As quarter-end approaches, HR departments often face a whirlwind of tasks that need to be completed with precision and efficiency. From reconciling payroll to ensuring that benefits and taxes are accurately accounted for, the stakes are high. Errors can lead to compliance issues, financial discrepancies, and unnecessary stress. That’s why having a robust process in place is essential—and why leveraging powerful HR technology like UKG products can make all the difference.
In this blog post, we’ll explore quarter-end best practices for HR departments and how UKG solutions and CORE HCM can help you streamline these critical tasks.
1. Reconcile Payroll Accurately
Payroll reconciliation is one of the most crucial tasks at quarter-end. It involves comparing payroll records against financial records to ensure that all payments are accurate and accounted for. This process helps identify discrepancies that could lead to payroll errors, which in turn could result in employee dissatisfaction or compliance issues.
Best Practices:
- Review Payroll Reports: Generate detailed payroll reports for the quarter and cross-reference them with your general ledger.
- Verify Adjustments: Ensure that any payroll adjustments made during the quarter, such as bonuses, deductions, or overtime, are correctly reflected in the reports.
- Audit Employee Records: Double-check that employee records, including tax information and pay rates, are up to date and accurate.
How CORE HCM Can Help: UKG Pro® provides powerful payroll management solutions that enable you to automate and simplify payroll reconciliation. With advanced features like real-time reporting, automated audits, and seamless integration with your financial systems, UKG Pro® ensures payroll accuracy and compliance, minimizing the risk of errors. CORE HCM leverages these tools and best practices to ensure your organization is fully prepared for quarter-end, helping you optimize processes and stay ahead of deadlines.
2. Reconcile Benefits Administration
Benefits reconciliation involves ensuring that all employee benefits, such as health insurance, retirement contributions, and other perks, are accurately recorded and accounted for. This process is essential to ensure that both the company and employees are receiving the correct benefits.
Best Practices:
- Cross-Check Benefits Deductions: Compare benefits deductions in your payroll system with those recorded by your benefits providers to ensure consistency.
- Review Employee Contributions: Verify that employee contributions to benefits, such as 401(k) plans, are correctly calculated and recorded.
- Review W2 Reports: Ensure that W2s are matching to all benefits reported.
- Confirm Enrollment Data: Ensure that all eligible employees are enrolled in the correct benefits plans and that any changes made during the quarter are accurately reflected.
How UKG Can Help: UKG Ready® simplifies benefits administration by providing a centralized platform to manage and reconcile benefits data. With automated benefits tracking, integration with providers, and detailed reporting capabilities, UKG Ready® ensures that your benefits reconciliation process is efficient and error-free.
3. Reconciliation and Tax Filing
Quarter-end is also a critical time for reconciling and filing taxes. This process involves verifying that all payroll taxes have been correctly calculated, withheld, and reported. Accurate tax reconciliation is essential to avoid penalties and ensure compliance with federal, state, and local tax regulations.
Best Practices:
- Verify Tax Withholdings: Ensure that all payroll tax withholdings are accurate and align with the amounts reported to tax authorities.
- Review Tax Filings: Cross-check that all tax filings, such as Form 941, have been submitted accurately and on time.
- Prepare for Year-End: Use quarter-end as an opportunity to prepare for year-end tax filing by organizing all necessary documents and records.
How CORE HCM Can Help: Our team can review your current practices to align with real-time compliance monitoring to assist with reconciliation and tax filing practices.
4. Optimize Your Quarter-End Process
While reconciling payroll, benefits, and taxes are critical tasks, quarter-end also provides an opportunity to review and optimize your overall HR processes. Take this time to identify any inefficiencies or areas for improvement in your HR systems and workflows.
Best Practices:
- Conduct a Process Audit: Review your quarter-end processes to identify bottlenecks or areas where automation could improve efficiency.
- Update Employee Records: Ensure that all employee records are current and that any changes in employment status, pay rates, or benefits are accurately reflected.
- Plan for the Next Quarter: Use the insights gained from your quarter-end review to plan for the next quarter, setting goals and identifying areas for improvement.
How CORE HCM Can Help:
UKG solutions are built to not only streamline your quarter-end tasks but also enhance your overall HR processes. With powerful features like real-time analytics, customizable workflows, and advanced reporting, either UKG Pro® or UKG Ready® can empower you to continuously refine and improve your HR operations, making each quarter more efficient than the last. Since quarter-end success is directly tied to your ongoing payroll practices, the CORE HCM team is here to help review and optimize those processes, ensuring seamless execution every step of the way.
Quarter-end doesn’t have to be a stressful time for HR departments. By following these best practices and leveraging the powerful capabilities of UKG products, you can ensure that your payroll, benefits, and tax reconciliation processes are accurate, compliant, and efficient. At CORE HCM, we’re here to help you navigate these challenges with confidence, providing the expertise and support you need to make quarter-end a smooth and successful experience.
Ready to optimize your quarter-end process? Contact CORE HCM today to learn how we can help you maximize using UKG reporting for your HR department.