2013 - 941 Totals Dont Match the W3/W2 Amounts

[goldstar]

In doing the matching of 941 totals to the W3 form, I am experiencing some matching errors. I am using W2Express to generate my W2s and W3s.

MEDICARE
Box 6 on W3 = $1,797.01 (for Medicare Tax Withheld)

On Form 941 (all 4 quarters) - I compute the Medicare Tax Comparison Computation by summing up the total of all 4 quarters Row 5c Col 2 and dividing it by 2.

Row 5c (column 2) divided by 2 = $1,794.67

This is a difference of $2.34 (for medicare tax withholding)

What the source of this error could be? Is this small difference something that I should worry about? What will happen if I file the W3s and W2s at this point with this small error?

SOCIAL SECURITY

I have a similar issue for Social Security Tax not matching

Box 4 on W3 = $7,683.13

Line 5a+5b Col 2 divided by 2 (all 4 quarters 941) = $7,673.77

This is difference of $9.36 (for social security tax withholding).

Again, what could be the cause of this error - what can be done to correct this? What would happen if I file with the mismatch I have at this point?

[Paul Mayer]

The 941 Form Audits the stored payroll transactions. If there was no amount on line 7 for each Quarter, then you are OK, but if there was a larger amount, see this FAQ for items to check to see what you did wrong:

http://zpay.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?3274-941-Form-Numbers-Do-Not-Match-Employer-Totals-Report

[goldstar]

Paul thanks for the info - I have a follow up questions.

In my Q4 for 2013, Line 7 of the 941 has an adjustment of +0.14. Let's assume that the reason for this error is "Forgetting to calculate before saving a payroll transaction".

What steps would I take in going through the database to locate the transaction(s) that were calculated before being saved? How would I start the process and how would I know when I have reached the payroll transaction that is in error?

[Paul Mayer]

Fourteen cents is so small that it falls under the rounding of Medicare and FICA. See this FAQ:

http://zpay.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?3198-Rounding-of-Employee-FICA-and-Medicare-is-Expected

You would spend a lot of time depending on how many employees you have than it is worth. The process would be to review every employee's payroll report starting with the first in the quarter and using a calculator to calculate the FICA and Medicare taxes and going until you find it.

Since the 941 uses line 7, to adjust what you owe, I personally would pay that 0.14 as shown on the total taxes line if it were me.