Troubleshoot Payroll Tax Calculation Errors in Sage 50

Sage 50 Payroll tax calculation errors prevent users from preparing and filing their taxes on time. The errors generally relate to payroll and tax calculation, payroll subscription, or missing tax and payroll data. A few other specific cases can lead to payroll tax errors.

Types of Payroll Tax Calculation Errors in Sage 50

Payroll calculation errors

• Payroll Year-To-Date (YTD) totals are incorrect
• Payroll was not calculated for any employees
• Payroll tax calculations could not be found

Payroll tax expiration errors

• Taxes not calculated or the plan expired after upgrading
• Error: “To run this report within Sage 50.

Missing taxes and payroll data

• My user-maintained tax tables are missing
• Missing payroll tax forms
• My payroll report is blank
• FUTA missing from Payroll Tax Report

Other errors:

• My state withholding or unemployment tax account number is not correct
• Creating and updating the employer-state unemployment insurance (SUI ER)
• Default payroll GL accounts populated incorrectly after going into Payroll Settings.

Before begin…

Steps to update Sage 50 server and workstations

• Launch Sage 50 and go to Services.
• Choose Check for Updates.
• Select Check Now.
• Click on Download.
• Once they download Sage 50, restart them.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of Sage 50.
• Go to the Sage 50 folder on the server.
• Double-click on ClientInstall.bat.
• Wait for the updates to be installed on all connected workstations.

Steps to update Windows 

• Log into Windows with an admin user account.
• Click on the Start menu from the taskbar.
• Choose Settings.
• Click on Update & Security.
• Choose Windows Update. 
• Select Check for Updates. 
• Choose Download & Install Updates.
• Once the updates have been downloaded, restart your system so that Windows can install the updates.

Solutions for Sage 50 Payroll Tax Calculation Errors

In this section, you’ll find solutions for the following Sage 50 Payroll tax update errors:

• Payroll Year-To-Date (YTD) totals are incorrect
• Payroll was not calculated for any employees
• Payroll tax calculations could not be found.

You’ve to record the vacation taken time properly in Sage 50. The program takes the information that you entered and calculates the payroll amount and the payroll tax amount, which when calculated can lead to payroll error if the field is left empty.

Option I: Verify that the Reprinted Check Stub is working as intended by the software

The total reflected on the stub is the total for the quarter, that is the year-to-date total instead of the total for the whole financial year. When you reprint a stub in Sage 50, you need to be aware of this issue; otherwise, you may end up calculating the wrong amount.

• Check and verify the reprinted stubs for each of the months.
• Calculate the accurate Year-to-date amounts as of the end of the month on which you’ll file the taxes.
• Repeat the steps for each month of the year.
• Recheck the amount whenever you reprint a stub.

However, if you want to view the year-to-date amount for the specific date, then you’ve got to go with the Current Earnings Report in Sage 50. Input the date as January One, and Sage 50 will create the current earnings report that’ll summarize the year-to-date amounts for the selected date.

Option II: Run box is selected for taxes

• From the Maintain menu, select Default Information.
• Click on Employees, then go to the Employee Field tab.
• Clear the run box for the following taxes:
  • **Fed_Income
  • Soc_Sec
  • Medicare
  • State
  • Any other taxes 
• Choose Ok and verify that the YTD amount is correct.

Option III: You’ve not posted any of the paychecks

• Select Tasks, then go to System.
• Click on Post.
• Choose Payroll Journal, then click on Ok.
• Choose the option Reports and Forms, Payroll.
• To access additional options, right-click on Payroll Register.
• Choose Options, then Modify.
• Go to the Date option, and choose This Year.
• Select a Filter to narrow down your searches.
• Click Employee ID to narrow down the searches by this parameter.
• Click on Ok, then recheck the YTD totals to ensure they’re correct.

Option IV: A user with access to the data file deleted or voided the paycheck.

Trying to use a voided or deleted paycheck to create a report will lead to a payroll error in Sage 50. The payroll error is a result of incorrect or missing data in the company file. All this is well and good, but it can all create a really huge issue for small business owners who need to quickly file their taxes without getting into the technical accounting things.

• Access the Reports and Forms, Company option.
• Right-click on the Audit Trial Report to access additional options.
• From the available options, select Modify, then click on Options.
• Alter the date range to view the transactions included in the audit report.
• Select a Filter option to narrow down your search.
• Select Action, then click on Delete.
• Right-click the Audit Trail Report.
• Click on Scroll, then use the data to easily restore the deleted or voided paycheck to see if there is payroll that has been deleted.

Option V: Input the beginning balances for the employee

Payroll accounts have a beginning balance for each employee. A missing beginning balance creates additional problems for people. This can further enhance problems for you.

• Click on  Maintain, then choose Employees and Sales Reps.
• Click on Employee ID.
• Choose Employee Beginning Balances.
• Input the balances required, then click on Save twice to save your changes.

Reinstall Sage 50 Accounting and Activate Payroll

You can reinstall Sage 50 Accounting in order to fix the program file errors that it may be facing. The reinstallation process requires you to have access to the setup file for your version of Sage 50. It also requires that you have the activation key for the software so that you can access the program after it is reinstalled.

Steps to Uninstall Sage 50

• Type Control Panel in the Start menu search bar.
• Click on the Control Panel option.
• Choose Programs and Features from the available list.
• Uninstall Sage 50.

Here’s a list of files that you need to delete:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Sage SBD
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Sage EBanking
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Sage Report Designer 2007
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Sage Line50
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Sage Shared

Now move ahead with the following steps:

• Browse to one of the files listed above.
• Right-click on the File.
• Choose Properties.
• Go to the Version tab, and select Company Name.
• If the Company Name is Sage (UK) Limited or Sage, then right-click the file again and choose Uninstall.

Steps to Reinstall Sage 50

If the Sage 50 setup, in the first place, is damaged, then you’re likely to encounter Sage 50 installation errors. You can download a fresh copy of the Sage 50 setup and install it on your system for an error-free experience.

Steps to download Sage 50 on your system

• Download Sage 50 setup.
• Choose a directory to which you want to save the setup for Sage 50.
• Click on Save.

Steps to install Sage 50 on a single computer

• Double-click on the Sage 50 setup file to launch the setup.
• Install the individual components required to install Sage 50.
• Pause your antivirus program, and click on Next.
• Agree to the Terms and Conditions, then select Next.
• Select the option, “Auto configure the Windows Firewall to allow install and run Sage 50 (recommended)”, then select Next. Note: manually configuring Windows firewall can be really difficult, so use the installer to configure the firewall for you.
• Input the serial number, and click on Next.
• When prompted with “Will this be the only computer running Sage 50?”, click on Yes, then Next.
• In the Install Options window, select the location to store the program files and the company files.
• Choose Install.
• Click on Finish when the installation completes.

Steps to install Sage 50 on a server:

• Double-click on Sage 50 setup to launch it.
• For the prompt “Will this be the only computer running Sage 50?”, click on No, then on Next.
• In the Sage 50 Company Data Files Storage window, click on “This computer is the server”, and select Next.
• Recheck your selections of installation options.
• When the Sharing Company Data screen appears, click on Share the Folder, then on Next.
• Follow the rest of the instructions to finish the installation, and then input the serial number to activate your software.
• Launch any company file in Sage 50 to upgrade it, or create a new company file.

Steps to install Sage 50 on network workstations:

• Use the instructions provided by the installer to proceed with the installation.
• Go to [nameofyourserver]\PeachtreeInstaller20xx\ and double-click on ClientInstall.bat.
• Alternatively, you can double-click on Setup.exe in the same directory and launch the ClientInstall file.
• Choose No when prompted, “Will this be the only computer running Sage 50?”. Click on Next.
• Choose the option “A different computer on the network is the server and will store Sage 50 company files.”
• Choose “I confirm that Sage 50 has already been installed on the server.” Click on Next.
• Choose the directory in which you want to install Sage 50.
• Follow the same instructions to install Sage 50 on each of the workstations.

Conclusion

Using this guide, Sage 50 users can solve many of the payroll tax issues that exist in their product. But sometimes, the technical aspects of the software can be too much to deal with. Get in touch with our Sage 50 accounting software experts to have this issue fixed today.