99-P-014 1998 Calendar Year-End Processing (Supersedes 98-P-013)
| DATE: | December 4, 1998 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| SUBJECT: | 1998 Calendar Year-End Processing | ||
| EFFECTIVE DATE: | Immediately | ||
| CONTACT: | Payroll Services | (785) 296-3146 | |
| APPROVAL: |  |
||
| SUMMARY: | Schedule for Processing Transactions During 1998 Calendar Year-End | ||
As 1998 calendar year-end approaches, the Division of Accounts and Reports has begun making preparations for the issuance of calendar year 1998 Wage and Tax Statements (Forms W-2) and Non-Resident Alien Compensation Statements (1042-S). Any 1998 paycheck adjustments processed after the established cut-off dates will update the employee's calendar year 1999 balances; a corrected W-2 (Form W-2C) for 1998 will not be issued for the employee involved.
FINAL 1998 PAYCHECK
The final on-cycle paycheck for calendar year 1998 will be issued December 24, 1998. Paychecks will be mailed on December 23, 1998 and advises will be mailed on December 22, 1998. The final off-cycle paycheck for calendar year 1998 will be issued on December 31, 1998 for the off-cycle processed on December 28, 1998.
PAYCHECK REVERSALS
Any 1998 paychecks that are undeliverable should be reversed as soon as possible. SHARP agencies have until 5:00 p.m. on December 28, 1998 to enter paycheck reversals; paper user agencies should submit Form DA-180, 'SHARP Paycheck Reversal Adjustment', for any paycheck reversals by 12:00 noon on December 28, 1998. Any reversal requests entered/received after the 5:00 p.m./12:00 noon deadline on December 28, 1998 will update calendar year 1999 balances and will not be reflected in the employee's 1998 W-2.
PAYCHECK ADJUSTMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTALS
SHARP agencies have until 5:00 p.m. on December 28, 1998 to enter paycheck adjustment requests for any 1998 paychecks. Adjustments processed in the December 28, 1998 off-cycle payroll will be reflected on the employee's 1998 Form W-2. Please remember that only one adjustment can be processed per employee per off-cycle; this applies to agency entered adjustments, supplementals and centrally entered adjustments. If a 1998 paycheck has been previously adjusted and requires additional adjustment, form DA-180, 'SHARP Paycheck Reversal Adjustment', should be submitted to the Division of Accounts and Reports, Payroll Section by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, December 21, 1998. The December 21 deadline for submitting Form DA-180 also applies to all adjustment requests for paper user agencies.
Since the upgrade to version 7 of SHARP, a bi-weekly deduction amount is no longer maintained for Flexible Spending Account deductions (FSA). Instead, FSA deductions are calculated by subtracting the year-to-date FSA deduction amount from the employee's annual pledge amount and then dividing by the number of payroll periods remaining in the calendar year (including the payroll period being processed). As a result, problems could occur during the last three offcycles of the calendar year for the payroll period ending December 12, 1998 (ie, off-cycles processed on December 21, 23 and 28) if a paycheck adjustment is processed for a check which contains an FSA deduction and the employee has reached their FSA pledge amount for the year. In this situation, the adjustment would result in a refund to the employee of the FSA amount on the paycheck being adjusted. Agencies should not enter paycheck adjustment requests in the three off-cycles for the period ending December 12 if the paycheck contains an FSA deduction and the employee has reached their FSA annual pledge amount. Instead, agencies should submit Form DA-180 to Payroll Services for the paycheck needing to be adjusted.
Since the upgrade to version 7 of SHARP, a bi-weekly deduction amount is no longer maintained for Flexible Spending Account deductions (FSA). Instead, FSA deductions are calculated by subtracting the year-to-date FSA deduction amount from the employee's annual pledge amount and then dividing by the number of payroll periods remaining in the calendar year (including the payroll period being processed). As a result, problems could occur during the last three off-cycles of the calendar year for the payroll period ending December 12, 1998 (ie, off-cycles processed on December 21, 23 and 28) if a paycheck adjustment is processed for a check which contains an FSA deduction and the employee has reached their FSA pledge amount for the year. In this situation, the adjustment would result in a refund to the employee of the FSA amount on the paycheck being adjusted. Agencies should NOT enter paycheck adjustment requests in the three off-cycles for the period ending December 12 if the paycheck contains an FSA deduction and the employee has reached their FSA annual pledge amount. Instead, agencies should submit Form DA-180 to Payroll Services for the paycheck needing to be adjusted
Payroll Services staff will make every effort to process all DA-180 forms submitted by 5:00 p.m. on December 21 for inclusion in the December 28 off-cycle. However, if a large volume of DA-180 forms is received on the December 21 cut-off date, Payroll Services cannot guarantee that all forms will be processed as calendar year 1998 business. Agencies can assist in the processing effort by submitting any DA-180 forms and the completed attachment as soon as you become aware a centrally entered adjustment is needed.
Adjustment requests entered on or after December 29, 1998 which are adjusting paychecks issued prior to January 1, 1999 will not result in a W-2C; the adjustment will update the employee's 1999 payroll balances regardless of the reason the paycheck is being adjusted. Likewise, any supplemental requests which are entered either by agencies or centrally by Payroll Services, on or after December 29 will update the employee's 1999 payroll balances.
REGENTS' INSTITUTIONS: OFF-CYCLE FILES
1998 Paycheck Reversals
Regent Institutions must submit all transmittals for 1998 paycheck reversals by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 24, 1998 in order to update the employee's 1998 W-2. . These files should contain a 'C' indicating current year business and the pay adjust check date field should contain the original check issue date for the paycheck being reversed. Any paycheck reversals submitted after this date will update the employee's calendar year 1999 payroll balances regardless of the paycheck issue date of the paycheck being reversed.
1998 Adjustments and Supplementals
In order to update employee balances for 1998, any paycheck adjustments and supplementals must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 24, 1998. The off-cycle for the pay period ending December 12, 1998 generated on the night of Monday, December 28, 1998 will have an issue date of December 31, 1998; all activity for this off-cycle will be reflected in the employees' 1998 W-2. These files should contain a 'C' indicating current year business. For supplementals and salary underpayments, the pay adjust check date should be blank; for all other adjustment types, the pay adjust check date field should contain the original paycheck issue date of the paycheck being adjusted and the date must be a 1998 date.
1999 Adjustments and Supplementals
With the exception of arrearages or refunds for FICA and or Medicare taxes withheld on or before January 1, 1999, any adjustments or supplementals submitted after 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 24, 1998, will be considered to be 1999 business regardless of the pay period end date to which the pay is related. Since this activity will be considered calendar year 1999 business, the employee's 1999 balances will be updated. These files should contain a 'C' indicating current year business and the pay adjust check date should be a 1999 date (regardless of the original paycheck issue date of the paycheck being adjusted -- if the original check date was prior to January 1, 1999, agencies should default the pay adjust check date to January 1, 1999).
With the exception of FICA and/or Medicare tax refunds or arrearages for tax years prior to 1999, Regents institutions may continue to submit adjustments and supplementals throughout the month of January 1999 regardless of the original pay period ending date of the paycheck being adjusted. The activity will be processed on the regular Monday and every other Wednesday off-cycle schedule and will update 1999 payroll balances.
Arrearages or refunds for FICA and or Medicare taxes for taxable years prior to 1999 must be submitted on separate payroll interface files. These files should contain a 'P' indicating prior year business and the pay adjust check date field should contain the original check issue date of the paycheck being adjusted. Prior year FICA and/or Medicare arrearages/refunds are the only situations in which a prior year indicator of 'P' should be used; payroll interface files for any other type of adjustments which contain a prior year indicator of 'P' will be rejected and will not be processed.
Any prior year FICA and/or Medicare refunds/arrearages identified after the December 28, 1998 deadline will not be processed until the February 1, 1999 off-cycle payroll. Since the files will be held, please do not begin submitting those files for processing until the week of January 25, 1999. The deadline for submitting payroll interface files for the February 1 off-cycle is 5:00 p.m. on January 29, 1999.
GENERAL REMINDERS
The deduction END date on the general deduction panel for 1998 United Way contributions should be dated between December 13, 1998 and December 26, 1998 in order for the last 1998 deduction to be taken on the paycheck issued December 24, 1998. Agencies should verify the deduction end date for all employees enrolled in United Way to ensure deductions are taken correctly. For calendar year 1999, agencies can enter a new row effective-dated between December 13, 1998 and December 26, 1998 in order for the first deduction for 1999 to be taken on the January 8, 1999 paycheck. If the 1999 deduction is to be taken over 26 pay periods, a deduction end date of December 12, 1999 should be entered.
Every effort should be made to collect all arrearage balances either by personal reimbursement or paycheck deduction prior to the cut-off date of December 28, 1998 (December 21, 1998 for paper user agencies). Please refer to the most recent KPAY007, 'Deductions in Arrears Report' and evaluate all existing arrearages for your agency and verify that collection will be made; agencies should continue monitoring the KPAY007 reports to determine collections will be made by calendar year-end. For sufficiently large balances that cannot be collected in one sum, agencies should establish a deduction override as soon as possible so paycheck deductions can be made and the balance collected by the cut-off date for year-end processing. Also, as adjustments are processed from now until the end of the year, please monitor any new arrearage balances and collect in an expedient manner.
One of the changes implemented at the time of the v7.0 SHARP upgrade is the new advance ('ADV') earnings being paid to employees in situations where the employee's earnings are not sufficient to cover certain deductions. 'ADV' earnings are taxable wages at the time the earnings are paid; taxable wages are then reduced when the advance is collected ('ADVNCE' deduction). Any 'ADV' earnings paid to an employee in calendar year 1998 will increase the employees' W-2 taxable wages if the earnings are not collected by the end of the calendar year. Agencies should collect any outstanding advances for payroll periods ending before December 12, 1998 by personal reimbursement as soon as possible. All 'ADV' earnings paid to employees on the on-cycle paychecks dated December 24, 1998 (i.e., on-cycle for the payroll period ending December 12) should be collected by personal reimbursement to avoid the advance from being included in the employee's 1998 Form W-2.
The 1998 W-2 forms will again be mailed directly to the employee's home address stored on the Personal Data 1 panel in the Personnel Administration window. Please make any name, address, or social security number changes to this panel by January 1, 1999 to guarantee their inclusion in the W-2 data. However, since this panel is not effective dated, the information on the panel as of the day the final W-2 data is loaded will be the data reflected on the W-2 form. This final load may take place anytime between January 1, 1999 and January 15, 1999.
Regents Institutions should make their name, address, and social security number changes by submitting them through the management reporting interface by 5:00 p.m. on January 1, 1999.
W-2 forms will be mailed on or before January 31, 1999. A message will appear on the SHARP message panel to advise agencies of the W-2 mailing date during the latter part of January.
Attached is a calendar for the month of December 1998 that highlights the key payroll processing activity. This calendar does not provide the same level of detail as that provided in this informational circular or in the SHARP bi-weekly payroll schedules issued under Informational Circular Nos. 98-P-005, dated October 16, 1997 and 99-P-005, dated October 13, 1998. The attached calendar is intended for use as a supplementary reference tool to these informational circulars.
Please make note of the above payroll processing dates and adjust your schedules accordingly. If, in order to ensure the timely issuance of payroll, it becomes necessary to change any of the processing dates identified above, notification of the change will be provided to all state agencies via the SHARP on-line message panel. On-line agencies should be reviewing the SHARP message panel on a daily basis to determine if new messages have been added. Paper-user agencies will be notified of any changes to these dates via telephone.
Attachment (pdf)
SAM:LK
