Causes for the Form 941 totals not matching the 941 Preparation report:

• Rounding
• Manual changes to FICA amounts on a check
• The employee tax record for FICA taxes has an adjustment method
• The default FICA tax setup was changed or you did not update tax changes
• Excluding an employee with wages in the reporting period from the report
• Checks are not posted
• Running the preparation report by period end dates instead of check dates. The 941 report is based off of check dates so the preparation report must be run by check dates.
• You have more than one master and transaction record you use for your FEIN.
• You have moved an employee with Year to Date earnings out of the Data folder you are running the report for, and there are checks which exist for that moved employee.

Differences in the FICA tax amounts can be caused by any of the following:

• Rounding

  When FICA taxes calculate on each check, the tax liability rounds to the nearest penny. The 941 Preparation report totals the actual tax amounts on each check. The FICA taxes that calculate on the Form 941 are the total of taxable wages multiplied by the employee plus employer percentages. This calculation is based on the total taxable dollars and may be over or understated because it does not round the amounts by individual check. If the tax difference is a few pennies per employee, this is normal. You can modify the Form 941 totals for FICA tax in the print selection window.

• Manual changes to FICA amounts on a check

  FICA taxes are self-adjusting taxes. Each check, Payroll determines whether the correct amount of FICA tax is withheld for the year. If you remove, reduce, or increase FICA tax amounts in the Enter Checks task, you prevent the self-adjusting calculation and your tax liability is affected. To make corrections, you need to enter a tax only check for the employee.

• The employee tax record for FICA taxes has an adjustment method

  If you change the adjustment method for a FICA tax in the employee's setup, you override the self-adjusting calculation and prevent the required amounts from calculating properly. To make corrections, you need to change the adjustment method on the employee's setup (Setup, Employees) for FICA taxes to No adjustment and issue a tax only check for the employee. You may also need to recalculate subject-to.

• The default FICA tax setup was changed or you did not update tax changes

  FICA tax setups are provided by Sage. You need to download and update your taxes when you receive a notification that the taxes have changed. If you make changes to the default FICA tax setup after you update taxes or you do not update taxes when there is a required change to FICA, you may prevent the required amounts from calculating properly. To make corrections, you need to verify the FICA taxes are setup by the Sage Timberline Office default and issue a tax only check for the employee. You may also need to recalculate subject-to.

• Employee with wages was excluded from the From 941
  
  When generating the Form 941 in Aatrix, a window displays a list of employees to include on the report. It is recommended to leave all employees selected. If an employee has no wages in he reporting period, they will automatically be excluded from the report when generating.

• Work in Progress was ran from mid quarter.
  
  When Generating the 941 aatrix can save the progress when you exit the 941 prep window. This information will reload the next time you run the report if you select yest to the "Use Work In Progress" window. To clear this close the report and re-open it, select New report and when prompted say No to using the "Work in Progress". This will reload the current information from payroll.