Please note: this article is about the Justworks Payroll product. Not sure which product you're using? Check out: How Do I Know Which Justworks Product I Have?
As your payroll provider, Justworks Payroll will submit payroll tax filings to the IRS on behalf of your company for the year. In order for us to submit these tax filings on time and correctly, we’ll need you to complete the End of Year tasks outlined below prior to the IRS’ deadlines.
Verify Employee Information
Make sure your and your team’s information is up-to-date to help prevent costly errors that could require tax document corrections in the future.
As an admin, you will need to go to the Company Census in your Reports tab and verify the following for each employee
- Legal Name
- Home and work address
Your team members will need to review the following personal information listed in their Account Settings tab
- Legal Name
- Social Security Number
- Mailing address
- Delivery method for Form W-2
- Form W-4 and state withholdings: Please note that corrections to Form W-4 withholding amounts can only be made on a go-forward basis, so employees should verify this information to avoid any penalties incurred by under-withholding.
We’ll send a reminder to your team to check their own information, but we suggest you ask them to do it as well.
Report Employee Payments
Make sure that all salary and one-time payments for employees have been recorded in Justworks Payroll.
Review Your Final Payroll by December 22, 11am PST
Make sure all payees and amounts listed for your final payroll of the year are correct, as Justworks is unable to make any adjustments or corrections, including overpayment corrections, after your final payroll runs. Here’s how to check your final payroll:
- Log into Justworks Payroll and go to your Dashboard
- Scroll to Upcoming Payments and click the date of your final payroll
- Review the details listed to ensure everything is scheduled correctly
*Note: The remaining steps may or may not be applicable to your company*
Report Employer Contributions to Outside Health Benefits
We will need to know whether your company made contributions to any of the following health benefits outside of Justworks Payroll for anyone during your company’s time on the platform this year:
- Medical Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Health Savings Account (HSA)
Record Imputed Income
It’s best practice and, in many cases, required by IRS guidelines to record imputed income as they are provided to employees throughout the year. Imputed income is income for additional benefits or compensation on top of an employee's regular salary or wages for work they do. To prevent complications at End of Year, be sure to report the following as soon as possible:
- Taxable fringe benefits: A fringe benefit is an extra benefit that supplements an employee's salary such as a vehicle, gym membership, etc. Fringe benefits are taxable.
- Taxable equity-based compensation: Equity-based compensation is non-cash pay that a company offers employees based on the value of specified stock.
Coordinate Payroll with Your Employee 401(k) Contributions
To benefit the most from pre-tax contributions, your employees can max out their 401(k) contributions by updating their contribution rate for either their base salary or bonus/ commission pay ahead of the final payrolls of the year. Talk with your employees before scheduling any bonuses to see whether they would like their 401(k) contributions to be adjusted for End of Year payments.
If you are using an external 401(k) provider, you can edit the manual deduction amounts for employees in their profiles under the Manual Deductions tab. If the deduction amounts need to be applied to specific payments, be sure to edit the dates accordingly. Please note that you will need to change the manual deduction amount back after your company’s final payroll runs for the year so that the increased deduction isn't applied to the employee’s first paycheck of the new year.
Remind Employees to Use FSA Funds
Make sure your employees are aware their FSA funds expire at the end of the year so that they can use up any remaining funds in time.
Disclaimer
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal or tax advice. If you have any legal or tax questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with your professional legal or tax advisor.