All too often, I find that clients forget to run 5-3-7
Payroll Audit before preparing to pay their payroll tax liability or preparing
payroll tax returns. Payroll Audit is a
handy utility that compares amounts actually withheld and accrued for FICA and
Medicare Taxes with what should have been withheld. It also identifies payroll records that have
not been completely processed or processed with conflicting payroll quarters
compared to payroll check dates. If you use the Repair option, the system will
reconstruct the control totals on the employee records – this will correct any
misposted or partially posted payroll records before it actually audits the
payroll records. The Repair option takes longer than just running the Payroll
Audit (this makes sense because it performs both the reconstruction of control
totals and the auditing of payroll), but the extra time is usually worth it. Always run the Payroll Audit with Repair and
resolve any issues indicated, before computing the amount of payroll taxes to
deposit or preparing payroll tax returns.
Since we’re talking about preparing payroll tax data,
remember to always run your payroll tax reports by check date, not by period ending date. The tax authorities want all of their payroll
data reported by check date.
If you find that payroll audit errors exist, contact Sage
Tech Support or call Mathieson Consulting at 480-471-5305 for assistance.