Program Overview
All procedures can be started from either the pull-down menus at the top of the screen, an icon on the main toolbar or by pressing a keyboard shortcut key. The idea behind the program is pretty simple. All you have to do is enter the numbers and then do some printing. You first select which form to work with. The program will then prompt you to enter a payor that is in the system. If the payor is not in the system, you will need to set it up first (Names/Addresses the Payors from the menu, Ctl-P shortcut key or icon on the toolbar).
There are 3 ways to input data which can be selected from the main menu.
CLASSICFORMS and INTERACTIVE FORMS
This is a table-based approach to viewing what records have been input for a payor. After selecting this option you will be presented with a list to choose which form you wish to work with. You will then be presented with a table of payors that are setup in the system. After you choose one to work with, another table will popup with forms that are already entered for this payor. The table will be empty the first time you are entering records for this payor. In order to add new records, press the INS key or select the INSERT button. To change a record, highlight that record and either press the ENTER key or select the CHANGE button. To delete a record, highlight that record and either press the DEL key or select the DELETE button. Alternatively you may perform an action on a record by highlighting it and giving 1 right click with the mouse, which will popup a menu.
Updating a record from the table can be performed via 2 methods. One method is a full-screen classic style entry type of form. The other is an interactive form design that resembles the actual form being input. Currently the interactive method is only available for Forms W-2, 1099-MISC, 1099-R, 1099-DIV and 1099-INT.
When adding records it will be necessary to pull up an employee/recipient. When the cursor is on the field for the ID# of the employee /recipient, you can pull up a list of the employee/recipients in the system by either pressing the F2 key or clicking on the ellipses button to the right of the field. A list of employee/recipients will appear where you can add new records or change existing records. You can search the employee/recipient list by typing out the first few letters of the person's last name (or first few letters of a company name). Select an employee/ recipient by choosing OK on a highlighted employee/recipient record or by pressing the ENTER key. You will be automatically brought back to the initial data entry screen with the ID#, name and address of the employee/ recipient appearing right on the form. You may then tab over to the other fields on the screen and fill them out appropriately.
QUICKENTRY
Provides you with a spreadsheet-based method of entry. If a record already exists in the list you can double click on the field you wish to change. You can also press ENTER or click the CHANGE button. If a record needs to be entered then click the INSERT button. To end editing the record just press the ENTER key.
TREES
Provides you with a Windows explorer type interface to enter/modify/delete records. There are 3 types of trees available for you to use. The second tree in the menu currently has a bug. To properly view the records on the right side of the screen you will need to double left-click with the mouse or give a single right click. When updating or adding records on a form you will be taken to a data input screen for that form. It will either be the classic style form or the interactive form, which is dependent on the option selected as your default in system options.
NAMES/ADDRESSES
The options here are used to only setup payor and employee/recipient names and addresses in the system. Note that the program allows you to enter this information "ON-THE-FLY" during form entry. This option merely accesses the data independently of form entry. Once a name or address is setup in the system, that information is permanent and will stay there from year to year unless it is deleted. This section is useful to either change option is used to either change only name and address information that has previously been entered or Proforma names and addresses for next year.
Payors:
This section is where you setup your Payors, the business issuing the form.
Please not the following:
The primary state ID is the state ID for the state showing the address. If you need to enter additional state ID's, there is a separate table available to the right where you can setup any other state with their ID. You only need to setup the state ID once for the payor. It will be pulled automatically when printing a form.
You have the option of overriding the default federal ID format of XX-XXXXXXX so that the format XXX-XX-XXXX will appear on all printed output. This is useful for Schedule C businesses that do not have a Federal Employer ID #.
The Contact person, title of contact person and telephone number will appear on transmittal Form 1096 if entered under the Payor.
There is an option to suppress the printing of payor information on all forms. This is useful for those entities that purchase preprinted forms imprinted with their payor ID # and name and address. Of course our program will print this information on each form but a few customers still buy their forms this way.
Payor Name Control - an abbreviation of the payor's name assigned to you by the IRS (no spaces). This may be obtained from the mail label on the Package 1099 that is mailed to each payor. Leave blank if unknown. The program will make its best guess at what it is.
Combined Federal / State Filer - Whether or not the payor has been approved in the federal/state combined filing program and if the submitted magnetic media will be forwarded to a state agency. Please note that only approved filers may participate in this program. You need to be approved only once and must submit a test file by December 15th of the filing year. The states that participate in this program are as follows:
Alabama / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Delaware / DC / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Maine / Massachusetts / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Oregon / South Carolina / Tennessee / Wisconsin
Employee / Recipients
Within this table all of the employee/recipient's permanent information such as TIN, name and address are maintained. Records appear in this table ordered by Last Name / First Name.
ONCE AN EMPLOYEE / RECIPIENT EXISTS IN THE EMPLOYEE / RECIPIENT FILE, THAT INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE FOR USE ON ANY FORM BY ANY PAYOR. If the employee / recipient has a middle name, type it in along with the area provided for the first name.