Hi all!
Sorry for the delay on this but the answers are now available from the "W-2 Forms and Aatrix" Learning Series we held on January 9th. Without further ado, here they are:
| Question Asked | Answer Given |
| Can we use the 2 part W2 forms and where do we select which form we want to print? Also. where do I print duplicate forms for when an employee looses their form?? |
Aatrix is 4 up only. You can go into your History to reprint these for employees who lose them! |
| Where is the control panel? How do you get to it? | The Control Panel can be access from your Start menu in Windows. From most Windows versions just click on the start menu and start typing Control Panel for it to appear. |
| Is there a way to mass change the pension to yes in the USFIT taxes tab to every employee? | At this time, you would have to update the Pension to "Yes" for each employee where this is the case. |
| What would cause all employees not to show up on the W2 report in Aatrix? | There are a number of reasons why employees are not appearing. I would check to see make sure the employee had the appropriate taxes withheld. If that doesn't work, I'd give support a call. |
| Is there an HRMS report to use to balance with that shows each individuals? | There are a lot of different reports to help balance at year end. We won't be touching on these specifically in this course but there are Knowledgebase solutions available to help point you in the right direction. |
| If you have multiple companies to merge but want to make the changes to each individual file can you do that first prior to the merge? | That is correct. I would make any changes to Sage HRMS and then do the merge. |
| If we need to reprint a W2 for an employee (or former employee) six months from now. How would we do that? | You can always access this screen. Even months from now. Just click on the History option and you will see this page. |
| If we don't have HRMS yet, how do we complete the W2's? I am new to this position. | If you do not have HRMS yet you would need to use your current payroll system to calculate your W-2s. I'm betting that somewhere in your system there is a way to create the W-2s for your employees. |
| If you have two EIN#'s and one is new this year, do I need a separate Customer Number with Atrix? | You do not. The customer number in Aatrix is tied to your Sage customer number so you should be good to go. |
| Is there an easy way to get the working file into excel to make validation easier? | Short answer: not at this time. Long answer: you can copy and paste each column into an Excel file. |
| Do you need to register for e-filing each year, or just once? | Just once. |
| What's the best way to print a draft copy of W-2's to be able to check hard copies before printing official copy? | There is an option in Aatrix to create and print a test or draft copy of the W-2s. |
| How do we adjust the W-2 for non taxable wages | You can make W-2 changes in Sage HRMS by using the Transaction History Task. |
| If you add Third Party Sick pay, do I still need to checkmark the Third Party Sick pay for Box 13 - or is that only if I am the Third Party Sick Pay company? For example, my employee received pay from AFLAC while out sick. Do I check the Box 13 Third Party Sick Pay or is that only if AFLAC was issuing a W2? | I would contact the company providing the Third Party Sick Pay to see what they recommend. They should be able to give you some help with the proper procedure. |
| How do you print the forms as a draft before filing? | There is the ability to print the file without filing. That would be best option for printing a draft. |
| What if you have more than 1 state for W2? | You are able to file for multiple states. |
| If you registered with Aatrix last year do you have to do another registration? | Nope! You only need to register once and you are good to go. |
| Is there a way to save an excel report from the Aatrix w2 preparer? | Great question! There is currently not a button to just press and export the whole thing. However, you can copy and paste each column into a spreadsheet if needed (I know, not the best solution.) |
| If you combine the W2 with the other form to save 50% do you have to do both forms at the same time?? | You do not have to file both forms at the same time, but you do need to first file your W-2s and then file the ACA forms. |
| I have paychecks that are not coming through to W-2s. Is it because the taxes were incorrectly calculated? | That is correct. There is a variety of reasons why this could happen. I would start by looking at the Earnings for those checks and make sure they are properly set up to flow to the W-2. If you are unsure, give our support folks a call. They can help you track down the culprit. |
| Those checks had negative earnings on certain lines and positive on other but FICA taxes didn't calculate. | You can either use the Transaction History task to add the missing paychecks back into Sage HRMS properly (which will flow through to the W-2) or you can adjust the amounts directly from Aatrix. |
| Do I even use the transaction history if the paycheck is actually in HRMS? Won't that double it? | If it is in HRMS and not showing up in your W-2s, it would show up twice. However, you can use the Transaction history task to essentially zero out the original paycheck and create a new one. If this is for multiple people, I'd give support a call first and see if something they can get the bottom of. |
| do you know employees will be able to access W-2s through ESS? | Great question. Not directly through ESS at this time. I know it is definitely something they are working to incorporate. |
| Do you know deadline for submitting to Aatrix in order to be mailed to employees by 1/31/20? | You can go to that www.aatrix.com and see all deadlines. |
| that was a great class if other listeners haven't taken it! | |
| Is there a way to export the W-2 grid to an excel spreadsheet? | Hi Lisa! That is a frequent question we get. At this time, there doesn't look like a way to export from Aatrix to Excel. We tried looking everywhere. Great question and boy wouldn't that be great? Let's hope Aatrix adds this in the future. :) |
| Is the email address on the General tab tied to the email address on the Personal Tab? | Great question! Yes it is. :) |
| So if someone want their W2 emailed to a different email address, I would have to change and change it back? | That is correct. |
| I have been able to cut and paste each column from the Aatrix grid to Excel | Heck yeah! That is a perfect solution, if a bit time consuming. I was going to mention that as an option but was afraid I would be pelted by tomatoes since it takes some time. :) |
| Hi, is there something more specific to PA local EIT and LST taxes? We're having an issue where not all of the locals are coming over to the W2. | The best thing I would recommend would be to contact our Support folks. They are good at digging down and getting to the problem. |
| Is there a webinar on the local PA Aatrix submission? More specifically the taxpayer Annual Local Earned Income Tax? I can't seem to bypass it. | At this time there is not any specific webinar on PA taxes. However, if you are a Gold customer you can schedule a 1 on 1 with a tech for an hour for help. That may be your best option. |
| If we are printing our own W-2s are they still going to print four employees per page? Or is that only how the report prints for those utilizing Atrix to efile? | 4 up is the only option through Aatrix. |
| Can I work on EOY items and close out for the year if I am not done with balancing for 2019? We have a payroll for 1/13/19 that we need to process? | Do you mean a payroll for 1/13/20? As in this upcoming year? If so, then yes. |
| In ABRA Suite you could create a file to submit the W2's to the SS office online. You can't do that in HRMS or Aatrix? | Correct. The only way to create a file for eFiling purposes in Sage HRMS is through Aatrix. |
| Does question 1 pertain to employees who reach SS cap? | Question One is to flag any exempt employees from Medicare or Social Security taxes. I would use a Deduction cap for those employees who are not exempt and reach their max wages. |
| How long after submitting to Aatrix does it take to gets W-2's mailed out? | I did not see a time frame for mailing W-2s but I did see the option to host the W-2 on a secure site for employees to print them. |