The 2022-23 Year-End Checklist For US Small Businesses

Year-end can be a bit stressful, so we’ve created this checklist for you to review within your Wagepoint account to ensure a smooth and compliant year-end for your small business or accounting/bookkeeping firm.

Pro Tip: Run through the year-end checklist in November (or ASAP) so that you can spot any potential red flags with enough time to make corrections and avoid last-minute headaches.

1. Finalize at least two (2) payrolls within Wagepoint in the 2022 calendar year.

If you want Wagepoint to prepare and submit Form W-2 and 1099 NEC on your behalf, this is a must.

• Wages processed for a pay date of Friday, December 30, 2022 will be reported on the Form W2 / Form 1099 NEC for the 2022 tax year.
• Wages processed for a pay date on or after Monday, January 02, 2023 will be reported on the Form W2 / Form 1099 NEC for the 2023 tax Year.

2. Double check your auto-submit status in Wagepoint.

Head over to Account settings > Settings and double check your settings.

• If you want Wagepoint to automatically file your Q4 Quarterly returns and your Year-End returns (including W2/1099 NEC), set your auto submit status to “Yes”.
• If you prefer to submit your own tax forms to the government, set your auto-submit status to “No“.

Please note that you won’t be able to change your auto-submit settings during the submission period: January 9, 2023 from 12:00 am ET until January 31, 2023 at 11:59 pm ET.

3. Review your reports and payroll data.

Skip the year-end headaches and review your payroll data to ensure everything is good to go for year-end.

• Use the Year-to-date report (Reports > More > Year to date report) to see all your workers’ year-end data up to the latest pay run. You can use this to do checks throughout the year so you know what to expect at year-end, as well as a final review in November or December.
  • If you started with Wagepoint in Q4 2022, double check all mid-quarter and prior quarter values for accurate year-end reports.
  • As per the IRS, the year-end reporting period only looks at pay dates that fall within the calendar year — January to December 2022. Any pay dates processed outside of Wagepoint need to be run through the system in order for the wages and taxes to be included in the year-end reports.
• Double check that the total amounts reported on all Forms 941 or 944 (if annually) for the year should match the sum of the same data fields shown in W-2/W-3 totals and the payroll history report.
• Verify all the amounts for pre-tax and after-tax deductions are included and correctly coded in Wagepoint to be subtracted from gross payroll to arrive at total Medicare, Social Security, and federal income tax wage amounts.
• For extra help, you can consult the Publication 15, Employer’s Tax Guide.

4. Verify employee details.

Keep your year-end smooth and verify details for all active and terminated employees. Check for things like:

• First name
• Last name
• Social security number (SSN)
• Address
• Tax settings

Please know that Wagepoint will only generate a Form W2 or Form 1099 NEC for an employee or contractor who was paid or had prior payrolls entered through the Wagepoint software.

5. Review your business address and verify your tax ID numbers.

If you wish for Wagepoint to run your reports, be sure to add your tax ID account number within 30 days of using the app and by December 31.

• If you don’t have your tax ID account number in Wagepoint after 30 days, a fee of $125 is charged every 30 days. Please also know, we can’t file or pay any taxes if the account ID is not correct or still indicates APPLIED.
• If you don’t have your tax ID account number and rate in Wagepoint by December 31, you’ll need to file outside of Wagepoint.
• Some states also require clients to give us tax agency access. If this applies to you, this must be done before Wagepoint can file for you. Please note that tax agencies normally reject any filings if the required access has not been granted.

6. Report qualified COVID-19 Deferred Tax Payments from the 2020 tax year.

Final COVID-19 deferred Federal tax payments from 2020 will come due on December 31, 2022. All clients who participated in this program will receive email notification with their final tax balances due during the first week of December 2022.

7. Process any Off-Cycle payrolls.

To ensure a smooth process for year-end, please process any off-cycle payrolls before December 28, 2022 for:

• S-Corp 2% Shareholder Health Insurance or add the income amount to your regular payroll process to be paid via manual check.
• Bonus payroll or add the income amount to your regular payroll process to be paid via manual check.

We’re here to help.

The best way to reach us is by submitting a ticket from within Wagepoint. You can also reach us by email at us_support@wagepoint.com.

Written by Kasia Wind

Kasia Wind is a Strategic Communications and Projects Manager at Wagepoint. As a kid, she wanted to become a talk show host like Jenny Jones (it didn't work out). A believer that storytelling is the best way to connect, Kasia has created content for audiences including small businesses, bodybuilders and doctors. Oddly, her own stories often involve getting injured in hilarious ways.

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