Question: Payroll Accounting

You have just received a request from your finance department asking for copies of all employee garnishment notices. You are told this information is required to complete a reconciliation of the General Ledger payable account to which employee garnishment deductions are allocated each pay period. The reconciliation is being done to ensure all third-party remittances have been made.

How would you respond to this request, and in terms of best practices, who do you think should complete such a reconciliation?

Question: Year-End - Federal

An employee comes to you saying they owed money to the CRA when they filed their tax return for the previous year. The employee states that they used an accountant to file the return, who said payroll must be making a mistake when calculating income tax.

What steps would you take to review the situation and respond to the employee?

Question: Year-End Qubec

An employee in Quebec has contacted you to say there is an error on their tax slips because the amount shown in Box 14 of the T4 slip is different from Box A of the RL-1 slip and neither of these amounts match their year-to-date salary on the last pay statement of the year. The employee demands that you fix their tax slips so they can file their tax returns.

What steps would you take to review the situation and respond to the employee?

Question: Payroll Technology

Your organization will implement an employee self-service (ESS) portal, where employees will be able to manage their personal information such as home address and direct deposit information. They will also have access to their electronic pay statements and tax slips. You have been asked to help develop a communication plan to introduce employees to this new feature.

What would you include in your message to encourage employee buy-in for the new system?