Check Glossary
Explore a glossary of common embedded payroll terms.
Term | Definition |
941 | Form 941—filed quarterly by employers to report wages subject to federal income‑tax withholding, federal income tax, Social Security tax, and Medicare tax. |
Amendment | An amended return filed to correct an earlier tax return that contained an error. Required whenever a correction is made to a payroll already reflected in quarterly filings. Example: discovering an issue from a February payroll in May; you must correct February and file first‑quarter amendments. |
Approval deadline | Latest date/time a payroll can be approved—respecting Check’s 5 pm PT cutoff—to ensure funds are paid on the scheduled payday. |
Balancing | Reconciling wages, taxes, benefits, post‑tax deductions, and net pay from a prior provider against data entered in Check to ensure accurate quarterly returns and year‑end W‑2s. |
Basis | The payment methodology for an employee’s base pay (hourly, salary, piece, commission). Required on paystubs in MN, NY, RI, WA. Shift, day, or week bases aren’t supported by Check. |
Benefits (Pre‑tax deductions) | Amounts excluded from gross wages before taxes, reducing taxable wages and tax owed. Examples: Medical, Dental, Vision, FSA, Dependent Care, 401(k). |
Child support | Court‑ordered payments a non‑custodial parent must make for child support. Each state uses standardized guidelines to set the amount. |
Closed quarter | A calendar quarter in which all pay dates have been processed and reported to federal and state agencies. |
Company (Employer / ER / Customer) | A business entity registered with the IRS. |
Company activation | Validating data from Company Setup and enrolling the company for tax withholding, payment, and filing in Check. |
Company enrollment (Onboarding) | Taking a company from initial creation (Check identifier only) to being able to run its first payroll. |
Company review | Check Operations’ risk‑management assessment (Fraud, Regulatory, Processing‑Timeline reviews) performed before any money movement. Formerly called KYB or business verification. |
Company setup | Configuring company demographics, collecting signed forms, setting tax parameters, and migrating historical payroll data into Check. |
Correction | A forward‑looking action to fix an error in a previously processed payroll (e.g., one‑off payroll, void, or other adjustment). Example: on Feb 16 correcting an overpayment from the Feb 15 payroll on the next payroll run. |
DBA (Doing Business As) | A trade name under which a company operates without changing its legal entity. Stored in Check as Company.trade_name. |
Direct deposit | Electronic transfer of funds from an employer’s bank account directly to an employee’s bank account(s). |
Disposable earnings (Disposable income) | For garnishments: earnings minus mandatory deductions, as defined by each state. |
Earning (Wage) | Money earned for work—gross amount before deductions. |
Earnings type | The specific category of pay (base, overtime, bonus, sick leave, etc.). An employee typically has several earnings types. |
EIN | Employer Identification Number issued by a state or local tax authority (format varies). Needed to make deposits and file taxes. |
Employee benefit | Any benefit a company offers its employees, funded by employer contributions or employee withholdings. |
Employee demographics | Required data to create an employee profile: legal name, address, SSN, DOB, hire date, status, workplace, termination date (if any). |
FEIN | Federal Employer Identification Number—nine‑digit identifier issued by the IRS when a business registers; required for federal tax filing. |
FICA (Social Security) | Mandatory federal tax shared equally (6.2 % each) by employee and employer up to the annual wage‑base limit. |
Fringe benefits | Compensation beyond regular pay. Generally taxable at fair‑market value unless IRS‑designated as non‑taxable. |
FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act) | Employer‑paid federal unemployment tax on the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages. Standard rate 6 %; after typical 5.4 % credit, net 0.6 %. Paid annually and coordinated with state UI. |
Gross wages | Total pay earned (hours × rate or salary) before any adjustments or deductions. |
L0 Support | Support between employees and employers (e.g., an employee asks their employer about missing hours). |
L1 Support | Support between employers and partners (payroll providers). |
L2 Support | Support between partners (payroll providers) and Check. |
Medicare | Mandatory federal tax at 1.45 % each for employer and employee. No wage‑base limit. Employees pay an additional 0.9 % on wages above the high‑earner threshold. |
Net pay | “Take‑home” pay after all deductions. |
Open quarter | The current calendar quarter in which wages are still being paid. |
Payday | Calendar date on which employees or contractors are paid for a pay period. |
Payroll | A collection of payroll items representing total debits (taxes, benefits, net pay) and each employee’s pay components. Status can be draft, pending, processing, or paid. |
Payroll item | A single payment entry from a company to an employee for work in one location (e.g., regular pay, bonus). |
PTD (Post‑tax deduction) | Amounts deducted after taxes; they don’t affect taxable wages. Examples: loans, uniforms. |
Reimbursement | Nontaxable payment to employees for business or qualifying education expenses (taxable reimbursements are treated as earnings). |
Return of payment | A failed employer debit (e.g., insufficient funds). Check’s Risk team works with partner/employer to resolve via redebit, wire, or collections. |
Routing | Assigning a support issue to the responsible person or team. |
State tax returns | Quarterly state filings reporting wages and taxes withheld; some states combine withholding and unemployment, others require separate returns. |
SUI (State Unemployment Insurance) | Employer‑paid state unemployment tax. Wage‑base limits and rates vary by state and employer experience. |
Subject wages | Wages subject to a specific tax after allowable exemptions. Often called gross subject wages. |
Taxable wages | Wages on which a given tax is calculated, taking wage‑base limits into account (sometimes used interchangeably with subject wages). |
Termination date | Last day of a worker’s employment. |
Triaging | Setting priority for a support request. |
Void | Rolling back a payroll’s effects. Before funds leave escrow, it’s a “reopen”; after, it’s a “reversal.” |
Wage base limit | Amount of wages subject to a given tax for a period (usually a year). Once exceeded, no further tax is withheld for that tax type. |
Withhold | To deduct tax from an employee’s paycheck and remit it to the appropriate agency. |
Wire (FedWire) | Same‑day (generally immediate) electronic funds transfer. |
Workplace | The employee’s work location (use residence if remote). Establishes tax nexus in that jurisdiction. |
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Last updated on March 31, 2024