Year-end FAQ for Sage 100

It’s recommended to finalize all postings for the 2025 payroll year and complete the year-end processing before making any entries for 2026. This is important because the year-end processing in the new Payroll 2.X (Sage 100 v2018 and newer) triggers essential calculations and rollovers, such as time off accruals, deduction goals, and Direct Deposit year-to-date amounts. However, it's possible to run payroll in the new year before running year-end, but it's not recommended.

It isn’t necessary to run W2's before running period-end processing. Sage 100 has partnered with Aatrix for forms processing since MAS90 4.50. The data tables that store tax reporting information maintain detailed records year-over-year in all versions. 

If you’re running Sage 100 2018 or newer (“Payroll 2.X”), there’s no need to create a copy company, as the new payroll program keeps many detailed records year-over-year (according to the setting in Payroll Options). The exception is if you’re running Sage 2017 or older (“legacy payroll”), in which case a year-end copy company is required for record keeping in these retired versions.

Tax reporting forms, including W2s, should be run in the "live company" and not in a copy company. This ensures that the forms archive is maintained together in the same database.

Reopening a closed payroll year should be avoided whenever possible. Certain amounts, such as benefit accruals, are reset during year-end processing (unless the anniversary date reset option is used). Therefore, prior payroll years shouldn’t be reopened.

If checks were processed incorrectly, they should ideally be reversed and re-entered correctly. If this isn't possible, you can manually edit the wage and tax history. For detailed instructions, see Edit employee wage and tax history in Tax Summary

Year-end processing can be run before or after updating payroll to 2.26.0 and/or running W2s

Most forms can be printed on plain printer paper, but some require a pre-perforated 4-part blank page. The official red ink forms for certain government copies of W2/W3, 1099/1096, etc., are no longer required when printing forms from Aatrix Federal and State Tax Reporting. For more details, see Forms used to print W2s, 1095s and 1099s

Aatrix Tax Reporting forms update independently from the Sage 100 version, so even older versions may be able to run the 2025 W2 after updating the forms. However, only supported versions will receive the necessary year-end updates to ensure data is correctly routed from Sage 100 files to the Tax Reporting forms. Sage 100 support can’t assist with any issues running W2s or other Tax Reporting forms in unsupported versions. If needed, corrections can be made directly in the Aatrix form processor. 

The NEC (Non-Employee Compensation) version of the 1099 is supported on all currently supported versions of Sage 100, from v2022 to 2025.

Yes, an active payroll subscription is required for processing any new Tax Reporting forms in payroll. Have questions about your subscription? Call 1-888-721-8989, open 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday unless otherwise noted.

Access to the payroll module requires an active payroll subscription plan. 

Regular customers: See Error: "Payroll Expiration Date is Invalid. Your payroll subscription will expire in xx days."

Channel Partners / Sage Accountants Network (SAN) members: See Unable to access Payroll module (for Business Partners and SAN Customers with NFR keys and Customers with Read Only Access). 

 NOTE: Channel Partners and Sage Accountants Network (SAN) members receive NFR (Not For Resale) activation keys and programs. The payroll expiration date in NFR versions is hard coded and can’t be changed. For those running the 2022 version of Sage 100, access to the payroll module will expire on 12/31/2025, starting a 45-day lockout timer. You MUST upgrade to a supported version. NFR versions of Sage 100 2023 will expire on 12/31/2026, Sage 100 2024 on 12/31/2027, and so on.  

Users may experience issues with installing Aatrix Federal and State Tax Reporting Updates that fail to install.

Refer to this article for helpful tips on environmental settings and resolution options: Unable to Install Aatrix Federal and State Tax Reporting Updates