21st Century Accounting Help - Payroll/Reports

Remittance Checks

Payroll/Print/Remittance Checks lets you enter and print checks for automatic remittance of your Payroll tax liabilities.
To use Payroll/Print/Remittance Checks, you must first set up Payroll tax remittance payees as remittance vendors (in Payroll/Configure/Remittance Vendors) and then designate the appropriate "remittance vendor" for each Payroll tax when you configure the tax in the Payroll/Configure/Taxes window.

When you are ready to send in your remittances, run Payroll/Print/Remittance Checks. The preliminary window displays the remittance vendors and the amount accumulated (since the last remittance) for all the taxes due each vendor.

You identify the remittance year and quarter (for updating 941 information), the bank account on which the check is drawn, and the period and check date. To produce system-printed checks, check the box to print the checks. Check the vendors to whom you should remit in this run and Click OK.

Tax Liability in Remittance Checks

In Payment Tendered Amount

In the Remittance Checks window, the amounts per remittance vendor in the "Payment tendered Amount" table are the amounts that 21st Century Payroll has tracked as the total liability for all taxes associated with that remittance vendor through the most recent payroll posting. This total reflects the current liability amount(s). The amount in this field is updated by every Payroll transaction that affects your liability for this Payroll tax — including Calculate and ATF Payroll, remittance checks, voided checks, and employee adjustments.

In G/L Distributions Applied Amount

The amounts defaulted for distribution to general ledger accounts in the G/L distribution table in the lower part of the window are the current balances from the GL accounts to which the system posts the tax liabilities (as indicated in the Configure windows).

Normally, the liability total for an authority in the "Payment tendered" table and the G/L distribution total in the lower table are equal.

However, the amounts may not be equal for several reasons:

The G/L accounts associated with tax liabilities are not used solely for the tax authorities referenced by Remittance Checks
Immediately after conversion the tracked remittance amounts are understated by the liability amounts accumulated in the data from which you converted.

If the liability amount is incorrect, you correct the current liability amount in Configure/Taxes window on a per tax basis. The liability total (the "Check amount") must agree with the G/L distributions total in order to complete the remittance transaction. The "Undistributed amount" must be $0.00.

To edit the liability

Run Configure/Taxes. Select the affected tax(es).
Override "Current liability." To edit the ongoing liability amount in the Configure/Taxes window for each tax, right-click the "Current liability" field and select "Override current liability" from the options menu. Enter the outstanding liability from your records for that tax and save your changes.
Then close and reopen Print/Remittance Checks to refresh the Select Remittance Vendors and Payment tendered amount(s).

Distributing Remittances to the Liability Accounts Posted by Payroll Runs

The Remittance Checks data entry window analyzes and displays your Payroll tax liability accounts as the default distribution accounts. Review the check totals and the distributions, modify if necessary, and save the entries. Then print system checks or post manual checks with the Post batch button. The system credits the selected bank account for the amount of each check and debits the displayed G/L distribution accounts.

For best use of the Remittance Checks feature, use the liability accounts to which Payroll taxes are posted only for the accumulation of Payroll tax liabilities. Keep the accounts "pure" so that Remittance Checks shows you the exact tax liabilities for each account and sums them appropriately for the remittance vendors.

Manual and Printed Remittance Checks

You can enter after-the-fact tax remittance checks that have been produced manually or you can print system checks from the Remittance Checks window.

Printing Remittance Checks

To print tax remittance checks, you check the Print checks box in the Select Remittance Checks window. You also select the bank account on which the checks are written. Each batch of printed remittance checks is posted to a single bank account. (To enter manual remittance checks, you do not check the Print checks box.)

If you choose to print a batch of checks, when you save and post the batch, the Print Checks window opens, from which you can change the starting check number if necessary and print the check.