Payroll formulas and updates are not included with the software. If you just installed Sage 50, most payroll taxes will not calculate automatically for you during payroll entry. (In some cases, payroll tax amounts will be inaccurate or zero.) To calculate these taxes in Sage 50 and to stay current with regulatory changes, you should subscribe to Sage Business Care, and install the latest tax update (see how below).
If you have the latest update installed, the first four digits of the version represent the current payroll tax year (for example, 20110101 represents version 0101 for payroll tax year 2011). If the first four digits of the version do not match your current payroll year, you should install the latest tax update.
If your tax version is 19000101, a generic set of payroll formulas is installed on your system. These formulas are supplied with previous installations of Sage 50. During payroll entry, these formulas will not calculate accurate payroll tax amounts. (Most calculated amounts will be zero.) Sage 50 does not provide formulas with each version of the product that it ships. For up-to-date formulas, subscribe to Sage Business Care.
The update includes a setup program that will automatically install new Sage-maintained formulas and payroll forms. Also included in the update is a BULLETIN.CHM file, which describes recent tax changes in detail.
Note: If you modified an existing Sage-maintained formula (which is not recommended) and the tax update file contains a Sage-maintained formula with the same ID and name (same year), your modified Sage-maintained formula will be overwritten. (You will lose your changes.)