taxable, you have the choice of taxing this money either at the same tax frequency as the employee's normal pay frequency, or at the IRS supplemental tax rate of 25%. A Supplemental Rate checkbox will appear under the Money Type. For more information about this tax rate, see How To Tax Supplemental Pay.
When you enter a new payroll on Step 1: Payroll Entry, and you want to pay additional hours such as Vacation or Holiday, click the "Add Hours/Money" link at the end of the row for the employee you want to pay. Any active Hours Types in your Payroll Settings will appear in the dropdown list. Enter the number of hours, and select the Hours Type from the list. If you do not see the Hours Type in the dropdown list, you will need to either add or activate the Hours Type under Company Payroll Settings.
To add more than one type of Additional Hours for an employee, click the "Add" link again for that employee and another row of fields will appear.
When you enter a new payroll on Step 1: Payroll Entry, all active salaried employees will appear in the employee list. Under the "Pay Salary" column, there is a Yes/No dropdown. The "Pay Salary" box is automatically set to "Yes" and their flat dollar salary rate will be included in the payroll. To turn off a salaried employee's regular pay, select "No."
It is not necessary to enter hours for a salary employee, but you may choose to for tracking purposes. Their pay will not change depending on the hours entered.
When you enter a new payroll on the Step 1: Payroll Entry screen, you will see an "Additional Pay Options" link at the top right. When you click this link, a section will expand and display the option to skip deductions, skip contributions, or turn off direct deposits for this payroll only. These sections will only appear if you have set up deductions, contributions, and/or direct deposit.
Skipping Deductions For All Employees:
By default, all active deductions that have not met limits will be calculated in the payroll. You may choose not to include selected or all deductions by checking each deduction to be excluded (for example, if this payroll is for a 2nd bonus check and you have already collected the proper amount of deductions). To select all deductions to be excluded, check the first All option in the list.
If you need to skip a deduction only for certain employees and don't want to apply to everyone in the payroll run, do not use this feature. Instead, you will need to inactivate the deduction directly on the employee's deduction screen before you run the payroll. You will then activate the deduction again on the employee's screen after the payroll is run.
Skipping Contributions For All Employees:
Contributions work the same was as deductions described above. By default, all active contributions that have not met limits will be calculated in the payroll. You may choose not to include selected or all contributions by checking each contribution to be excluded (for example, if this payroll is for a 2nd bonus check and you have already collected the proper amount of contributions). To select all contributions to be excluded, check the first All option in the list.
If you need to skip a contribution only for certain employees and don't want to apply to everyone in the payroll run, do not use this feature. Instead, you will need to inactivate the contribution directly on the employee's contribution screen before you run the payroll. You will then activate the contribution again on the employee's screen after the payroll is run.
Turning Off Direct Deposits:
If you offer direct deposit, you will see a checkbox called "Turn Off Direct Deposits." When this box is unchecked, anyone with an active direct deposit account will not have a live check cut for the direct deposit amount. To override this and turn off direct deposits for all employees in this payroll only, check the "Turn Off Direct Deposits" box. You can then print or handwrite live checks for everyone in the payroll.
If you need to edit an employee's pay information, here is a description of each field.
Pay Frequency: The pay frequency will automatically show the company's default pay frequency (how often you run payroll). If the employee's pay frequency is different than the company default, select the correct pay frequency from the dropdown.
Pay Type: Select the Pay Type from the dropdown list. The Pay Type determines the unit of pay for the employee - either Hourly, Salary, or Salary Non-Exempt.
The "Active?" checkbox will automatically be checked and display "Yes." As long as this box is checked, this employee will appear on the payroll worksheet for payroll processing. If you have Patriot HR, you will not be able to edit this checkbox directly. You will use the employee's Status History to update their status.
Pay Rate: If you selected an Hourly Pay Type, enter the hourly rate of pay (i.e. 14.75). If you selected the Salary Pay Type, enter the pay rate per pay period (i.e. 1500.00 without commas). If you selected Salary Non-Exempt, enter the pay rate per pay period. If you are starting with an annual number, you will need to divide by the number of pay periods in a year: Weekly = 52, Biweekly = 26, Semimonthly = 24, Monthly = 12.
W-2 Statutory Employee: Check this box if this is a statutory employee whose earnings are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes, but not subject to federal tax withholding. If this box is checked, the corresponding box on the employee's W-2 will also be marked. For further instructions on W-2 reporting requirements, see IRS Instructions for Form W-2.
W-2 Company Retirement Plan: Check this box if the employee was an "active participant" for any part of the year in a company- provided retirement plan such as a 401(k), 401(b), 457, SIMPLE, SEP, etc. If this box is checked, the corresponding box on the employee's W-2 will also be marked. For further instructions on W-2 reporting requirements, see IRS Instructions for Form W-2.
If you need to edit an employee's tax information, here is a description of each field. Note that you may not see all of these fields desribed below, depending on your state.
Federal Filing Options
Filing Status: By default the filing status will be Single. Choose the correct filing status in the dropdown list as specified on the employee's Form W-4. Click here for a blank Form W-4.
Allowances: By default the allowances will be zero. Enter the number of allowances as specified on Line 5 of the employee's Form W-4.
Additional Withholdings: By default the additional withholding will be zero dollars. Enter the dollar amount of additional withholding as specified on Line 6 of the employee's Form W-4.
Exempt From: If the employee is exempt from paying Federal, Social Security, or Medicare taxes, please check the appropriate box.In most cases, employees are required to pay these taxes and the checkboxes should be left unchecked. If the employee has written the word "EXEMPT" in Line 7 of Form W-4, you will check the Federal box. When these tax types are checked, that tax will not calculate nor be withheld from the employee's paycheck.
State and Local Withholding Options
Note that these fields vary by state.
Tax Jurisdiction: The Resident Tax Jurisdiction dropdown list will be pre-filled on the employee's home zip code. There are two reasons that the employee's Resident Tax Jurisdiction would need to be selected:
- If the employer is allowing for optional courtesy tax withholdings for the employee's city of residence, this becomes a required field for all employees. Select the correct locality for which the company will be withholding and remitting taxes for the employee. Select "No Local Tax" for employees who are not having courtesy tax withheld.
- If the employee works from home, as indicated in the "Works Only From Home" checkbox on the employee's Personal Information screen, this becomes a required field for this employee. Select the correct locality based on the employee's residence.
State Filing Options: These options will depend on the work state. Enter the filing option as specified on the Employee's state income tax withholding form. Do not add extra spaces.
State Additional Withholding: By default the additional withholding will be zero dollars. Enter the dollar amount of additional withholding as listed on the employee's state income tax withholding form.
Non-Resident Certificate: Check this box if the employee has a state non-resident certificate.
School District: The School District Tax is only applicable in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. The School District Tax field will show a dropdown of all school districts available in the county of the employee's zip code. Select the school district in which the employee resides. Choose "No School District Tax" is this does not apply.
Local Additional Withholding: If the employee wants to have additional local tax withheld, enter the dollar amount here.
Other Options: In most cases, employees are required to pay state income taxes, and employers are required to pay SUTA tax on employees, so these boxes should be left unchecked. These boxes should only be checked if the employee is NOT obligated to pay state income tax or if the employee is exempt from SUTA.
The Payroll Edit History Report shows all payroll edits that have been entered for a specific time frame. To find this report, click the PAY tab > Payroll Edit History.
Payroll Edits are used to manually update or correct employee earnings, taxes, deductions, and contributions so that Patriot PAY has accurate amounts for reports and tax filing statements. Examples of reasons to enter payroll edits would be to update Patriot PAY with any employee payment activity that happened outside the payroll system such as a cash bonus, gift, or writing a check from your checkbook. Another example is to correct money or hours paid under the wrong type. The example below shows a payroll edit to fix 40 vacation hours that should have been regular hours.
You can view one employee or all employees, and select the pay date range. You have four grouping options:
Check:will display each pay edit detail separately and the check transaction date and time. Note the transaction date and times are in your company's time zone.
Pay Date:will aggregate all payroll edits together for each pay date in the date range.
Employee:will aggregate all payroll edit totals together for one employee, helpful if you need to look up year-to-date actvity.
Total:will aggregate all employees' payroll edit totals together. Use this option to view all employees.
See also: How to Enter a Payroll Edit.
In your company settings, you will select one pay frequency (i.e. weekly, biweekly, etc.) for your company. If your company uses more than one frequency, select the one you will use most frequently.
At the time you add employees, this default pay frequency will be displayed. You may change the employee's pay frequency directly on their screen if it differs from the company default.
To change the company default pay frequency:
- Click the Settings link > Payroll Settings.
- Under Payroll Defaults, click the Edit link in the top right corner.
- Click the new pay frequency from the drop-down list.
- Click Save.
Note: If you change the company pay frequency after you add employees, you must change the pay frequency on each employee's screen.
See also: How Do I Change My Company Frequency From Weekly To Biweekly?
Patriot Software accepts credit or debit cards from Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover as the only form of payment for software and service fees.
You will need to enter a valid credit or debit card by the end of your trial period. When your trial is over, you will not be able to use the software until you enter this information.
To Enter Your Credit Card:
- Click on the Settings link > Account Settings > Credit Card Info.
- Click the Edit link at the top right corner.
- Enter a nickname for this card. The card nickname will appear on the Billing Activity page.
- Enter the card number.
- Enter the name as it appears on your card.
- The Card Type will be chosen automatically based on the card number.
- Enter the Expiration Date.
- Click Save.