Preliminary Notes for 2017

There are no changes to the printed W2 form for 2017.
There are no changes to the printed W3 form for 2017.
January 31, 2018 is the deadline for E-File and Printed W-2s.
SSA.GOV W-2 information for 2017: https://www.ssa.gov/employer/
ACA Reporting: See Payroll: ACA Reporting 2017 to determine if you need to file 1094/1095. Typically any employer with greater than 50 employees.

Your W-2 Filing Options

Paper W-2

Any Employer with fewer than 250 employees can print both employee copies and government copies from Keystone. Distribute W2s to employees. Mail government copies to appropriate agencies.

Keystone E-File

Use Keystone to Print W-2s for employees and to generate files for government filing. Distribute W2s to employees. Verify E-File integrity with Accuwage and then upload files to government websites. This option requires proper registration with government agencies (i.e. the IRS/SSA).

Web Services E-File

With this premium service use Keystone to prepare and upload data to our online service. For a small per-employee fee have all W-2s printed and mailed to employees and E-Filed to government agencies. See: W-2 Filing Web Service.

No need to purchase and print mail W-2s
Employees receive printed W-2s and emailed W-2s with the ability to re-print

2017 W2 E-File

The following states are supported by the W2 E-File Export option: CO, IN, KS, KY, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, OH, OR, RI, SC, VA, WI, AL, CT, GA, IL, LA, MT, NE.
The following states are not supported: NM, NY, PA.
Support for CA is currently in development.
If you need to electronically file W2s for a state not listed above, please contact support as soon as possible!

Tax Year 2018

Keystone 3.2.<to be determined> will be updated with new 2018 FEDERAL income tax rates and social security and medicare income thresholds.
The following state income tax rates have been updated:

Notes for 2017 Year End / Tax Year 2018

Federal and many State Tax Rates have changed for 2018. Tax Tables have been updated to reflect these changes. We recommend that you check this site several times during the year for the latest information!!!!

To assist with state specific tax information, please consult the following link: http://www.payroll-taxes.com/state-tax.htm
(NOTE: GivenHansco is not responsible for the information provided on this site, we are providing this as a self-help service for our customers.)

Two programs we recommend to enhance year end maintenance:
- Adjust Company Definitions & Factors
- Adjust Definition Balances

Employers with more than 250 employees will need to report health insurance costs paid by the company to each employee.
- Keystone has the ability to track these health insurance costs. Keystone payroll users have 2 options:
  - Follow the special procedures in Keystone to track employer paid health insurance. See Payroll: Year End Modifications
  - Calculate and manually enter employer paid health insurance at the end of 2014. Using the new program Adjust Definition Balances makes this much easier.

Also see: Health Insurance

Year End Procedures

Before Running the first Payroll of the new Year

Make a backup to file and save in a permanent location. see Keystone Database Backup
Web Update to the latest Keystone version.
Review Health Insurance and determine if you need to run Year End Modifications to configure health insurance reporting information for 2017.
Set up Payroll Periods for 2018. see Setup Periods

Set Up Retirement Plan Limits

Run Adjust Company Definitions & Factors from the payroll Setup/Utilities Menu
Select the correct Link for the retirement plan.
Stretch the width of the screen or scroll to the right until you see the factor name for annual limit
Update the annual limit amount.

NOTE: Check for changes to retirement plans for 2018

For Employees who qualify for the higher catch up limit:

Run Adjust Definition Balances From the Payroll Setup/Utilities menu.
Widen the screen or scroll to the right and find the Limit factor.
Set the higher limit amount. Leave Blank for all other employees.

Set Up Suta Rates & Limits

Note: Not all Keystone Payroll systems are configured to calculate Suta & Futa during the payroll process.

Run Adjust Company Definitions & Factors from the Payroll Setup/Utilities Menu
Select the correct Link for the Suta Calculation
Stretch the width of the screen or scroll to the right until you see the factor name for annual limit and rate.
Update the limit and rate amounts.

Processing W2s

Determine if Health Insurance needs to be reported. See: Health Insurance
Verify all year end balances are correct for 2017
Update W2 Setup
- Make sure to update this for health insurance reporting if required
- Make sure all States are complete with up to date E.I.N. codes
Print W-2 Audit list by using Print W2s and selecting Audit List.
If you choose the new premium services finish filing with W-2_Filing_Web_Service. Otherwise continue...
Print W2s
- Verify W2 Values
W2 E-File Export
- Verify with Accuwage http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/accuwage/index.html

NOTE: Accuwage is designed to verify the Federal W2 E-File. Though it may work for some states, in general it should only be used to validate the Federal file. For some states, it may report errors where there are none.

Print W3s
- Verify W3s with company totals

NOTE: Payroll may be run in the new year before the prior year W2s are printed. Payroll runs in the new year will not affect prior year W2s.

Frequently check Keystone Help and this page for any updates

GivenHansco strongly recommends that you manually verify the numbers reported on W2/W3 forms and use the SSA AccuWage program to verify the numbers on W2 E-File Export. By submitting W2/W3 forms and W2 E-File Export data to the IRS, you are legally testifying to the accuracy of the data.