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• 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.

COVID-19 changes

• We have added the ability to defer the withholding of employee Social Security (FICA-SS) taxes for certain employees to the end of 2020. Details
  • We have added the Defer withholding of FICA-SS to the end of 2020 checkbox to the COVID-19 Settings section of the Payroll Taxes tab in the Setup > Employees screen. When this checkbox is marked, Accounting CS automatically calculates a negative amount in the new Deferred FICA-SS tax item to offset the FICA-SS calculation during payroll check entry and generates the FICA-SS liability with a new due date of April 30, 2021 if all of the following conditions are met:
    1. The Defer withholding of FICA-SS to the end of 2020 checkbox is marked for the employee.
    2. The payroll check is dated between September 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020.

       Note: If you have already entered checks for September, and you need to reflect FICA-SS deferral, you'll need to delete and re-enter those checks.

    3. The gross taxable wages paid on the payroll check are less than the $4,000.00 threshold for a bi-weekly pay period, or the equivalent threshold amount with respect to other pay periods.
    4. The Deferred FICA-SS tax amount is non-zero.
  • We have updated the Actions > Manage Payroll Liabilities screen to mark the Deferred checkbox and display "Deferred per Memorandum" in the Notes column for deferred employee FICA-SS liabilities.
  • We have updated the Funding dialog (accessed via the Actions > Process Direct Deposit screen) to automatically filter out deferred employee FICA-SS liabilities so that they are not impounded with the other liabilities, but are still available for future funding purposes. To display those liabilities, mark the Include payments deferred per COVID-19 Acts checkbox.
  • We have added the Defer withholding of FICA-SS to the end of 2020 checkbox in the Federal Taxes page of the Edit Multiple Employees wizard (accessed from the Setup > Employees screen).
  • We have added the COVID-19 Deferral of employee Social Security tax withholding article to the Help & How-To Center.
• We have added the Defer Withholding of FICA-SS to the End of 2020 variable to the Employee > COVID-19 Settings section of the variable tree in the Report Designer.
• We have added the Payroll > Check > Taxes > Federal > FICA > Social Security Deferred section of variables to the variable tree in the Report Designer and Layout Designer.
• We have updated the following payroll reports to include the new Deferred FICA-SS tax information:
  • Employee Check Record
  • Payroll Department Summary
  • Payroll Tax Summary - Condensed
  • Payroll Tax Summary - Detailed

  Note: If your firm has modified the predefined version of a report, Accounting CS will not overwrite your existing report with an updated version. If this is the case, you will need to make the necessary changes to your customized report manually, or you will need to restore the latest predefined version using the Report Designer. To do the latter, select the report from the Reports list pane in the Report Designer and then choose File > Restore Default.

• We have updated several custom reports in the Accounting CS Library to include the new Deferred FICA-SS tax information. Details

  We have updated the following reports:

  • Depository Totals - COVID-19
  • EFTPS Payment Worksheet - COVID-19
  • EFTPS Phone Payment Worksheet - COVID-19
  • Payroll Tax Summary - Check Detail

  Note: If your firm has previously imported the library version of a report, you will need to make the necessary changes to your report manually, or you will need to import the latest version of the report using the Accounting CS Library. For details about these reports, see COVID-19 Custom reports.

Reports

• We have updated the following payroll reports to include the new Deferred FICA-SS tax information:
  • Employee Check Record
  • Payroll Department Summary
  • Payroll Tax Summary - Condensed
  • Payroll Tax Summary - Detailed

  Note: If your firm has modified the predefined version of a report, Accounting CS will not overwrite your existing report with an updated version. If this is the case, you will need to make the necessary changes to your customized report manually, or you will need to restore the latest predefined version using the Report Designer. To do the latter, select the report from the Reports list pane in the Report Designer and then choose File > Restore Default.

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.

• 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.

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