W-2 & 1099 distribution

This guide covers: review draft W-2s and 1099s, mark ready for distribution, employees download from the portal, and corrections (W-2c).

Review draft W-2s and 1099s

What it does: Lets you preview every employee's W-2 (and every contractor's 1099-NEC) before the forms are filed and distributed.

Where: Accountant dashboard → Reports → Annual Reports → W-2s (/clients/[clientId]/reports/w2), W-3 (/clients/[clientId]/reports/w3), 1099-NECs (/clients/[clientId]/reports/1099-nec).

Steps:

1. Pick the Year in the report toolbar (defaults to the year you actually file).
2. On the W-2s page, use View W-2 for to drill into one employee, or leave it on All Employees to scroll through every card.
3. Each W-2 card shows: employer block (name, address, EIN) · employee block (name, address, SSN) · Boxes 1–8 · Box 12 codes · Box 13 checkboxes (Statutory employee · Retirement plan · Third-party sick pay) · Boxes 15–20 for each state and locality.
4. Repeat on W-3 for the transmittal totals and on 1099-NEC / 1096 for contractors.
5. Reconcile each total against the Year-to-Date report.

Who: Accountant or SMB owner.

Notes: The on-page math is what flows into the canonical form at filing time. Errors found here should be fixed on the underlying payroll items or the employee record — the form is regenerated from source on each render.

Mark ready for distribution

What it does: Generates the canonical PDFs, archives them to S3, files them with the IRS / SSA, and unlocks them on the employee portal.

Where: Accountant dashboard → Tax Filings page for the client.

Steps:

1. Open the Tax Filings page for the client.
2. Find the W-2 / W-3 batch for the year and click Generate.
3. The system creates one PDF per W-2 and one combined W-3, archives them to the S3 tax-filing bucket, and queues the SSA EFW2 submission.
4. The Download PDF button on the W-2 report starts working once generation completes — it pulls the archived canonical copy.
5. Repeat for the 1099-NEC batch (which also queues an IRS IRIS submission).

Who: Accountant or SMB owner.

Notes: Employees see the W-2 in their portal only after generation is complete — there is no separate "publish" step. The PDF endpoint will respond "PDF not yet archived. Generate the filing first." until the archive is in place.

Employees download from the portal

What it does: Lets each employee pull their own W-2 (and any 1099-NEC issued to them) from the employee portal.

Where: Employee portal → Tax Documents (/employee-portal/tax-documents).

Steps:

1. Sign in to the employee portal and click Tax Documents in the left nav.
2. Pick the Year from the dropdown (defaults to last year).
3. Each document shows: form name (e.g., "Form W-2 - Wage and Tax Statement") · tax year · generation date.
4. Click Download to save the PDF.

Who: Employee.

Notes: A blue Tax Document Availability banner reminds employees that W-2s are typically available by January 31. The page lists important dates (January 31 — W-2 deadline; April 15 — federal filing deadline) and short explainers for Form W-2 and Form 1099-NEC.

Corrections (W-2c)

What it does: Issues a Form W-2c to correct a previously filed W-2 — wrong wages, wrong SSN, wrong address.

Where: Accountant dashboard → Tax Filings → original filing.

Steps:

1. Fix the underlying error first — update the employee record or amend the payroll item.
2. Open the original W-2 filing on the Tax Filings page.
3. Click Issue Correction (W-2c).
4. Review the diff: original boxes on the left, corrected boxes on the right.
5. Generate. The system files the W-2c with the SSA and re-archives both the W-2c and a fresh W-3c.
6. The employee sees the corrected form on the portal next to the original.

Who: Accountant or SMB owner.

Notes: Corrections after employees have filed personal returns mean those employees may need to amend (Form 1040-X). The W-2c itself reaches the SSA the same way the original W-2 did — no separate mail or fax step.

---

Related: Year-end checklist · Tax & compliance reports.