5 tips take the stress out of filing quarterly taxes

Does Sept. 29 fill you with dread? If you own a small business, it might. That’s the day Q3 ends.

But if you use Fingercheck for payroll, your quarter-end tax filing process can be a breeze! And we have a few tips on how you can make the process even easier.

Not using Fingercheck? It’s not too late.

Ready to make your Q3 filing easier?

We get it! Here is a handy tax checklist to simplify your quarterly tax filings ⬇️

1. Check your data 

We hate penalties and fines as much as you do. And one of the best ways to avoid them is by reviewing your payroll reports to make sure everything is correct. Here’s what you need to do:

• Gather all your payroll data for the quarter — time sheets, pay rates, deductions, bonuses, benefits, tax forms, etc.
• Compare gross pay, net pay, benefits, and taxes for each of your employees.
• Check for inconsistencies in your payroll records.
• Make any needed corrections and adjustments, and bring your payroll records up to date.

If you need it, Fingercheck Payroll can help you simplify your reconciliation process. Follow along with this guide on Payroll reconciliation to see how to do it easily.

2. Run payroll early

You don’t want to be hit with late charges or additional fees simply because you failed to run your payroll on time.

This is why it’s vital that you process all your open payrolls and close them at the end of every quarter. If you still have open payrolls for any unavoidable reasons, here are three things you should know:

• Open payrolls in Q3 2023 have to be dated on or before September 29.
• They must be processed on or before September 27.
• If there are delays in processing payrolls and adjustments for Q3, you have until October 6 to do it. Note: There is a fee and it grows each delayed day.

Contact Fingercheck immediately if you want to process your payrolls and adjustments after September 29, 2023.

3. Verify the issue dates when processing voided checks

You must take voided checks into account in your quarterly tax checklists. So confirm that the issue dates on all voided checks during the quarter are on or before the last business day of that quarter.

Next, create and run a “Special Payroll” for the last business day of the quarter and assign the voided checks to it. This special payroll is something you can also create if you haven’t processed any existing payroll for that quarter.

In an instance where your processed payroll runs into a negative balance due to voided checks, this is how Fingercheck can help you:

• Negative balances typically clear at the end of the quarter. If that doesn’t happen, we shell out provisional funds from our pockets and put this down as credit toward your next tax bill. We will also pay your state or federal tax agency for the cost, if necessary.
• Fingercheck will send an invoice to your company for the cost during the first week of business during the following calendar quarter.

4. Check your employees’ Social Security Numbers  

Make sure your employees’ Social Security Numbers (SSNs) are accurate. If any information is either missing or incorrect, your filings might need to be corrected.

5. Prepare for any quarter-end discrepancies

You may face quarter-end discrepancies or variances where the amount of owed taxes exceeds the drafted amount during that quarter. 

But when you are using Fingercheck Payroll, we take measures to ensure these instances do not occur. We audit your payroll activity at the end of each quarter to help ensure that you do not have a quarter-end variance. If we find a discrepancy, we will notify you how much is owed, and we will draft you so that we can make the proper payments.

We will draft your account to cover the unpaid variances in mid-October. Please ensure that the funds required to cover this expense are in your bank account by October 13, 2023, or we will be unable to complete your filing.

We make quarterly filings less scary

We understand that quarter-end tax filings can be confusing. That’s why we are here to help! If you have any questions about your quarterly tax filings (or any other HR issue), please contact us:

• Phone: 1-800-610-9501
• Email: support@fingercheck.com
• Online: Reach us using the messaging feature in Fingercheck 
• Chat: Fingercheck virtual assistant is available 24/7 in-app

We’re here to help. And if you’re not using Fingercheck, it’s not too late. Let’s talk!