Sharing W-2 data with UltraTax

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Accounting CS allows you to easily share W-2 information with UltraTax CS.  This topic will explain how the process works.

The initial setup and process of sharing W-2 data varies based on whether your firm is licensed for both products under the same Firm ID. How can I tell?

To check the firm ID that is associated with your licenses, in both programs, go to Help > About and the associated Firm ID will be listed at the top of the About dialog.

Note: W-2 datasharing only works for employees with valid Social Security numbers. W-2 data for employees with no Social Security number or with "Applied For" will not be available for import into UltraTax CS.

Licenses with the same Firm ID

Most firms will have all of their licenses associated with the same Firm ID.  If this is the case for your firm, follow the steps below to set up Accounting CS and UltraTax CS for data sharing.

Initial Setup

  • Ensure you are on the latest version of Accounting CS and UltraTax CS.
  • Verify that datasharing is allowed in UltraTax CS (Setup > Office Configuration > Data Sharing tab / UltraTax 2012 and prior: Setup > System Configuration > Data Sharing tab).
  • Verify that datasharing is not disabled in Accounting CS (Setup > Firm Information > Firm > Preferences tab).

    Note: If the datasharing was enabled in Accounting CS after the W-2 Employee Copy was printed, you will need to re-print the W-2s to datashare into UltraTax CS.

  • Ensure data locations are set up properly in both programs on each workstation where data sharing will be used.
    • In Accounting CS, go to Setup > File Locations. Verify your data locations for both Accounting CS and UltraTax CS in the CS Professional Suite tab. Click OK to save any changes.
    • In UltraTax CS, go to Setup > User Preferences > File Locations tab. Verify your data locations for Accounting CS and Accounting CS client data (under CS Accounting Products) and UltraTax CS (under the current year UltraTax CS). Click OK to save any changes.

Creating W-2 datasharing files

  • Follow the steps in Printing W-2 forms to begin the printing process, making sure to select the Employee Copy of the W-2. Show me
    empCopyPlz
  • Once the Employee Copy of the W-2s are printed, UltraTax CS will automatically import the data.

Licenses with different Firm IDs

When running Accounting CS and UltraTax CS with licenses associated with different Firm IDs, sharing of W-2 data between the programs is handled over CS Connect. For this reason, additional setup and processing steps have to be taken.

Troubleshooting data sharing

If you have completed the setup and processed the Employee Copy of the W-2, and you are not prompted for data sharing of the W-2 information into the 1040 client in UltraTax CS, review the following items.

  • Ensure the SSN of the employee in Accounting CS matches the SSN of the 1040 client in UltraTax CS.
  • Ensure the EIN for the client matches between Accounting CS and UltraTax CS on the W2 tab in the Income Folder.
  • Ensure the W2 tab in the Income folder of UltraTax CS is set appropriately for T (taxpayer) or S (spouse).
  • Verify that the client in UltraTax CS is not denied data sharing (Client Properties > Advanced Properties).
  • W-2 datasharing only works for employees with valid Social Security numbers. W-2 data for employees with no Social Security number or with "Applied For" will not be available for import into UltraTax CS.

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Internal only

Basics
  • The datasharing files are created in X:\WINCSI\Accounting CS Data\ClientID and the file extensions correspond to the year's data they contain, for example .XX18 would be for 2018 data and .XX19 for 2019 data. These files are encrypted.
  • If the datasharing files are not present in X:\WINCSI\Accounting CS Data\ClientID after the employee copy of W-2 was printed, verify the W-2 processing was initiated from the Process Selected button on either the Process Payroll Tax Forms or Edit Payroll Tax Forms screen. If the Preview Selected button was used and then the employee copies were processed from within the preview, the datasharing files will not generate (ADO 1339335).

If datasharing is not working after setup steps has been verified and the Employee Copy (either the filing copy or client copy) of the W-2 has been printed (to paper, to a file, or ESS/Onvio/FileCabinet/GoFileRoom), try the steps below. (ADO 1518046))

A small amount of W-2s are not datasharing

  1. Browse to X:\WINCS\Accounting CS Data\ClientID and delete (or rename) the .XXyy files for the client.
  2. Verify the program versions, file location paths, datasharing features are enabled, SSNs, and EINs as mentioned above in the article.
  3. In UltraTax CS, rebuild data sharing for just the single client (Help > Repair, select the client and click the Rebuild Data sharing button under the client ID).
  4. In Accounting CS, go to Setup > Clients, select the applicable client and then rebuild data sharing for the Current Client.
  5. In Accounting CS, print the employee copy of the W-2.
  6. Open the 1040 client in UltraTax CS. If the data sharing still is not available, delete the W2 (Income folder, W2 tab, Edit > Delete Screen Data). Then enter the client's EIN.

All or most W-2s are not datasharing

  1. Browse to X:\WINCSI\Accounting CS Data and locate all the datasharing files by using the search box (top right) and search for files that contain the following extension-->  .XX18 Show me.
    WildCard
  2. Delete the files.
  3. Rebuild datasharing in ACS.
  4. Print applicable Employee copy of the W-2 in for each client in Actions > Process Payroll tax forms.
  5. Use these two Filters Options to isolate the employee copy of the W-2.
    1. Jurisdiction: Federal
    2. Form: Employee copy
  6. Select the Clients and click the Process Selected button to print.
Other tidbits
  • Accounting CS requires a FIRM database for integration and data sharing to work with UltraTax CS. The format of the Accounting CS database name must be ACS_<FirmID>_Firm. (For example, ACS_0_Firm, ACS_999_Firm, ACS_798046_Firm.) Also, integration and data sharing does not work if there are multiple FIRM databases.
  • When you are testing, keep in mind if you name the Accounting CS database anything other than Firm, datasharing will not be enabled.
  • Support: Keep in mind that our datascrubber will replace SSNs with data that is considered invalid, which will prevent W-2 datasharing from working properly.  For testing purposes, enter fake SSNs for employees that match in Accounting CS and UltraTax CS.
  • The Licenses with different Firm ID's process is used occasionally between firms. Be sure and verify that they are indeed using two different firm IDs in Accounting CS and UltraTax CS. This feature is most frequently used by myPay to send W-2 information to their Referring Accountants.