2011 Review of EG Systems, Inc. — The W-2/1099 Filer

EG Systems, Inc. - The W-2/1099 Filer
800-264-3155
www.W21099.com 

From the Oct. 2011 Review of W-2 & 1099 Compliance Systems.

Best Fit:

Professional practices with large client rosters for whom they provide year-end reporting.

Strengths:

• Excellent multi-client management functionality.
• Comprehensive state, federal & local form support.
• Multiple batch filing & printing options.
• Good integration capabilities.
• Barcoding of W-2s & SSN masking.
• Automated, free web-based data backup.

Potential Limitations:

• No built-in client billing utility.

A long-time developer of year-end compliance systems, EG Systems’ W-2/1099 Filer program is designed to give comprehensive state and federal wage and information reporting capabilities to professional firms managing compliance for multiple business clients. The developers have consistently added new features each year, building the program into a powerful resource that includes barcoding of W-2s, SSN masking, batch printing, e-filing, multi-level security, automated web-based backup and a full audit trail.

Basic System Functions (5 Stars)

W-2/1099 Filer can be installed on individual workstations or across networked servers and used by any number of staff in a professional firm. It can manage unlimited numbers of payers and recipients. The program’s setup functions are easy to understand and use, with the ability to create user groups and access rights that are based on specific tasks and program areas. The main interface offers pull-down and icon-based toolbars across the top of the screen, with quick access to client and recipient lists that allow sorting and filtering, and also display broad summary information on the entities. These lists can be quickly output as reports.

Forms can be selected and created or edited while within either a client or recipient’s records, or directly from the main toolbar or pull-down menus. When working with forms, the program offers data entry on either form replicas or on interview-style sheets, with both providing lookup lists for selecting payers or recipients. Basic data then auto-populates on the forms. The recipients are not tied to one EIN, but can be used across multiple companies, which can save time for separate businesses that use common contractors. Likewise, the program has a useful reverse cross-reference view by recipient.

For W-2s, the system offers automatic calculation of FICA wages and withholding, which can be turned off. The program tracks all overrides and other data changes using a full-time audit trail. Address fields also provide lookup of city/state data using ZIP Code entry, and data can be imported from various formats.

W-2/1099 Filer includes a special 1098 allocation feature with split-year capability. The system offers good customization of toolbars and default settings across either all clients or on a business-by-business basis, including masking of SSNs, the ability to skip over some fields and various batch mode options for printing. W-2/1099 Filer is not designed for after-the-fact payroll, but it does include compliance reporting for 94X series forms as well as a net payroll calculator. The company noted that it offers a separate After-the-Fact Payroll Reporting for quarterly reporting, and that it integrates with the W-2/1099 Filer at year end. W-2/1099 Filer includes a free, automatic web backup utility that can be set to save data remotely on secure servers after system use. The program is easily downloadable and can be either installed on a network server, or used via remote hosting technologies in-firm or through third party ASPs.

Reporting (4.75 Stars)