Mid-year YTD setup

This guide covers: When YTD setup is required, Per-quarter entry, Per-pay-date entry (current quarter), Edit/supersede entries.

When YTD setup is required

What it does: YTD setup captures wages and taxes the previous provider already paid in the current tax year — so Payrollix's first run picks up at the right Social Security cap, additional Medicare threshold, SUTA taxable wage cap, and FUTA wage base. Without it, the engine treats the first run as if it's the employee's first paycheck of the year.

Where: Client sidebar → Payroll → YTD Setup (/clients/{clientId}/ytd-setup).

Steps:

You need YTD setup when:

1. The client is mid-year takeover from another provider in the current tax year.
2. The client paid the employee outside Payrollix before going live (manual checks, prior payroll system).
3. You're correcting historical data after an audit.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: The bulk-importer does NOT capture YTD — that's a documented gotcha. Use this YTD Setup page instead. After saving, new payroll runs read against the per-period YTD ledger when computing wage caps, withholding thresholds, and W-2 boxes. The setup is supersede-able — entries are kept in the DB for audit even after they're marked superseded.

Pick the takeover type

What it does: Sets the granularity of entry — full closed quarters vs. one row per check date in the current open quarter.

Where: Takeover type card.

Steps:

1. Open /clients/{clientId}/ytd-setup.
2. Pick the Tax Year (range 2024-2026).
3. Pick the takeover type:
   • Closed-quarter takeover — prior provider filed every closed quarter's 941. Enter one row per closed quarter per employee.
   • Mid-quarter takeover — prior provider paid inside the current open quarter; we'll file this quarter's 941. Enter one row per check date.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: Closed-quarter rows source from the prior 941. They flow into annual W-2/W-3/940 and support 941-X amendments to those prior quarters. Mid-quarter rows are required for Schedule B (semi-weekly depositors), state quarterly wage detail, and IRS next-day deposit threshold detection. The page auto-detects the type from any existing saved data when you reopen it.

Per-quarter entry

What it does: Enters one row per closed quarter for each W-2 active employee.

Where: Closed-quarter mode renders one grid per closed quarter — e.g. "Q1 2026 (2026-01-01 – 2026-03-31)".

Steps:

1. Pick Closed-quarter takeover.
2. The page renders one grid per closed quarter in the chosen tax year (Q1 is hidden if today is in Q1; Q2 is hidden if today is in Q2; etc.).
3. For each employee row, fill: Gross Pay, Federal Tax, State Tax, Local Tax, Social Security (employee), Medicare (employee), Deductions, Employer Social Security, Employer Medicare, FUTA, SUTA.
4. The Totals across all periods card at the bottom updates live.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: Use the prior provider's 941 as the source of truth for Federal/SS/Medicare; use state quarterly returns for State/Local/SUTA. Leave a column at zero if it doesn't apply — leaving the entire row blank is also fine for an employee who wasn't paid that quarter.

Per-pay-date entry (current quarter)

What it does: Enters one row per check date in the current open quarter.

Where: Mid-quarter mode renders a Check dates in the current open quarter input + one grid per added check date.

Steps:

1. Pick Mid-quarter takeover.
2. In the Check date input, pick a date inside the allowed window (open quarter start through today).
3. Click Add check date. A grid for that pay date appears.
4. Repeat for each pay date in the current quarter.
5. For each employee row in each grid, fill the same 11 fields as the per-quarter form.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: Per-pay-date granularity is what makes Schedule B accurate — semi-weekly depositors need to know which week/day each tax liability landed. Same goes for state next-day-deposit thresholds. Once you've entered every prior check date in the current quarter, the next Payrollix payroll picks up exactly where the prior provider left off.

Save & supersede

What it does: Persists the YTD rows; later edits supersede prior rows rather than overwriting (the original entries stay in the DB for audit).

Where: Bottom of the page — Save YTD Data and Mark superseded buttons.

Steps:

1. Click Save YTD Data at the bottom right. The mutation writes one ytd_setup row per (employee, period_end) with status="active".
2. To re-enter or correct, just edit the grid and click Save YTD Data again — the new rows are written and the prior active rows get status="superseded".
3. To delete the entire YTD setup for the tax year, click Mark superseded (red, trash icon). Confirm in the dialog. All active rows for that tax year are flipped to superseded; nothing is hard-deleted.

Who: Accountant or SMB admin.

Notes: The supersede pattern is a 2026-06-13 change — earlier YTD setups were single-snapshot. The ~80 legacy clients are not migrated until the accountant re-enters their data through this UI. After saving, click Create New Payroll in the green "Next Steps" footer to start a regular run with the new YTD baseline.

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Related: Run a regular payroll · What you need to provide for tax filing · How Payrollix files your taxes.