12 Payroll Tax Errors in Sage 50 and Their Solutions

Sage 50 payroll tax errors prevent users from preparing and filing their taxes on time. The errors are generally related to payroll and tax calculation, payroll subscription, or missing tax and payroll data. There are a few other specific cases that can lead to payroll tax errors.

In this post, you’ll find solutions for the 13 most common Payroll Tax Errors in Sage 50.

Types of Payroll and Payroll Tax Errors in Sage 50

Payroll calculation errors in Sage50

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

Payroll tax expiration errors:

• Taxes not calculating or plan is expired after upgrading
• Error: “In order to run this report within Sage 50, you must call 1-800-326-1420 and update your subscription.”

Missing taxes and payroll data in Sage 50:

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

Other errors:

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

Before we begin…

Steps to update Sage 50 server and workstations:

1. Launch Sage 50 and go to Services.
2. Choose Check for Updates.
3. Select Check Now.
4. Click on Download.
5. Once download completes, restart Sage 50.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of Sage 50.
7. Go to the Sage 50 folder on the server.
8. Double-click on ClientInstall.bat.
9. Wait for the updates to be installed on all connected workstations.

Steps to update Windows 10 to fix Sage 50 Payroll error: 

1. Log into windows with an admin user account.

2. Click on the Start menu from the taskbar. 

3. Choose Settings. 

4. Click on Update & Security. 

5. Choose Windows Update. 

6. Select Check for Updates. 

7. Choose Download & Install Updates. 

8. Once the updates have been downloaded, restart your system so that Windows can install the updates.

Solutions for Sage 50 Payroll Calculation errors

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

• Payroll Year-To-Date (YTD) totals are incorrect
• Payroll not calculating 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 actually 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

1. From the Maintain menu, select Default Information.
2. Click on Employees, then go to the Employee Field tab.
3. Clear the run box for the following taxes:

1. **Fed_Income
2. Soc_Sec
3. Medicare
4. State
5. Any other taxes 
6. Choose Ok and verify that the YTD amount is correct.

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

1. Select Tasks, then go to System.
2. Click on Post.
3. Choose Payroll Journal, then click on Ok.
4. Choose the option Reports and Forms, Payroll.
5. To accesses additional options, right click on Payroll Register.
6. Choose Options, then Modify.
7. Go to the Date option, and choose This Year.
8. Select a Filter in order to narrow down your searches.
9. Click Employee ID to narrow down the searches by this parameter.
10. 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 definitely 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.

1. Access the Reports and Forms, Company option.
2. Right-click on the Audit Trial Report to access additional options.
3. From the available options, select Modify, then click on Options.
4. Alter the date range to view the transactions included in the audit report.
5. Select a Filter option to narrow down your search.
6. Select Action, then click on Delete.
7. Right-click the Audit Trail Report.
8. 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.

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

Option VI: If you’re using the Sage 50 2022.0 version

Error: Payroll taxes not calculating after upgrading to a new version of Sage 50

This payroll error generally results from an inactive Sage Payroll subscription. So even though you’ve an active subscription of Sage 50 Payroll, you’ve not activated it in the software itself after upgrading the software.

We’ve a complete guide on fixing “payroll taxes not calculating after upgrading to a new version of Sage 50.”

Solutions for Sage 50 Payroll Subscription Expired errors

When working with the payroll calculator inside Sage 50, you need to work with a supported version of Sage 50. Sage discontinues a version of the accounting software after 2-3 years. So if you’re using an outdated version of Sage 50, then the payroll subscription won’t work with your program.

You can upgrade Sage 50 to the latest version to easily access the payroll features that you’ve subscribed for.

Section 1 – Change the Subscription Status

1. In the Help menu, select Sage 50 Subscription Updates.
2. Select Online, then click on Ok twice to move to the verification process.
3. Once you’ve verified the information, you can move to the next section that deals with renewing your subscription.

Section 2 – You’ve entered the paycheck date after the date on which your subscription ends

Once your subscription expires, Sage 50 will not process the paychecks in your accounts. So you need to ensure that you’ve an active subscription of payroll whenever you’re trying to file and pay the payroll taxes from Sage 50.

1. Access the About Sage 50 Accounting menu from the Help menu.
2. In the Plan Level line, verify the date of the paycheck.
3. Ensure that the date of the paycheck is before the renewal date, you can then alter the date and ensure it is before the renewal date of your subscription.

And payroll won’t calculate the taxes nor the salaries until you update your subscription and ensure that it’s active in Sage 50.

Section 3 – Use the tax formula to easily and quickly search for the appropriate tax formula.

1. In the Maintain menu, select Default Information, then Employees.
2. Go to the Employee Fields tab.
3. Click on Calc, then move ahead to calculate the payroll.
4. Input the Formula in the available field to begin with the payroll calculation.
5. Choose Adjust, then verify that the the payroll taxes are working as intended.
6. Go to the Adjust button and click on it.
7. Select the Use box to verify the Gross option is enabled.
8. Go through rest of the instructions on the basis of your company’s preferences.

Section 4 – User Account Control (UAC) is blocking Sage 50

User account settings in Windows provide additional security features. But sometimes they end up blocking important programs from executing certain actions. To verify that the UAC settings are behind this issue, you can temporarily disable the user account control settings for your user account.

If the payroll error doesn’t occur after you disable user account control, then always run Sage 50 accounting as an admin.

Steps to disable user account control settings on Windows:

1. Go to the Start menu and search for UAC.
2. Click on Change User Account Control settings.
3. Choose the option Never notify by using the slider, then choose Ok.
4. When prompted with “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?”, click on Yes.
5. Restart your system so that the new settings can take effect.

You can follow the same steps, but then enable the user account controls for windows.

Solutions for Missing taxes and Payroll data in Sage 50

• My user-maintained tax tables are missing.
• Missing payroll tax forms.
• My payroll report is blank.
• FUTA missing from Payroll Tax Report.
• taxtable.dat file is damaged and cannot be accessed by the program.
• tax update wasn’t installed properly.

Option 1: Restore a backup of the company file

Use the latest backup of the company file that you created. The backup will restore your data and replace the damaged company file with a new one.

Steps to restore a backup of a new company file:

1. From the Maintain menu, click on Company Information.
2. Select Directory.
3. Select Ok, then exit Sage 50. Close it on all the connected workstations.
4. Right-click on the TAXTABLE.DAT file, and select rename.
5. Append Old to the file name, then Launch Sage 50.
6. Select Restore a backup to a new company.
7. Click on New Company to launch the restore wizard.
8. Go to the Maintain menu, then select Company Information.
9. Change the company name to “Old company file”.
10. Note the directory for the company file.
11. Exit Sage 50 once again.
12. Then browse to the TAXTABLE.DAT file, and right click on the file, and select copy.
13. Once you’ve reached your original company directory, paste the TAXTABLE.DAT file that you copied in the last step.
14. Browse to the folder that contains the new company file.
15. Right click on the folder, and select Rename.
16. Launch Sage 50 and verify the information in the user maintained tables.

But what to do when federal unemployment tax is missing from the payroll tax report. The solution is to add FUTA to the tax list.

1. In the File menu, select Payroll Formulas.
2. Select the missing formula from the report.
3. Mark the box “use this formula as a filter on the payroll tax report.”
4. Select Save, then Verify that the tax is available.

Solution for the Other Payroll and Payroll Tax Errors in Sage 50

Solutions for Payroll and Payroll tax errors are abundant. So we’ve divided the solution in 4 main sections. After the current section, you’ll find the method to reinstall Sage 50. Use it only after going through the solutions for Sage 50 payroll tax errors in this section.

Solution: Default payroll GL accounts populated incorrectly after going into Payroll Settings.

The 2022 edition of Sage 50 can easily encounter the error because it has some serious problems. However, the following updates released by the company addressed this particular payroll error in Sage 50. You can also install the update from the software itself and easily maintain your employees.

1. From the Maintain menu, choose Employee defaults.
2. Click on Employee defaults, then on Employee Fields.
3. Now verify that you’ve made the correct selections.
4. Choose the Company Fields tab, then verify the liability and expense GL accounts are correct.
5. Click on Ok to save your changes.

If you need to make changes in Payroll Settings, it is recommended to take screenshots of or write down the information in Maintain, Payroll Employee Defaults—both Employee Fields and Company Fields.

Reinstall Sage 50 Accounting and Activate Payroll

Note: Rely on this solution only when all the other solutions didn’t work for you.

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. And it also requires that you’ve the activation key for the software so that you can access the program after it is reinstalled.

Steps to remove DSN and ODBC data sources from your system:

1. Log into an Administrator User Account in windows.
2. Follow the instruction for your version of windows:

1. 32-bit Windows: Right-click on the Start menu and choose Run. Type in ODBCAD32 and hit Enter.
2. 64-bit Windows: Go to C:\WINDOWS\SYSWOW64, and double-click on ODBCAD32.EXE.

3. Go to the System DSN tab.
4. Select the Sage Line 50 entries, and select Remove.
5. Click on Ok.

Steps to uninstall Sage 50 from Windows:

1. Type Control Panel in the Start menu search bar.
2. Click on the Control Panel option.
3. Choose Programs and Features from the available list.
4. Select Sage 50 and click on Uninstall.

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:

1. Browse to one of the files listed above.
2. Right-click on the File.
3. Choose Properties.
4. Go to the Version tab, and select Company Name.
5. 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 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 Sage 50 setup and install it on your system for an error free experience.

Steps to download Sage 50 on your system:

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

Choose between local and server installation

• Local installation: if you want to use Sage 50 2023 on a single computer, then installing locally on a computer is preferable.
• Server installation: if you want to use Sage 50 2023 in multi-user mode, or you want to store your data on a remote server, then select server/network installation.

Steps to install sage 50 on a single computer:

1. Double-click on Sage 50 setup file to launch the setup.
2. Install the individual components required to install Sage 50.
3. Pause your antivirus program, and click on Next.
4. Agree to the Terms and Conditions, then select Next.
5. 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.
6. Input the serial number, and click on Next.
7. When prompted with “Will this be the only computer running Sage 50?”, click on Yes, then Next.
8. In the Install Options window, select the location to store the program files and the company files.
9. Choose Install.
10. Click on Finish when the installation completes.

Steps to install Sage 50 on a server:

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

Steps to install Sage 50 on network workstations:

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

You can use UNC paths to select a company file location. Steps to use UNC path to install Sage 50:

1. While installing Sage 50, in the Company Data Files location window, click on Browse.
2. In the input box, enter the server’s IP address or the name of the server.
3. Recheck the location for the company file in the bottom right corner of the installer window.
4. Input the credentials to log into the server, then select Ok.
5. Click on Install after verifying your selections.

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 accounting software experts and to have this issue fixed today.