Summary
The W-2 Adjustments process is used to adjust committed W-2s.
This process will create the entire W-2 form (lines, borders and W-2 information), so you are not required to use special paper unless you want perforations or instructions printed on the back of the forms. If you want to print the adjusted W-2s on paper with perforations and/or instructions on the back you will need to order the appropriate stock. Below is the W-2 form and envelop that is compatible with the W-2 adjustments process. This form is available from our form supplier, SOLV Group. If you have any questions regarding the form, contact SOLV Group at https://www.thesolvgroup.com. You can also download this Customer Connect Site User Guide from SOLV for information on how to place an order.
- #L3BL --LASER W-2 Forms – 3 Up blank form. Copies B, C, 2 one employee per 8 ½ x 11 page. Employee instructions preprinted on the reverse of copies. Uses envelope #DW3 below.
- #DW3 --Double Window ENVELOPES – Displays employer and employee name and address. For use with the Laser Forms L3BL above.
Springbrook will test the current year W-2 using only the form above. If you do not use this form, make sure the format of your form matches the one above.
Step by Step
1 Open or create a new W-2 Adjustments batch.
- Open the W-2 Adjustments window (PR> W-2 Adjustments). The Batches window will display all the open W-2 Adjustments batches.
- Select a batch and click DETAILS to open the selected batch.
- Select a batch and click the Delete button to delete the selected batch. All uncommitted adjustments in the batch will be deleted.
- Click the Create New Batch button to create a new batch. This will open the Create Batch window.
- If there are open batches in the W-2 Adjustments process, you can create a new batch without affecting the open batches.
- The Batch Month and Batch Year fields default to the current date and are used for reference only and do not affect the transaction or journal entry date of the transactions in the batch.
- Click CREATE to create the new W-2 Adjustments batch.
2 Open the Batch Overview page.
- The Batch Overview page provides a general overview of the selected batch.
- The left navigation menu displays all the steps in the W-2 Adjustments process.
- In the main section you'll see information about batch steps that are currently processing, next available batch steps, and the last completed batch step.
- Batch steps that are currently processing will display a blue indicator bar to alert you that the step has not yet completed.
- Once the preceding batch step is complete, the next available batch steps will be enabled and you can select the next step you would like to run.
- While some batch steps are optional, any batch step that includes the Required tag must be completed before the batch is allowed to proceed through to the Commit step.
- The Batch Outputs section on the right will display any reports or exports that have already been generated in the W-2 Adjustments process.
3 Generate the W-2 Adjustments.
- Enter a committed W-2s Batch number or click the field search button to select one from a list.
- You must select a committed W-2s batch to adjust.
- Click ADD to add an employee to the Generate data grid.
- While any existing employee could be added to the grid, only those employees that were originally included in the committed W-2s batch selected above will populate the Edit step.
- Click the Submit button to generate the W-2 Adjustments.
4 Check for exceptions.
- The Exceptions step is used to notify the user of any issues that arose when the W-2 Adjustments were generated.
- Open the Exceptions window (PR> W-2 Adjustments> Exceptions).
- Exceptions will not prevent the W-2 Adjustments batch from being processed, but any records that generate an exception will not be included in the batch. If any exceptions are displayed, you can make the required corrections and return to the Generate step.
5 Adjust the committed W-2s.
- The Edit step is used to adjust committed W-2s, create new W-2s, or remove them from the batch. This step is also used to review all of the committed W-2s in the batch.
- Open the W-2 Edit window (PR> W-2 Adjustments> Edit).
- The W-2 Edit window will display all of the committed W-2s that have been included in the batch.
- Select a W-2 and click DELETE to remove the W-2 from the batch.
- Click ADD to open a blank W-2. This option will allow you to create a new W-2 from scratch.
- Select a W-2 and click EDIT to open a committed W-2. This will open the Edit W-2 Record window.
- After making the desired adjustments to the W-2, click the Save button to return to the W-2 Edit window.
6 Print the W-2 Adjustments Proof List.
- The Proof List will display the total of each box number on the W-2s. This report can be generated in summary format (displays a total for each box number) or detail format (displays a box total for each employee). W-2s that have the Void toggle checked will still be included in the Proof List Report totals.
- Open the W-2 Proof List window (PR> W-2 Adjustments> Proof List).
- The Report Type drop-down menu is used to select the level of detail that will display on the report.
- Select Summary if you would like to display the box number total of each box on the W-2.
- Select Detail if you would like to include the employee totals on the report. This version of the report will display the box number total for all employees and include the box total of each employee.
- Check the Show Zero Dollar Entries toggle to display zero dollar amounts on the report. The functionality of this toggle varies depending on the type of report selected in the Report Type drop-down menu.
- If you are generating the report in Summary format, a box total will not display on the report if no employee has an amount in that box. When this toggle is checked, a zero dollar total will display on the report for the box. For example, if no employee has a value in the SS Tips (7) box, checking this toggle will add a zero dollar total for that box to the report.
- If you are generating the report in Detail format, an employee total will not display on a box total if the employee has a zero dollar total for that box. When this toggle is checked, the employee will be added to the box total even if it is a zero amount.
- Select the box totals you would like to display on the report in the Box Selection field. Boxes selected in the Box Selection field will display on the report.
- Select the box in the field header to highlight all of the toggles in the field.
- Once the required report settings have been specified, click the Print button to print your report.
- Click the options arrow on the right side of the Print button to see other print options.
- Select Send PDF to Job Viewer to print the report in the default Springbrook format.
- Select Send Excel to Job Viewer to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
- Select Send Excel (Formatted) to Job Viewer to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
- Click the Schedule icon next to the Print button in order to schedule the report to generate at a later date and time.
- Enter a Date and Time to generate the report and click SUBMIT.
7 Generate the adjusted W-2s.
- The W-2s step is used to generate the adjusted W-2s.This step will create a job on the Jobs Viewer window to generate the reports, and once that job is complete, you can print the W-2s onto the forms using any printer. This is just like generating reports in the application.
- You can run the W-2 step as many times as you would like, but each time you rerun this process, the previously generated W-2s will be overwritten. For example, if you generate the employee copies and then rerun the W-2 step to generate the extra copies, the employee copies will be overwritten. This means you cannot open the Jobs Viewer window and regenerate the employee copies once the extra copies have been created. That is why once the adjusted W-2s have been created, you should save a copy of them to a file.
- The Print drop-down menu is used to select the forms that will be generated.
- Select Employee Copies to create a three per page W-2 containing copy B, copy 2 and copy C for each employee in the batch.
- Select Extra Copies to create two additional copy 2s and an additional copy C for each employee in the batch. This selection is generally used if an employee loses their W-2 copy or they require additional copy 2s for city, local or regional taxes.
- Select State Copies to print a single W-2 copy for a state, city or local government for each employee in the batch.
- Select Employer Copies to produce a copy D W-2 for each employee in the batch.
- Once the required report settings have been specified, click the Print button to print your report.
- Click the options arrow on the right side of the Print button to see other print options.
- Select Send PDF to Job Viewer to print the report in the default Springbrook format.
- Select Send Excel to Job Viewer to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
- Select Send Excel (Formatted) to Job Viewer to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
- Click the Schedule icon next to the Print button in order to schedule the report to generate at a later date and time.
- Enter a Date and Time to generate the report and click SUBMIT.
- The W-2 process will create the entire W-2 form (lines, borders, and W-2 information), so you are not required to use special paper unless you want perforations or instructions printed on the back.
- If you want to print the W-2s on paper with perforations and/or instructions on the back you will need to order the appropriate stock.
8 Print a test W-2.
- Once the adjusted W-2s have been created, click the W-2 item in the Notifications window or click OPEN REPORT to download a PDF of the W-2s.
- Print a test W-2 using the stock of your choice.
- Review the printed copy of the adjusted W-2s. If the W-2 displays correctly, move to the next step.
9 Create the export file.
- Generate the export file before you print all of the adjusted W-2s in the batch so that any mistakes found during the export process can be corrected before you print the entire batch.
- The export file created during this step contains a W-2 copy A and W-3 data and should be sent to the Social Security Administration. This step does not send the file to the SSA, it only creates the file that you will verify for accuracy using the free software. Once the file is checked for accuracy, you can send it to the SSA. These steps will be covered later in this document.
- Open the Export W-2 Data window (PR> W-2 Adjustments> Export).
- The File Name field is used to enter the path where the file will be created. Enter a path and filename or click the File Name field label to locate a path.
- The filename entered in this field is the wage file that you will test for accuracy using the free Accuwage software and then submit to the SSA. When naming the file, add the tax year so it will be easier to identify (example: 2013w2report).
- You will need to contact the Social Security Administration to submit the file electronically and then they will issue you a pin number and password. This is the number you will enter in the BSO User ID field.
- You will receive a validation error message if the pin is not at least eight digits long.
- Follow the links below for instructions on how to create an account with the SSA.
- Enter a Contact Name, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Contact Fax and Contact Preference. If there are problems with the file, this is the information the SSA will use to contact you.
- Select Yes in the Resubmission drop-down menu if the export file has already been submitted to the SSA. This will enable the WFID field below.
- Because this is an adjustment of a previously committed W-2s batch, this field will default to Yes.
- The WFID field is only used if you are resubmitting a file. The Social Security Administration assigns a unique wage file identifier (WFID) to every initial submission. If this file is being resubmitted, enter the WFID of the original file in the WFID field.
- Select the appropriate W2 Type from the drop-down menu.
- Click the Submit button when complete to create the export file.
- Once the export has finished processing, click the success notification to download the export file.
- Once the export has finished processing, the Export Settings window will open. This window is used to specify the export path for the W-2s file.
- Check the Open toggle if you would like to open the exported file after it is saved locally.
- Enter the export path location and click the Save icon to export the file to the local path.
- The filename entered in this field is the wage file that you will test for accuracy using the free Accuwage software and then submit to the SSA. When naming the file, add the tax year so it will be easier to identify (example: 2013w2report).
10 Download the free Accuwage program and run the software to verify the accuracy of the wage file you created.
- We highly recommend using the Social Security Administration Accuwage software to verify the file created by the export step is correct before submitting it to the Social Security Administration.
- Download the software and install the program. You can install the program on any workstation.
- To test the file, open the Accuwage program and select the Start Testing button.
- Select the adjusted W-2 export file you created using the Export step (PR> W-2 Adjustments> Export) and the Accuwage program will test it.
- If there are any mistakes on the W-2s discovered by the Accuwage software modify the W-2s using the Edit step on the W-2 Adjustments palette (PR> W-2 Adjustments> Edit).
- If the format is correct, the program will give you the option to open the SSA website and begin the process of submitting the wage file.
11 Submit the wage file to the SSA.
- For more information, see the Social Security Business Services Online Tutorial at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/bsotut.htm.
12 Print the batch of adjusted W-2s.
- After you submit the wage file to the SSA, you can print the adjusted W-2s in the batch.
- If you had to modify the adjusted W-2s to correct problems found on the wage file, you will have to regenerate the Proof List and W-2s.
- Load the W-2s forms into a printer and then print a single sheet of W-2s to verify the alignment is correct.
- If the sample copy is correct, print all of the W-2s in the batch.
- Review the printed copies of the W-2s.
13 Commit the W-2 Adjustments batch.
- After you have generated the wage file and printed the adjusted W-2s, commit the batch to complete the process.
- Open the Commit window (PR> W-2 Adjustments> Commit).
- Click the Commit button to commit the batch.
- Once the batch has been committed, any changes that need to be made to the committed W-2s adjustments will need to be made by running the W-2s through the W-2 Adjustments process a second time.