Frequently Asked Questions

When your account is first set up with Advantage, our New Accounts Department will contact you to determine what day you would like to process your payroll. They will also inform you of any cut-off times by which you need to submit your payroll. If you have any questions or are unsure of these times, simply contact your local Advantage Client Service Representative to verify any information.

Contact your local Advantage office and speak to your Client Service Representative. In most circumstances, a correction can be made right away directly into our system.

If you are a Full Tax Filing client of Advantage and were on our service for the tax period in question, you can be assured that we will research and respond to the notice. Please contact your local Advantage Client Service Representative regarding the notice. You will be asked to forward it to the local office.

If you are a Non-Tax Filing client of Advantage and receive a notice, contact your local Advantage Client Service Representative regarding the notice.

You will need to contact your local Advantage Client Service Representative. We will initiate the correction and an amended W-2 will be forwarded to your office for the employee(s) involved. In some cases your quarterly returns will need to be adjusted as well. In these instances amended returns will also be forwarded to your business when the correction is completed.

Contact your Advantage Client Service Representative as soon as possible. He/she will then look into why you did not receive a W-2 for the particular employee. If the employee had wages during the calendar year, the W-2 can then be reprinted and forwarded to your office.

Contact your Advantage Client Service Representative. Be sure to have the employee's direct deposit authorization form including a copy of the employee's voided check (deposit slips are not an acceptable form of account number verification). The CSR will work with you and our Banking Department to resolve the situation.

Each bank has different posting procedures so it is a good idea to have your employee check with the receiving bank to see if the funds are there, but have not yet been posted to the account, before contacting your local Advantage office.

Contact your Advantage Client Service Representative and indicate which report you need reproduced. The report can be reproduced and then forwarded to your office.

If you subscribe to our online reporting service, you may be able to download your report by visiting www.instantpayroll.com.

Yes, just instruct your Advantage Client Service Representative as to where you would like your quarterly returns sent. We will enter the information into our system and the copies will be forwarded to the accounting professional or designee of your choice.

Contact your Advantage Client Service Representative as soon as you know the change is going to occur. You should also consult your accounting professional, as you may need to apply for a new Federal and State ID number.

If you are using a new Federal and State ID number, your previous ID numbers will need to be finalized with the tax agencies. Advantage will handle this for you if you are a Full Tax-Filing client of Advantage. Otherwise, you will need to contact the IRS and State Agencies to notify them of the change.

Advantage will need to set your business up under a new client number and start processing your payroll under the new company structure. Contracts for your new client number will be forwarded to you for completion. You will need to complete them and return them to your local Advantage Office.

Consult with your Accountant for the agencies you need to notify of the name change. You may need to apply to the state in which your business is located for the name change; the state will send you a form to mark the approval of your name change. You will also need to change your name with the IRS.

Contact your Advantage Client Service Representative and let him/her know about your name change. We will request proof that the name was changed with the IRS before our system can be updated. (A copy of an official IRS document showing the correct name is required.)

You will need to contact your Advantage Client Service Representative as soon as you know of the change. He/she will immediately change our system to reflect the correct contact person.

Due to the confidential information contained in your payroll, we are only authorized to talk to the owner of the business or designated contact person shown in our system regarding your account.

You will need to contact your Advantage Client Service Representative as soon as you know of the change. He/she will immediately change our system to reflect the correct contact person.

Due to the confidential information contained in your payroll, we are only authorized to talk to the owner of the business or designated contact person shown in our system regarding your account.

Contact your Advantage Client Service Representative as soon as you are aware of the termination. Some states require payment to the employee upon termination, while others allow you to pay the wages on the next regular schedule for your payroll.

There are a couple of ways that this can be handled to accommodate you. We can calculate the check for you giving you the gross to net amount. You can then write a check in your office and we'll post it in our system as a manual check.

Or, because of the special circumstance, we could process the check that day and make arrangements for expedited delivery. In this case, we would need the information as early as possible to allow time for the check to be processed and printed.

Please contact your local Advantage Client Service Representative for your options, as we'll work closely with you to determine the method that best meets your needs. Some commonly used options are for us to hold your payroll at our office for pick-up, or delivery via US Mail, courier, Federal Express or UPS.

Advantage handles payment of all payroll related taxes, both employer and employee. We also take full responsibility for filing all of your payroll tax returns.

Learn more about our Full Tax filing Service.

Direct deposit — the paperless way to pay your employees — is one of the safest and most effective ways to pay your employees. The risk of fraud is nearly obsolete, so you don't have to worry about lost or stolen checks.

Learn more about direct deposit.

Yes. Employers enjoy freedom from check reconciliation and bank transactional fees. Plus, you don't need to be in the office to sign and distribute paychecks on payday.

Learn more about direct deposit.

Direct deposit funds are available to your employees in their bank accounts on payday; many people enjoy this freedom from having to go to the bank to deposit their paycheck. In addition, many financial institutions offer special programs for customers who choose direct deposit — from free or reduced fee checking to reduced loan rates.

Learn more about direct deposit.

The federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) — welfare reform act of 1996 — requires every employer, regardless of size or number of employees, to report certain information on each newly hired or rehired employee by a specific deadline to a state agency that has been set up to receive that information.

The original goal of the legislation was to support child advocacy. However, the program has evolved to also allow the personnel information gathered to be shared with other government agencies. It's part of an effort to reduce unemployment insurance and workers' compensation fraud that can result in increased premium rates and depletion of an employer's reserve UI account.

Learn more about new hire reporting.

At Advantage, we offer our clients new hire reporting capabilities as a value-added service — saving them the effort of keeping up with changing state statutes, meeting filing deadlines or hiring an extra employee who specializes in new hire reporting. Each week we generate a new hire report for our clients that includes their "new hires" reported that week (non-weekly payroll clients should call-in new hires between pay periods to ensure compliance with individual state regulations). These reports are forwarded directly to the appropriate state agencies.

Learn more about new hire reporting.