Share W-2 data with UltraTax CS

Use Accounting CS to share W-2 information with 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:
  1. In both applications, go to
    Help
    , then
    About
    .
  2. Check if the firm ID is the same for both applications.
note
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 setup

  • Check if you're on the latest version of Accounting CS and UltraTax CS.
  • Check if data sharing is enabled in UltraTax CS:
    1. Go to
      Setup
      , then select
      Office Configuration
      .
    2. Select
      Data Sharing
      tab.
  • Check if data sharing is enabled in Accounting CS:
    1. Go to
      Setup
      , then select
      Firm Information
      .
    2. Select
      Firm
      , then select the
      Preferences
      tab.
    note
    If you enabled 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.
  • Check if you set up the data locations correctly in Accounting CS on each workstation where data sharing will be used.
    1. Go to
      Setup
      , then select
      File Locations
      .
    2. Check your data locations for both Accounting CS and UltraTax CS in the
      CS Professional Suite
      tab.
    3. Select
      OK
      to save any changes.
  • Check if you set up the data locations correctly in UltraTax CS on each workstation where data sharing will be used.
    1. Go to
      Setup
      , then select
      User Preferences
      .
    2. Select
      File Locations
      tab.
    3. Check your data locations for Accounting CS, Accounting CS client data (in CS Accounting Products), and UltraTax CS (in the current year UltraTax CS).
    4. Select
      OK
      to 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.
  • Ensure the SSN of the employee in Accounting CS matches the SSN of the 1040 client in UltraTax CS.
  • Ensure the EIN for the client matches between Accounting CS and UltraTax CS on the W-2 tab in the Income folder.
  • Ensure you set up the W-2 tab in the Income folder of UltraTax CS correctly for T (taxpayer) or S (spouse).
  • Ensure the client in UltraTax CS is not denied data sharing in
    Client 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.
note
Internal use only
Basics:
  • The data sharing files are created in
    X:\WINCSI\Accounting CS Data\ClientID
    and the file extensions correspond to the year's data they contain, for example
    .XX18
    would be for 2018 data and
    .XX19
    for 2019 data. These files are encrypted.
  • If the data sharing files are not present in
    X:\WINCSI\Accounting CS Data\ClientID
    after 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 the
    Preview Selected
    button 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 setup steps has 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 amount of W-2s is not data sharing:
  1. Go to
    X:\WINCS\Accounting CS Data\ClientID
    and delete (or rename) the
    .XXyy
    files for the client.
  2. Verify the application versions, file location paths, data sharing features are enabled, SSNs, and EINs as mentioned earlier in the article.
  3. In UltraTax CS, rebuild data sharing for the single client. Go to
    Help
    ,
    Repair
    , select the client, then select
    Rebuild Data sharing
    .
  4. In Accounting CS, go to
    Setup
    , then
    Clients
    , select the client and rebuild data sharing for the Current Client.
  5. In Accounting CS, print the employee copy of the W-2.
  6. Open the 1040 client in UltraTax CS. If the data sharing still is not available, delete the W-2. Go to the
    Income
    folder,
    W-2
    tab,
    Edit
    , then select
    Delete Screen Data
    . Then enter the client's EIN.
All or most W-2s is not data sharing:
  1. Go to
    X:\WINCSI\Accounting CS Data
    and locate all the data sharing files by using the search field and search for files that contain the following extension,
    .XX18
    .
  2. Delete the files.
  3. Rebuild data sharing in Accounting CS.
  4. Print the proper Employee copy of the W-2 in for each client in
    Actions
    , then
    Process Payroll
    tax forms.
  5. Use these 2 filter options to isolate the employee copy of the W-2.
    1. Jurisdiction: Federal
    2. Form: Employee copy
  6. Select the clients, then select
    Process Selected
    to 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 be
    ACS_<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.