Before activating payroll in Atto, it’s important to submit accurate historical wage data for all active, inactive, and terminated team members paid during the current calendar year. This ensures:
Proper year-end reporting on W-2s or 1099s
Accurate quarterly tax filings
A smooth payroll setup experience
What Is Considered Historical Payroll Data?
Historical payroll data includes all wages paid year-to-date, along with itemized:
Earnings
Deductions
Benefits
Taxes (employee & employer)
For Contractor Payroll Reports
If you’re submitting data for contractors (1099 workers), you only need to include:
Contractor Name
Gross Amount
Period Start Date
Period End Date
Pay Date
📎 Download the example file:
For Employee Payroll Reports
Reports for W-2 employees must include more detail:
Employee Name
Gross Amount
Earnings (break out by amount & hours)
Deductions (break out by amount)
Benefits (break out by amount)
Employee Taxes by code (e.g., FITW, FICA, Medicare, State, Local)
Employer Taxes by code (e.g., FUTA, SUTA, Medicare, FICA, other surcharges)
Net Pay
Pay Date
Period Start & End Dates
📎 Download the example file:
How to Structure Your Reports
Most payroll systems allow for custom exports to help extract this data easily. Here’s how to structure the reports:
Closed Quarters: Submit a quarterly summary for each employee/contractor.
Open Quarter (Current): Submit pay period-level data, broken down by pay date. This is required for accurate tax liability tracking and reporting.
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