Verify That Your State Unemployment Wage Limit and Percentage Rate Are Correct

Related topics

Update the employer state unemployment (SUI ER) formula to a new payroll tax year

Perform other payroll tasks

Review the payroll year-end checklist

Read the year-end overview

It is very important to verify that your company's current employer state unemployment (Sage 50's SUI ER) wage percentage and limits are accurate before printing annual payroll tax reports and closing the payroll year. This ensures proper tax reporting. Employer state unemployment (SUI ER) percentage rates and wage limits can depend on your company location or type of business. Therefore, you maintain the SUI ER tax formulas and must update them each year. Updates in employer state unemployment rates and wage limits are not covered as part of a Sage Business Care plan.

Note: Some employee-paid state unemployment tax formula updates are included as part of a Sage Business Care plan (Gold or Platinum) or a monthly subscription. The procedure below is only intended for employer–paid state unemployment tax formulas.

You must subscribe to a Sage Business Care plan to update payroll formulas in Sage 50.

To verify that your state unemployment rates are correct, first locate your company's current state unemployment documents or contact your state unemployment tax authority. To check your state unemployment wage base limit and percent in Sage 50, follow these steps:

  1. From the File menu, select Payroll Formulas, then User-Maintained.
  2. Select the current SUI ER formula ID for your state (for example, GASUI ER 01).
  3. In Formula box, locate the LIMIT= and PERCENT= lines. Below is an example of how the formula may appear.

    LIMIT = 8500;

    PERCENT = 3.00000;

    TAXABLE_GROSS = YTD_LIMIT (ADJUSTED_GROSS, LIMIT);

    ANSWER = -TAXABLE_GROSS * PERCENT%

    If your state unemployment wage base limit and percentage are incorrect, you will need to edit the formulas. You may need to make a General Journal entry to adjust the affected G/L account balances.

    Note: When entering a PERCENT value, use at least two decimal places. For example, if your percentage rate is 3%, then enter PECRENT=3.00; if your percentage rate is 2.7%, then enter PERCENT=2.70.

  4. If required, change the limit and percent displayed in the formula.

    If you are unsure, check with your state unemployment authority to determine if your area has a new unemployment limit and percent.

  5. Save the formula, and close the window.