Not Counting Employees for 941

[ddd0712]

Line 1 in Part 1 of the 941 prints 0 (zero) for number of employees. If it can not calculate the correct figure leaving it blank would be preferable to printing a zero. Thanks!

[Paul Mayer]

Please see this page in the on-line version of the help file:

http://zpay.com/pw-online-help/print941.htm?MenuState=AcOXw5VVXcOVV8OdXXVVw5d1w5d VX11XVe-0g1XDpwABw4kD

Look at the second screen shot on that page. That is the 941 setup screen and please note the entry that reads as follows:

No. of Employees on March 12.

You need to enter the value to print on the 941 Form and that date will change with each Quarter.

[ddd0712]

Oops, sorry - can't believe I missed that.

[BCVolkert]

I've been wondering about this March 12 thing for years.

We have all part-time employees. Two of them are routine workers. Another 3 or 4 work a few hours now and then when the routine part-time employees can't make it. There are probably 8 more people that have worked a little over the years that we have been in business. I consider all of them "active" because we could use any of them at any time.

As near as I can tell, the number reported on the 941 does not really change anything. At one extreme, there are only 2 in the office on March 12. At the other extreme, there are 15 in the employee list. In March there may be 5 that worked at least an hour. In the quarter, there may be one or two more. The officers get paid once a year.

I end up listing individual employees in a quarter when I file state tax reports. As near as I can tell, the IRS does not get anything identifying a specfic employee until the W-2 / W-3 cycle. If the number is just so the IRS can count number of jobs, the number is really pretty insignificant and probably explains the volitility in the number of jobs reported on the nightly news.

The question is: What constitutes as an employee on March 12?

(Yeah, I know that is not a PayWindow question. . . . . )

[Paul Mayer]

It is not just March 12 as when you select the Quarter, it changes the date. Like the 2nd Quarter, it asks for the number of employees on June 12th. The IRS wants to know how many employees you had working in the Quarter on that the 12th of the last month of each Quarter you are reporting.

From the 941 Form Party 1, Line 1:

Number of employees who received wages, tips, or other compensation for the pay period including: Mar. 12 (Quarter 1), June 12 (Quarter 2), Sept. 12 (Quarter 3), or Dec. 12 (Quarter 4)