Preparing new W-2 and W-3 forms

Paying your employees > Payroll tax forms

Preparing new W-2 and W-3 forms

You should always prepare and print W‑2 and W-3 forms before you close the payroll year and begin the new one. You should also make a point of backing up your company file after printing these documents and before closing the year. Once the year is closed, detailed payroll information is no longer available for that year and W‑2 forms and other reports can’t be printed. If you’ve made a backup, however, you can restore that backup and print the necessary documents.

If you have questions about completing Forms W-2 or W-3, consult your accountant or visit the Internal Revenue Service website.

To prepare new W-2 and W-3 forms

note : Changes you make here do not affect the data in your company file

Any changes you make to a payroll tax form will appear only on the forms that you change. The data in your company file won’t be changed.

1	Go to the Payroll command center and click Prepare Payroll Tax Forms. The Select Payroll Tax Form window appears.

2	Select Federal in the Search by list.

3	Select the W-2 form in the Form list.

4	Choose the payroll year, select either This Year (????) or Last Year (????).

5	Click Display. The Set Up W-2 Forms window appears.

6	If you use control numbers on your W-2 forms, enter a control number for the first W-2 in the Print Control # starting with field. This number will automatically increment each time you prepare W-2 forms.

7	The amounts in most of the boxes on the W‑2 will automatically be entered for you. However, information in boxes 10–14 may or may not be needed, depending on your company’s reporting requirements.

If you don’t need to assign payroll categories for any of boxes 10–14, go to the next step.

If you need to set up boxes 10–14:

a	Select a box name in the W‑2 Boxes list.

b	Enter a code in the Box 12/14 Code column, where applicable.

c	In the list on the right, click the wage, deduction and tax category items that should be used to calculate the total amount for the W-2 box you chose.

When you select a category, a mark appears in the Select column next to that item. If you need to deselect an item, click it again.

d	Repeat these steps for each W-2 box to which you need to assign a payroll category.

note : Categories linked to Boxes 10–14 will be used on every W-2 that you prepare

If you need to change the amounts or categories on individual forms, you can do this later.

8	Click OK. The Set Up W-3 Forms window appears.

9	Complete the fields in this window:

▪	If required, enter a W-3 form control number in the Control # field.

▪	If required, enter the establishment number to appear in Box (d) of the W-3 form, and any other EIN you’ve used this year.

▪	Enter the contact name, telephone number, fax number and email address you want to appear on Form W-3.

10	Click OK. The W-2 Wizard appears.

11	Click Next. The State & Local tax items step of the wizard appears.

12	Select the items that are State taxes or Local taxes, and then click Next. The Checklist step of the wizard appears.

13	Read the steps that you will need to perform, and then click Finish. The Payroll Tax Forms - W2/1099 Preparer window appears.

14	Complete the step described at the top of the window.

Any columns that need to be linked to payroll category items are highlighted in yellow.

If you need to link a column to payroll category items:

a	Click the header of a column highlighted in yellow. (Until they have been linked to a box in Form W-2, these headers usually display the title <undefined>).

b	In the drop-down list that appears at the top of the column, select the appropriate W-2 box to which data in that column should be linked. You can link to boxes 8, 10, 11, 12 and 14.

When you select a box, the Payroll Tax Forms program will extract amounts for each employee from the data in your company file and enter any missing data into the appropriate cells in that column.

note : If you aren’t sure which data to link to boxes on Form W-2

Consult your accountant or refer to the instructions provided with Form W-2 and Form W-3. If you don’t have instructions for these forms, you can obtain them from the Internal Revenue Service website.

c	To rename a column that you have just linked, double-click on the current column title in the bottom row of the header to open the Rename Column dialog. Enter the new name in the field provided.

15	If you want to change an amount, click in the appropriate cell and change or delete it.

16	If any columns are not needed in your W-2s, select the column, go to the Edit menu, choose Columns and then choose Hide. The column is removed from the view and the data in that column won’t display or print on the completed forms.

17	Click Next Step and complete the task described at the top of the window. Continue to work through the steps by clicking Next Step after completing each task.

When you have completed the setup process, the Process W-2 Filing Wizard appears.

18	Click Next. Enter your company information and then click Next.

19	Enter your W-3 information and then click Next.

20	Select whether you want to eFile the forms or print them only. Depending on the method you select, you also need to select the type of form you want to print (eg Employer Copy or Employee Copy).

21	Click Next. Check that a State Taxpayer ID has been entered for each state and then click Next.

22	Read the on-screen confirmation, and then click Finish. The Payroll Tax Forms - W2/1099 Preparer window appears.

23	Print each of the required forms as described at the top of the window.

24	If you have chosen to eFile the forms, the Aatrix eFile Login window appears after you have printed all of the forms.

25	Enter your eFile User ID and Password and then click Login to enter the Aatrix eFile System. Follow the on-screen instructions to file the form.

26	Click OK. The W2 Field Mapping window appears.

27	Select the items that are local taxes and then click Continue.

note : Invalid or incomplete company information

If a message appears advising that some of your company information is invalid or incomplete, go to the the Company menu and choose Company Information to enter your details.

28	If you want to make changes to any fields in the MYOB Form Viewer window, click the red or blue fields and make your required changes.

29	Click Next Step. A message appears requesting you to confirm that you have completed editing the form. If you have finished editing the form, click Agree.

30	Click Print to print a copy of the form for your records.

31	Click Next Step and either click Print to print the official form, or click eFile to lodge the form electronically.

32	Follow the on-screen instructions to print or lodge the form.

▪	Registering for Payroll Forms Service

▪	Renewing your Payroll Forms Service registration

▪	Registering to eFile payroll tax forms

▪	Preparing new payroll tax forms (other than W-2 and W-3)

▪	Working with draft and completed payroll tax forms

▪	Printing payroll tax forms

▪	Filing payroll tax forms electronically

▪	Updating Payroll Forms Service

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