Payroll year-end is upon us and now is a good time to review your year-end checklist. Below are a few tips to keep in mind as you close up 2018 and start 2019. And remember, your checklist should always be a work in progress. Update and revise as you go and add notes of things that helped you with your processes. We tend to forget certain procedures if we are only doing them once a year, your next year self will thank you for it!
Verify employee information
Year-end is a great opportunity to ensure any employee changes that may have happened throughout the year are captured. It makes sense to send out a reminder email to your staff and ask if there are any changes they may have forgotten to pass along to the payroll department such as a change of address or tax situation that will require a new TD1 to be completed.
Make any necessary adjustments for taxable benefits
Taxable benefits should be entered into payroll in real time, however, year-end is a time to ensure that taxable benefits such as bonuses, holiday gifts or employer paid premiums paid throughout the year are recorded.
Review new year holiday calendar for payroll processing dates
Take the time during your year-end process to review the payroll processing dates for the new year. Holidays could throw off regular processing dates and you want to be aware of this in advance.
Review and verify accruals for vacation and sick time
Check your accrual balance for employees’ vacation and sick time before carrying them into the new year. This is the time to make any necessary adjustments or to catch any discrepancies.
Ensure new tax rates are correct
Most payroll software will automatically update to the new tax rates but if you are processing manually, you need to ensure the new rates are updated prior to the first run of the new year.
Run T4’s and T4 summaries
Give yourself enough time to run and review your T4’s and T4 summary in case you need to make adjustments. And remember, T4’s must be issued to employees no later than February 28, 2019!