Share W-2 data with UltraTax CS
In Accounting CS you can share W-2 information with UltraTax CS.
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Use these steps when the the same firm ID is used for both Accounting CS and UltraTax CS.
The initial setup and process of sharing W-2 data varies based on whether your firm has licenses for both applications with the same firm ID. To check the firm ID:
- In both applications, go toHelp, thenAbout.
- Make sure the firm ID is the same for both applications.
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W-2 data sharing only works for employees with valid Social Security numbers. W-2 data for employees with no Social Security number or with “Applied For” won’t be available for import into UltraTax CS.
Take these steps to set up Accounting CS and UltraTax CS for data sharing only if the firm ID is the same in both applications.
Initial set up
- Check if you're on the latest version of Accounting CS and UltraTax CS.
- Make sure data sharing is turned on in UltraTax CS:
- SelectSetup, thenOffice Configuration.
- Select theData Sharingtab.
- Make sure data sharing is turned on in Accounting CS:
- SelectSetup, thenFirm Information.
- SelectFirm, then thePreferencestab.
note- If you turned on data sharing in Accounting CS after you printed the W-2 Employee Copy, you'll need to re-print the W-2s to share data into UltraTax CS.
- If data sharing is turned on in thePreferencestab of theFirmscreen, the application won't share data with any client that has theSend W-2s to UltraTax CScheckbox marked, and will export only the W-2 information via our secure CS Connect servers.
- Make sure you set up the data locations correctly in Accounting CS on each workstation where data sharing will be used.
- SelectSetup, thenFile Locations.
- Check your data locations for both Accounting CS and UltraTax CS in theCS Professional Suitetab.
- SelectOKto save any changes.
- Make sure you set up the data locations correctly in UltraTax CS on each workstation where data sharing will be used.
- SelectSetup, thenUser Preferences.
- Select theFile Locationstab.
- Check your data locations for Accounting CS, Accounting CS client data (in CS Accounting Products), and UltraTax CS (in the current year UltraTax CS).
- SelectOKto save any changes.
Create W-2 data sharing files
- Follow the steps in Printing W-2 forms to begin the printing process. Make sure to select the Employee Copy of the W-2.
- Once you've printed the Employee Copy of the W-2s, UltraTax CS will automatically import the data.
Troubleshooting data sharing
If you've completed the setup and processed the Employee Copy of the W-2, and you aren't prompted for data sharing of the W-2 information into the 1040 client in UltraTax CS, review the following items.
- Make sure the Social Security number of the employee in Accounting CS matches the Social Security number of the 1040 client in UltraTax CS.
- Make sure the EIN for the client matches between Accounting CS and UltraTax CS on the W-2 tab in the Income folder.
- Make sure you set up the W-2 tab in the Income folder of UltraTax CS correctly for T (taxpayer) or S (spouse).
- Make sure the client in UltraTax CS is not denied data sharing inClient Properties,Advanced Properties.
- W-2 data sharing only works for employees with valid Social Security numbers. W-2 data for employees with no Social Security number or with “Applied For” won’t be available for import into UltraTax CS.
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Internal use only
Basics:
- The data sharing files are created inX:\WINCSI\Accounting CS Data\ClientIDand the file extensions correspond to the year's data they contain, for example.XX18would be for 2018 data and.XX19for 2019 data. These files are encrypted.
- If the data sharing files are not present inX:\WINCSI\Accounting CS Data\ClientIDafter the employee copy of W-2 was printed, verify the W-2 processing was initiated from the Process Selected button on either the Process Payroll Tax forms or Edit Payroll Tax forms screen. If thePreview Selectedbutton was used, then the employee copies were processed from within the preview, the data sharing files won’t generate.
If data sharing is not working after the set up steps have been verified and the Employee Copy (either the filing copy or client copy) of the W-2 has been printed (to paper, to a file, or ESS/Onvio/FileCabinet/GoFileRoom), try the following steps.
A small number of W-2s is not data sharing:
- Go toX:\WINCS\Accounting CS Data\ClientIDand delete (or rename) the.XXyyfiles for the client.
- Verify the application versions, file location paths, data sharing features are enabled, SSNs, and EINs as mentioned earlier in the article.
- In UltraTax CS, rebuild data sharing for the single client. Go toHelp,Repair, select the client, then selectRebuild Data sharing.
- In Accounting CS, go toSetup, thenClients, select the client and rebuild data sharing for the Current Client.
- In Accounting CS, print the employee copy of the W-2.
- Open the 1040 client in UltraTax CS. If the data sharing is still not available, delete the W-2. Go to theIncomefolder,W-2tab,Edit, then selectDelete Screen Data. Then enter the client's EIN.
All or most W-2s are not data sharing:
- Go toX:\WINCSI\Accounting CS Dataand locate all the data sharing files by using the search field and search for files that contain the following extension,.XX18.
- Delete the files.
- Rebuild data sharing in Accounting CS.
- Print the proper Employee copy of the W-2 in for each client inActions, thenProcess Payrolltax forms.
- Use these 2 filter options to isolate the employee copy of the W-2.
- Jurisdiction: Federal
- Form: Employee copy
- Select the clients, then selectProcess Selectedto print.
More information
- Accounting CS needs a firm database for integration and data sharing to work with UltraTax CS. The format of the Accounting CS database name needs to beACS_<FirmID>_Firm. (For example,ACS_0_Firm,ACS_999_Firm,ACS_798046_Firm.) Also, integration and data sharing doesn’t work if there are multiple firm databases.
- When you are testing, keep in mind if you name the Accounting CS database anything other than Firm, data sharing won’t be enabled.
- Support: Keep in mind that our data scrubber will replace SSNs with data that is considered invalid, which will prevent W-2 data sharing from working properly. For testing purposes, enter fake SSNs for employees that match in Accounting CS and UltraTax CS.
- The Licenses with different firm ID's process is sometimes used between firms. Be sure and verify that they are indeed using 2 different firm IDs in Accounting CS and UltraTax CS. This feature is most often used by myPay to send W-2 information to their Referring Accountants.