Scheduling Quarterly Tax Forms When Prior Payroll Did Not Trigger Forms

Overview

This article explains how to schedule quarterly payroll tax forms when a prior payroll was entered and approved but did not automatically schedule the applicable tax forms. This can happen when new employees are added late in the quarter or when prior payroll activity did not trigger the system to generate the quarterly tax forms. Use this guidance to run a zero payroll and refresh the tax form schedule so the affected forms become available for e-filing without manually re-entering prior payroll data.

When to Use This Process

Use this process when:

  • A prior payroll has been entered and approved, but the quarterly tax forms are not appearing in the system for e-filing.

  • New employees were added near the end of a quarter and their forms are not visible.

  • You want to trigger the tax form schedule without removing or re-entering an existing approved payroll.

     

Step 1 — Run a Zero Payroll

The first step is to run an additional payroll with zero wages, which prompts the system to schedule the applicable quarterly tax forms:

  1. Navigate to Payroll Processing.

  2. Select Payroll Entry.

  3. Choose Additional Payroll.

  4. Enter the payroll period dates for the affected quarter (Start Date and End Date should reflect the first and last days of the applicable quarter).

  5. Add one employee to the payroll.

  6. Enter no wages for the employee — all wage fields should be zero.

  7. Review the payroll for accuracy.

  8. Select Approve to finalize the payroll.

     

Step 2 — Refresh and Schedule Tax Forms

After the zero payroll has been approved, refresh the tax form schedule so the applicable quarterly forms become available:

  1. Navigate to Tax Form File.

  2. Select Tax Forms.

  3. Select the Refresh option.

  4. Confirm that the system has scheduled the applicable quarterly tax forms.

     

Tips for a Smooth Resolution

  • Confirm that the Start Date and End Date on the zero payroll match the affected quarter exactly.

  • Only one employee is needed on the zero payroll to trigger the tax form schedule.

  • If the tax forms still do not appear after refreshing, verify that the zero payroll was fully approved and not left in a draft or pending status.

     

Key Takeaways

  • A prior payroll that did not trigger tax forms does not need to be removed and re-entered — a zero-wage Additional Payroll can be used instead.

  • The zero payroll is entered under Payroll Processing > Payroll Entry > Additional Payroll for the affected quarter.

  • After approval, the tax form schedule is refreshed under Tax Form File > Tax Forms using the Refresh option.

  • Once refreshed, the applicable quarterly tax forms should appear and be available for e-filing.