Processing W-2 forms

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For payroll compliance (annually licensed)

When you are ready to print W-2 forms for all or specific employees of one or more clients, follow one of these procedures.

Notes

  • When you process W-2 forms using the Actions > Process Payroll Tax Forms screen, the application processes W-2 forms for all employees of the specified clients, even those employees marked for exclusion in the Actions > Edit Payroll Tax Forms screen.
  • To process a single W-2 Form for an individual employee, to process W-2 forms for a specific group of employees, or to print specific copies of a W-2 form for a single employee or group of employees, you will need to use the Actions > Edit Payroll Tax Forms screen for form processing, as described in the latter two procedures in this topic.
  • The application prints a 2-D barcode on Forms W-2 Copy A and W-3 for processing by the Social Security Administration. In addition, the application prints a 2-D barcode on Copy C (Employee Copy-2-Up/3-Up/4-Up/4-Up Pressure Seal), which can then be scanned using the UltraTax CS Bar Code Scan utility, which transfers the information seamlessly to UltraTax CS. However, if you want to exclude the 2-D barcode from the forms to improve the processing speed or to conserve print toner, you can mark the Exclude 2-D barcodes on Forms W-2/W-3 checkbox in the W-2 Print Options dialog (accessed via the Print Options button).

Processing W-2 forms for all employees of one or more clients

  1. Choose Actions > Process Payroll Tax Forms.
  2. In the Process Payroll Tax Forms screen, select W-2 from the Form Type drop-down list.
  3. In the Year drop-down list, select the year for the W-2s you want to process and then click the Refresh button.
  4. Use the Filter Options section to limit the clients and forms that display in the Form Selection grid. See Filtering data in the Process Payroll Tax Forms screen for detailed information about the available filter options.
  5. Mark the checkboxes for the clients or individual forms that you want to print for each client.
  6. For each copy of the form, you can select a different filing method by selecting it from the drop-down list in the Filing Method column.

    Note: If the selection in the Filing Method column is grayed out, then the filing method has been overridden in the Print Options dialog, and you will need to update it there.

  7. Once all your selections have been made, click the Print Options button to specify the employee sort order for printing W-2s, to choose the format for printing client copies of the Copy A and W-3, to override the filing method for a form, or to specify the level of detail to include in the W-2 Ordering Worksheet.
  8. To preview the selected W-2s prior to printing, click the Preview Selected button.
  9. To print the selected W-2s, click the Process Selected button.
  10. In the Print dialog, make any necessary changes to the printer selection or output options and then click OK.

    Notes

    • If necessary, you can override the printer selection for individual copies in the Setup > User Preferences dialog. Otherwise, the printer selected in the Printer section of the Print dialog will be used.
    • If you are processing any electronic or internet/magnetic files, be sure to mark the Filing copy checkbox in the Print dialog to queue the files and make them available for processing in the Actions > Process Electronic Files screen or the Actions > Process Internet/Magnetic Files screen.

Processing W-2 forms for specific employees of a single client

  1. Choose Actions > Edit Payroll Tax Forms.
  2. In the Edit Payroll Tax Forms screen, select the appropriate client from the client selection drop-down list.
  3. Select W-2 from the Form Type drop-down list.
  4. In the Year field, select the year for the W-2s you want to process and then click the Refresh button.
  5. Select the copy of the form that you want to process by selecting it from the Form drop-down list.
  6. In the Employee Data tab, click the plus sign next to the client ID to expand the list of employees and then mark the checkboxes for the employees whose W-2 forms you want to process.

    Note: You can right-click and choose Select All, Deselect All, Select Highlighted, or Deselect Highlighted to more efficiently select or deselect multiple employees at one time.

  7. Click the Process Client Forms Process client forms button button to open the Process Client W-2 Forms dialog.
  8. Mark the checkboxes for the individual forms that you want to print for the client.
  9. For each copy of the form, you can select a different filing method by selecting it from the drop-down list in the Filing Method column.

    Note: If the selection in the Filing Method column is grayed out, then the filing method has been overridden in the Print Options dialog, and you will need to update it there.

  10. Once all your selections have been made, click the Print Options button to specify the employee sort order for printing W-2s, to choose the format for printing client copies of the Copy A and W-3, to override the filing method for a form, or to specify the level of detail to include in the W-2 Ordering Worksheet.
  11. To preview the selected W-2s prior to printing, click the Preview Selected button.
  12. To print the selected W-2s, click the Process Selected button.
  13. In the Print dialog, make any necessary changes to the printer selection or output options and then click OK.

    Notes

    • If necessary, you can override the printer selection for individual copies in the Setup > User Preferences dialog. Otherwise, the printer selected in the Printer section of the Print dialog will be used.
    • If you are processing any electronic or internet/magnetic files, be sure to mark the Filing copy checkbox in the Print dialog to queue the files and make them available for processing in the Actions > Process Electronic Files screen or the Actions > Process Internet/Magnetic Files screen.

Processing W-2 forms for specific employees of multiple clients

  1. Choose Actions > Edit Payroll Tax Forms.
  2. In the Edit Payroll Tax Forms screen, select the appropriate client from the client selection drop-down list.
  3. Select W-2 from the Form Type drop-down list.
  4. In the Year field, select the year for the W-2s you want to process, and then click the Refresh button.
  5. Select the copy of the form that you want to process by selecting it from the Form drop-down list.
  6. In the Employee Data tab, click the plus sign next to the client ID to expand the list of employees and then mark the checkboxes for the employees whose W-2 forms you want to process.

    Note: You can right-click and choose Select All, Deselect All, Select Highlighted, or Deselect Highlighted to more efficiently select or deselect multiple employees at one time.

  7. Repeat steps 2 through 6 for any other clients as needed.
  8. Choose Actions > Process Payroll Tax Forms to begin selecting the clients whose forms you want to print.
  9. Select W-2 from the Form Type drop-down list.
  10. In the Year field, select the year for the W-2s you want to process, and then click the Refresh button.
  11. Click the plus + sign next to the client to expand the list of copies, and then mark the checkboxes for the copies that you want to print.
  12. Clear the Print All Employees checkbox in the grid.
  13. Click the Process Selected button.
  14. In the Print dialog, make any necessary changes to the printer selection or output options and then click OK.

    Notes

    • If necessary, you can override the printer selection for individual copies in the Setup > User Preferences dialog. Otherwise, the printer selected in the Printer section of the Print dialog will be used.
    • If you are processing any electronic or internet/magnetic files, be sure to mark the Filing copy checkbox in the Print dialog to queue the files and make them available for processing in the Actions > Process Electronic Files screen or the Actions > Process Internet/Magnetic Files screen.

Printing review copies of W-2 forms for individual employees

  1. Choose Actions > Edit Payroll Tax Forms.
  2. In the Edit Payroll Tax Forms screen, select W-2 from the Form Type drop-down list.
  3. In the Year drop-down list, select the year for the W-2s you want to process and then click the Refresh button.
  4. In the Form drop-down list, select the copy of the W-2 that you want to print (Copy A, W-3, Employee Copy, etc.)
  5. In the Employee Data tab, click the plus sign next to the client ID to expand the list of employees, and then mark the checkboxes for the employees for whom you want to print W-2 forms.
  6. Click the Print Current Form Print current form button button to print a review (unsubmittable) copy of the form.

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