Info Circ 98-p-013 - 1997 Calendar Year-End Processing

As 1997 calendar year-end approaches, the Division of Accounts and Reports has begun making preparations for the issuance of calendar year 1997 Wage and Tax Statements (Forms W-2) and Non- Resident Alien Compensation Statements (1042-S). Any adjustments processed after the established cut-off dates may result in the issuance of corrected W-2's (Forms W-2C) by the Payroll Section for the employees involved.

Please keep in mind that any paycheck adjustments (except for salary underpayments) that are processed after December 31, 1997 should not include any adjustment to the amount of the original federal and/or state withholding tax deducted on the original paycheck, even if the adjustment is tax effecting. Therefore, every effort should be made to process adjustments by the established deadlines.

FINAL 1997 PAYCHECK AND 1997 PAYCHECK REVERSALS
The final on-cycle paycheck for calendar year 1997 will be issued December 24, 1997. Paychecks will be mailed on December 23, 1997 and advices will be mailed on December 22, 1997.

The Regents Institutions on-cycle files for payroll period ending December 13, 1997 are due to the Department of Administration by 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 17, 1997 to ensure timely issuance of pay on December 24, 1997.

Time and leave interface agencies must have time and leave files for the period ending 12/13/97 submitted to the Department of Administration for processing by 5:00 pm on Friday, December 12 (normally due on Monday). Paper-user agencies should submit time and leave documents to Payroll Services by 5:00 pm on December 12.

Paysheets for the on-cycle payroll for the period ending 12/13/97 will be created on Monday, December 15 (normally created on Tuesday). All job actions (i.e., promotions, terminations, new hires, leave of absences, step increases, etc.) must be entered by 5:00 on December 15 in order to be reflected on the paysheets for this period. The first on-cycle preliminary pay calculation for the period ending 12/13/97 will also occur on December 15; therefore, all time and leave should be entered in SHARP and designated 'OK to process' by 5:00 in order to review preliminary paycheck data.

The last SHARP off-cycle (KA4) and the last Regents' off-cycle for the payroll period ending 11/29/97 will be processed on Tuesday, December 16 (normally processed on Wednesday). SHARP agencies have until 5:00 pm on December 16 to enter supplemental and/or adjustment run controls for the KA4 off-cycle payroll. Regents' off-cycle payroll files must be approved by 5:00 pm on December 16 in order to be included in the off-cycle. In order to be approved by 5:00 pm on December 16, the Regents' off-cycle payroll files must be received by 5 pm on the preceding business day. Checks for this off-cycle will be dated Monday, December 22, 1997. The KPAY303 data file for the period ending 11/29/97 will also be created on December 16.

Final pay confirmation for the on-cycle payroll for the period ending 12/13/97 will occur on Wednesday, December 17 (normally occurs on Friday). All employees' time and leave records must be 'OK to process' by 5:00 pm on December 17 in order for a paycheck record to be created. All deduction and tax data changes must be entered by 5:00 pm on December 17 in order to be reflected on the final paycheck created for the employee. The general ledger extract for the period ending 11/29/97 will also be created on this date. PLEASE NOTE: Only two SHARP preliminary payroll calculations will occur for the period ending 12/13/97. In addition, an off-cycle will not be available to process late paychecks with the same pay date as the on-cycle payroll. The earliest date that an employee can receive an off-cycle check for the period ending 12/13/97 is Monday, December 29, 1997, providing necessary supplemental or adjustment run control has been entered by 5:00 pm on Monday, December 22, 1997.

On-line access to SHARP for all users will not be available on Thursday, December 18, 1997, due to batch processing which must occur to ensure timely issuance of payroll on December 24, 1997.

The final on-cycle SHARP payroll reports, with the exception of the KPAYWAGE, will be available on Friday, December 19 in the agency directories on the MVS. Final on-cycle payroll reports (except for the KPAYWAGE) for paper-user agencies will be distributed on December 19.

The KPAYWAGE reports for the on-cycle for the payroll period ending 12/13/97 will be available on December 22 in the agency directories. KPAYWAGE reports for paper-user agencies will be distributed on December 22. The first SHARP off-cycle (KA1) and the first Regents' off-cycle for the payroll period ending 12/13/97 will be processed December 22, 1997. SHARP agencies have until 5:00 pm on this date to enter supplemental and/or adjustment run controls for the KA1 off-cycle payroll. Regents' off-cycle payroll files must be approved by 5:00 pm on December 22 in order to be included in the off-cycle. In order to be approved by 5:00 pm on December 22, the Regents' offcycles payroll files must be received by 5 pm on the preceding business day. PLEASE NOTE: Paychecks for this off-cycle will be dated December 29, 1997 (NOT DECEMBER 24). Encumbrance transactions for the SHARP on-cycle payroll for the period ending 12/13/97 will be posted to STARS during Monday, December 22, 1997 nightly batch processing cycle.

The final off-cycle paycheck for calendar year 1997 will be issued on December 31, 1997 for the KA2 off-cycle processed on December 24, 1997. Any paychecks that are undeliverable should be reversed immediately. SHARP agencies have until 5:00 p.m. on December 22, 1997 to enter paycheck reversal requests to ensure processing in the December 31, 1997 off-cycle payroll (i.e. KA4 off-cycle); paper user agencies should submit Form DA-182, 'Paycheck Reversal or Reprint Request', for any paycheck reversals by 12:00 noon on December 22, 1997. Any reversal requests entered/received after 5:00 p.m./12:00 noon deadline on December 22, 1997 may result in the issuance of a W-2C to that employee. Paycheck reversals for paychecks issued on or before December 31, 1997 that are not entered by the 5:00 p.m. deadline on December 22, 1997 must be submitted immediately, via Form DA-182, to the Payroll Section in the Division of Accounts and Reports for processing. The original paycheck should accompany the DA-182.

Time and leave interface agencies must have time and leave files for the period ending 12/27/97 submitted to the Department of Administration for processing by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, December 24 (normally due on Monday). This is a change from informational circular 98-P-005. Paper-user agencies should submit time and leave documents to Payroll Services by 5:00 pm on December 24.

PAYCHECK ADJUSTMENTS (excluding salary underpayments)
SHARP agencies have until 5:00 p.m. on December 31, 1997 to enter paycheck adjustment requests for any 1997 paychecks. Adjustments processed in the December 31, 1997 off-cycle payroll will be reflected on the employee's 1997 Form W-2. If a 1997 paycheck has been previously adjusted and requires additional adjustment, form DA-180, 'Paycheck Adjustments', should be submitted to the Division of Accounts and Reports, Payroll Section by 5:00 p.m. on December 24, 1997. The December 24 deadline for submitting Form DA-180 also applies to all adjustment requests for paper user agencies. Any paycheck adjustments entered/received after the December 31/December 24 deadline may result in the issuance of a W-2C to the employee.

If an on-line user agency identifies a 1997 paycheck that needs to be adjusted after the December 31 deadline, the agency will still be able to enter the adjustment request using the 'Paycheck Adjustment' panel (located under the 'Process' menu in the 'Paysheets' window). However, the adjustment should not be entered until February 3, 1998 and, if the adjustment is tax effecting, the employee will receive a Form W-2C. Adjustment requests for any reason other than salary underpayments that are entered after December 31, 1997 but prior to February 3, 1998 will be deleted and will have to be re-entered by the agency.

SALARY UNDERPAYMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTALS
Adjustment requests entered on or after December 29, 1997 which are adjusting paychecks issued in 1997 and which have a reason code of 'A', 'D', or 'F' (i.e. salary underpayment) will not result in a W-2C; the additional earnings resulting from this type of adjustment will update the employee's 1998 payroll balances since the paycheck issue date will be in 1998. (The KA3 off-cycle generated on the night of December 29, 1997, will have an issue date of January 2, 1998.) Likewise, any supplemental requests entered by agencies, or entered centrally, on or after December 29 will also update the employee's 1998 payroll balances.

REGENTS INSTITUTIONS: OFF-CYCLE FILES
1997 Salary Underpayments and Supplementals
In order to update employee balances for 1997, any salary underpayments and supplementals must be submitted no later than 5:00 pm on Tuesday, December 23, 1997. The KA2 off-cycle for the pay period ending December 13, 1997 generated on the night of December 24, 1997 will have the issue date of December 31, 1997. These files should contain a 'C' indicating current year business and the pay adjust check date should be blank.

1998 Salary Underpayments and Supplementals
Any salary underpayments or supplementals submitted after 5:00 pm on Tuesday, December 23, 1997, will be considered to be 1998 business regardless of the pay period end date that the pay is related to. Since the paycheck issue date will be in 1998, the employee's 1998 balances will be updated. These files should contain a 'C' indicating current year business, the pay adjust check date should be blank, and the adjustment type should be 'EARNGS'.

Regents institutions may continue to submit 1998 salary underpayments and supplementals throughout the month of January 1998. The activity will be processed on the regular Monday and Wednesday off-cycle schedule and will update 1998 payroll balances.

1997 Adjustments and Reversals (Excluding Salary Underpayments and Supplementals)
Regent Institutions must submit all transmittals for 1997 adjustments and paycheck reversals by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 30, 1997 in order to update the employee's 1997 W-2. The payroll interface files submitted on or before December 23, 1997 must contain a 'C' indicating current year business. Payroll interface files submitted after December 23, 1997 must contain a 'P' indicating prior year business and the pay adjust check date must contain a valid 1997 date.

Any 1997 paycheck adjustments identified after the December 30, 1997 deadline will not be processed until the February 4, 1998 off-cycle payroll. Since the files will be held, please do not begin submitting those files for processing until the week of January 26, 1998. However, Regents institutions may continue to submit activity for years 1996 and prior during the month of January. The deadline for submitting payroll interface files for the February 4 off-cycle is 5:00 p.m. on February 3, 1998.

As a reminder, separate payroll interface files must be submitted for any prior year activity and the files must be separated by calendar year (i.e., 1997 and 1996 activity cannot be included on the same payroll interface file). Furthermore, if the interface file is for prior calendar year activity, the file should contain a 'P' indicating prior year business and within every employee pay detail record, the pay adjust check date must contain a valid date corresponding to the year to be updated. Additionally, prior year pay details should never result in a change to an employee's balance for federal or state taxes. Prior year files will only be processed once a week in the Wednesday night off-cycle.

GENERAL REMINDERS
The deduction END date on the general deduction panel for 1997 United Way contributions should be dated between December 14, 1997 and December 27, 1997 in order for the last 1997 deduction to be taken on the paycheck issued December 24, 1997. Agencies should verify the deduction end date for all employees enrolled in United Way to ensure deductions are taken correctly. For calendar year 1998, agencies can enter a new row effective-dated between December 14, 1997 and December 27, 1997 in order for the first deduction for 1998 to be taken on the January 9, 1998 paycheck. If the 1998 deduction is to be taken over 26 pay periods, a deduction end date of December 13, 1998 should be entered.

It is very important that multiple adjustments for one employee be processed in the same off-cycle run. Effective January 29, 1998, depending on the type of adjustment, processing in different cycles may result in the issuance of multiple W-2C forms to the employee. Please verify prior to processing a prior year adjustment for an employee that all other paychecks are correct for that employee and do not require adjustment also.

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 31, 1997 (December 24, 1997 for paper user agencies). Please evaluate all existing arrearages for your agency and verify that collection will be made. For sufficiently large balances that cannot be collected in one sum, agencies should establish an 'Arrears Payback Schedule' as soon as possible so paycheck deductions can be made and the balance collected by the cut-off date. 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.

The 1997 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 2, 1998 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 4, 1998 and January 15, 1998.

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 2, 1998.

W-2 forms will be mailed on or before January 31, 1998. 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 1997 which 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 98-P-005, dated October 16, 1997. 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: December Payroll Calendar (pdf)