Preparing for the Payroll year-end can be a complex task, but it's essential to ensure a smooth transition into the new year. So it's better to prepare early.

Here are our Top 5 year-end actions :

1. List

We often find ourselves at the last minute not knowing who has access to the various accounts and looking everywhere. So this year, plan ahead!

Here are just a few of the accesses you need to have on hand :

• Revenu Québec - ClicSequr Entreprises
• Canada Revenue Agency
• CNESST
• EHT (Employer Health Tax) (if you have subsidiaries in Ontario)

2. and 3. Balance and Adjust 

If you don't have access, does that mean you haven't thought about balancing and verifying your remittances to organizations during the year?

Ideally, start checking your remittances in November or December, so you can make the necessary adjustments and corrections for payroll deductions, social security contributions and other payroll deductions such as group insurance, RRSPs/DPSPs, parking, transit fares and union dues, if you have any.

Don't forget to do the same for your leave and time banks : make sure you have correctly recorded all your employees' absences during the year. Also, validate that employees have no unused leave days to carry forward or pay out.

In the event of an error, there could be repercussions on your employees' Relevé 1 and T4 statements. Avoid this situation and the snowball effect that will ensue, because errors mean corrections, fines, late penalties and... employee dissatisfaction.

4. Confirm

Remember to confirm your new payroll schedule. This may seem obvious, but it's essential. Without a schedule : no payroll submitted on time. For example, make sure that a public holiday doesn't coincide with a payday, or close to one, because your bank could be closed! What's more, this calendar will enable you to validate the number of payrolls for the coming year. It's best to prepare the calendar in advance, as payroll service providers often ask you to produce it before the end of November.

5. Communicate

Avoid headaches and overloaded e-mail inboxes by communicating with your employees in advance about :

• Tax credit forms for the coming year
• Updating their personal data, such as SIN, mailing address or any change in their situation
• Activating access to their online payroll account to retrieve their tax slips (especially for employees who leave the company), as a postal letter is quickly lost in the shuffle! At the same time, let them know in advance when the slips will be available
• The transmission of the new payroll schedule (employee version).

Of course, the year-end payroll process includes a host of other tasks not listed in our Top 5, but which are equally important. So if you'd like to end the year on a high note, with time to celebrate and start afresh, you can always count on our Payroll Advisor's team to support you.

 

Khadiha M’Baye, Payroll Advisor

Lionel De Medeiros, Payroll Advisor