An update for The Farmer’s Office and The Labor Contractor’s Office is now available through the Check for Updates option on the Tools menu. We recommend that all customers download and install the latest version when possible. (As always, you’ll need to install the update when all users are not using the program.)
The update includes the new forms and programming changes for the 2015 Federal Form 941. (As usual this form is not finalized by the IRS before we publish the Year End Update, so another update is normally required.) If you need to file this form, this update is required to print this form correctly.
This update also includes an adjustment to how the total number of employees that worked during the pay period that include the 12th of the month is calculated for multi-state employers only. (This change does not affect you if you only have payroll in a single state.)
Under certain conditions, some customers found that incorrect employee counts could be reported. After installing this update, the Fix Employee Totals option can be used to make sure that the employee counts reported to each state are correct.
During the archive quarter to date totals process, the program will automatically check to see if there may be a problem with the employee counts and display a message indicating that the Fix Employee Totals option should be used. The program will automatically open the Fix Employee Totals window and enter the correct dates and other settings. You can then click on the Fix Totals button. Once this is done, you can re-archive the first quarter totals using the Payroll->Quarterly Tax Reporting->Archive Quarterly Totals option and proceed with your quarterly workflow normally.
If you have already archived the quarter to date totals and want to make sure that the employee totals are correct, go to Payroll->Utilities->Fix Employee Totals and use the Change Qtr/Year button to move the current quarter back to 1/2015. (This should be done of course when no other users are printing checks.) You can then re-archive the first quarter (using the Payroll->Quarterly Tax Reporting->Archive Quarterly Totals option). Finally, use the Change Qtr/Year button one more time to change the quarter back to 2/2015.