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• You can search for specific information (such as a state name) in this article. Details

  Follow these steps.

  1. Expand the text for the applicable sections or click the Show expandable text link at the top of this article to expand all text in the article.
  2. Press CTRL+F on your keyboard to open a search field above the toolbar.
  3. Enter the search term in the search field. As you type your search term, the Help & How-To Center highlights all instances of the term in the body of the article.
• If you are looking for a specific update, but it doesn't appear in this bulletin, try checking the Accounting CS Alerts & notices article. 
• New features and new reports that are released in this version might be protected by security privileges. If your firm has enabled firm security, please evaluate all enhancements and update your security groups as needed.

General

• We have addressed several minor issues and made several behind-the-scenes technical enhancements.

General - Payroll

• We have updated the Employee Spreadsheet Import wizard (access via File > Import > Spreadsheet) to accommodate both federal and state W-4 settings for existing employees. Details
  You can now import updated information for existing employees who have updated their federal and state Form W-4 settings into the application via spreadsheet import.
• We have added the Prompt to generate liabilities for handwritten payroll checks in Enter Transactions checkbox in the Preferences tab of the Setup > Firm Information > Firm screen. (Accounting CS Ideas Community #448) Details
  When this option is marked, Accounting CS displays the Generate Liabilities for Handwritten Payroll Checks dialog when leaving the Actions > Enter Transactions screen if there are handwritten payroll checks in the current data entry session that have not had liabilities generated.

COVID-19 changes

• We have updated Form 941 and the electronic file to the latest version released by the IRS for tax processing periods 9/30/2020 and 12/31/2020. See the Form 941 2020: COVID-19 changes article for details about the changes and additions that were made to the form.

Accounting CS Payroll, for live payroll processing

In addition to any changes made for general payroll features listed above for after-the-fact payroll processing, the following changes have been made for the live payroll processing features specific to Accounting CS Payroll.

• We have updated the integration with Workforce HUB to now transfer the client business phone number from Accounting CS. For more information, see WorkforceHUB integration: Information flow.
• For every release, be sure to check the Updates for payroll tax rates, limits, and minimum wage rates (year to date) article to stay on top of changes that may affect your firm and clients.

Payroll compliance

• Effective for tax year 2020, the IRS requires that nonemployee compensation be reported on Form 1099-NEC instead of on Form 1099-MISC. Accordingly, we have added Form 1099-NEC (all copies) to the application.

  Note: We will add the internet file for Form 1099-NEC in a future update.

• We have added an alert message to the Actions > Process Internet/Magnetic Files screen when the staff member entering the screen is restricted from a particular client and that client is included in one of the files within the screen. Details
  Accounting CS hides any internet/magnetic files from being displayed in the Actions > Process Internet/Magnetic Files screen if the staff member is restricted from clients and those clients are queued within the file. For more information, see Forms missing from the Process Internet/Magnetic Files screen.
• Montana. The Montana Unemployment Insurance Division now requires all employers to file Form UI-5/UI-5G electronically and will no longer accept paper copies of the form. Therefore, we have removed the Paper filing method for the form and added the Web fill-in method. You can also file the form using the Magnetic filing method.

Updates for payroll tax forms, tax agents, and new hire files

To search for a specific state, locality, form, or file in one of the sections listed below, follow these steps.

• Payroll tax forms added

  We have added the following forms, internet files, and electronic files.

  Federal

  • Form 1099-NEC (all copies)

  Local

  • Kentucky
    • Ballard Co Occupational Tax – Form Quarterly
  • Pennsylvania
    • Borough of Danville – Form DanvilleBoro_LST
• Payroll tax forms updated

  We have updated the following forms, internet files, and electronic files to the latest versions available from the agencies. Those forms marked with an asterisk (*) were released via an alert between application updates, not as part of the current release.

  Federal

  • Form 941 and electronic file (2020)
    • For tax processing periods 9/30/2020 and 12/31/2020: we have updated Form 941 to include the employee FICA-SS deferral amounts, as released by the IRS.
    • For tax processing period 6/30/2020 ONLY: we have renamed the Form 941 display tab to Form 941-Q2 in the Actions > Edit Payroll Tax Forms screen. Details
      The IRS requires the previously released 2020 revised version of this form to be used for the second-quarter filing period.
    • For tax processing period 3/31/2020 ONLY: we have renamed the Form 941 display tab to Form 941-Q1 in the Actions > Edit Payroll Tax Forms screen. Details
      The IRS requires the originally released 2020 version of this form to be used for the first-quarter filing period.
  • We have updated the following 1099 forms for 2020.

    1096	1098	1098-C	1098-E
    1098-T	1099-A	1099-B	1099-C
    1099-DIV	1099-G	1099-INT	1099-MISC
    1099-OID	1099-PATR	1099-R	1099-S
    1099-SA	5498	5498-SA	W-2G

  State

  • Maryland
    • Form DLR/DUI 15 internet file
    • We have combined Forms DLR/DUI 15 and DLR/DUI 16 into a single collation (Form DLR/DUI 15) for form processing. Because of this, the filing method has been set to the default Paper method in the Payroll Taxes tab of Setup > Clients.
  • Montana – Forms UI-5, UI-5A, UI-5G

  Local

  • Pennsylvania
    • Borough of Leetsdale – Form LeetsdaleBoro_LST
    • HAB-LST – Form HAB-LST_LST-1
    • York Adams Tax Bureau - LST – Form YorkAdams_LST
• Tax agents added

  We have added the following tax agents.

  Local

  • Kentucky
    • Ballard Co Occupational Tax
  • Pennsylvania
    • Borough of Danville
• Tax agents updated

  We have updated the following tax agents.

  Local

  • Alabama
    • Rainbow City – We have renamed this tax agent to Director of Revenue, Rainbow City, AL.
  • Ohio
    • We have added the following taxes to the Regional Income Tax Agency (RITA) tax agent.
      • Gates Mills City Tax
      • Timberlake City Tax
      • West Salem City Tax
      • West Unity City Tax
      • Xenia City Tax
  • Pennsylvania
    • We have renamed the following tax agents.
      • Barbara A. Stephenson has ben renamed to Lower Yoder Township.
      • James Syre has been renamed to JJ Corlew.
      • Uniontown City Treasurer, LST Tax has been renamed to Antoinette Hodge.
    • We have updated the municipality and school district liabilities for the following tax agents.
      • Borough of Churchill
      • Charles Stambaugh
      • City of Bradford
      • HAB-LST
      • Jeanne Bowser
      • Keystone Collections Group - LST
      • Northampton Area EIT Office
      • Upper Moreland Township
      • York Adams Tax Bureau - LST
• Forms pending approval

  The following 2020 forms are pending approval. Once the forms have been approved, we will make them available in a subsequent software update.

  Forms that are approved after the current update (and before the next update) will be made available immediately. We will inform you of the approval in the following ways.

  • Via an alert message that displays when you open the application.
  • In the Payroll Alerts section of the Notices portlet on the Home or Firm dashboard.
  • In the Payroll tax forms approved between application updates article.

  Annual forms

  • Rhode Island – Form RI-W3 (2020)

Accounting CS includes two interactive tools that provide valuable payroll tax information.

• The Payroll Form and Filing Information portlet provides information on federal, state, and certain local tax agents in the Home Dashboard or Firm Dashboard.
• The State-specific payroll tax form information article provides information on state payroll tax forms, processing tips, due dates, filing methods, agency information, tax payment details, state ID formats, e-filing notes, new hire reporting requirements, and more.

Related articles

Prior release user bulletins

Support Contact Information page on our website

Finding answers in the Help & How-To Center

Using the Idea Incubator

Ordering Forms W-2, 1099, and 1095-C

Payroll Year-End Processing tips