As 2022 comes to a close, accurately updating your company’s payroll processes should be at the top of the to-do list. Our recent webinar covered the best tips and tricks for completing the process, along with a detailed checklist outlining each necessary step.
Below, we lay out a convenient strategy to help ensure this year-end payroll season is a breeze:
Be sure to cover each “do” of payroll year-end. The functional areas to closely monitor are: IT, benefits, compensation and finance. It’s helpful, if the organization has the capacity, to form internal year-end teams in each of these areas so work can be allocated and addressed as needed. Create a project plan that outlines dates, responsibilities and requirements for internal team members to reference. Further, contact external vendors to coordinate provisions of data utilized in year-end entries.
When preparing the payroll year-end calendar, include scheduled pay dates, adjustment runs, holidays and deadlines. Communicate year-end impacts to employees, such as IRS updates, W-2 distribution schedules and the deadline to update personal information. Finally, test your year-end system updates for both accuracy and functionality.
Review the “don’t forgets” of payroll year-end. Don’t forget to include bank holidays in your payroll year-end schedule, as these can impact deadlines, pay dates and related processes. Also remember to include year-end cutover activities from the current year into the new year. Validate W-2 boxes for retirement, coded boxes for accuracy and process all manual and voided checks. These simple steps can often go overlooked, so it’s important to remember to include them at this critical time of review.
Keep this checklist handy. Our carefully crafted year-end payroll process checklist can help identify responsible team members and primary contacts for each line item, ensuring efficient communication is had throughout the process and that each step gets completed. When finalizing your payroll year-end, there are also several factors that can affect this process. Be sure to take these circumstances into consideration:
For help with year-end payroll processes or for necessary human capital management tools to prepare you for 2023, please contact our team of professionals.
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