The Ohio Quarterly Wage Report is simple, but employers have to file every few months. If you don’t have a system in place to prepare and file the report, you could spend hours hunting down the appropriate information. If you’re a small business owner, every minute you spend on tax and wage reporting is a minute not spent providing your service. There are, however, a few things you can do to save time on the process.
Here’s what you need to know about the Quarterly Wage Report and how investing in a software tool can save you both time and money.
Understanding the Ohio Quarterly Wage Report Process
These reports are due on the last day of the first month following the close of the calendar quarter being reported. In Ohio, the postmark date is considered the date of filing, but if the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, it should be postmarked by the next business day. That said, even if you had no employees and paid no wages during the calendar quarter, you must still submit a report indicating that you had no employment. However, this can be done through the Interactive Voice Response system (i.e. by telephone) by calling 866-448-2829. Before doing this, you should have your ODJFS employer number and FEIN available. The Ohio unemployment compensation tax return, on the other hand, is only for employers who have permission to file on paper.
The Ohio Quarterly Wage Report must be filed online through ERIC, the state’s Employer Resource and Information Center. The Department of Jobs and Family Services recommends uploading data directly into ERIC, but to do this, you must use the Ohio Wage Reporting Tool. This helps employers and third-party administrators create a file in the acceptable ICESA format necessary to be uploaded to ERIC. The tool also allows data to be entered offline and then uploaded to ERIC all at once, streamlining the process.
How AMS Can Help
Using the Ohio Wage Reporting Tool is easy, but what happens when your data is scattered across several files on your work computer? If you’ve been calculating withholding tax and unemployment compensation manually, this could describe your situation. AMS aims to fix that problem.
Our 1099 software suite is a perfect tool for generating withholding data and storing it in one place. The software will automatically calculate federal, state, and local taxes, withhold the appropriate amount from paychecks, and store that information until you need it. Then, when you’re ready to complete your Ohio Quarterly Wage Report, simply access the information, use the Wage Reporting Tool to create an ICESA file, and upload to ERIC. It can be that simple. Every solution starts with our Forms Filer platform.
If this sounds like a service you want to try, download our free demo to see just how effective it can be. If you love the product, we recommend trying another of our add-on modules, listed below. Tax and wage reporting is easier when you have a software to help.