Tedious, time-consuming, error-prone, burdensome―it's probably safe to say that wage reporting isn't anyone's favorite activity. 

Each year employers must report wages paid to all employees for whom income, social security or Medicare taxes either were withheld―or would have been withheld but for withholding allowances or exemptions. The reporting requirement also includes all employees that receive cash or noncash payments in return for services, even relatives.

It's also pretty safe to say that advance planning can help to make the annual process a bit less onerous. 

Advance Preparation
You can make the wage reporting process less burdensome with a little advance preparation.

Start by making sure you know the reporting deadlines.  

Continue your advance preparations by verifying critical data, including employee names and related social security numbers and addresses. It's vital that your address information is accurate to ensure that your employees' W-2 forms can be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Correct names and social security numbers are important to ensure successful processing by relevant government agencies.

Determine the approach you'll use to file your documents: on paper or electronically. Electronic filing can often provide significant advantages. It's free, can save time, offers a later filing deadline, and provides an immediate receipt as proof that you actually filed.

Form W-2 Deadlines
The deadlines for providing completed 2009 W-2 forms to your employees and the Social Security Administration are as follows:

  February 1, 2010 You're required to provide your employees with paper copies of their W-2 forms by the last day of January each year. Because January 31 falls on a Sunday in 2010, next year's due date is February 1. 

  March 1, 2010 If you're filing paper documents with the SSA, you must file the February 2009 version of Form W-2 by March 1, 2010. It's one day later next year as the traditional due date, the last day of February, falls on a Sunday. 

  March 31, 2010 If you're filing electronically, you have until March 31 to file your W-2 forms with the SSA. 

It is important to choose either paper or electronic submission of your W-2 Forms, not both. If you submit both paper and electronic forms, the Social Security Administration processes only one of the two formats. However, the IRS processes both ― likely resulting in under-reporting notices. 

Common Errors in W-2 Processing
According to the Social Security Administration, the most common errors in W-2 processing are incorrect tax years and erroneous employer identification numbers (EINs). 

For electronic reporting, an incorrect tax year often results if you use the prior year's file as a starting point, then update the amounts but forget to update the year. If you use a third-party service provider to submit files on your behalf, your service provider may accidentally include its own EIN rather than yours, resulting in erroneous reporting.

According to the IRS other common errors include the following: 

  omitting decimal points and cents

  using light ink rather than black

  entering information that is too small or too large in size ― 12-point Courier font is recommended 

  an erroneous entry in the Retirement plan checkbox

  including dollar signs with money-amount entries

  entering a portion of an employee's name (first and middle initial, surname, or suffix) in the wrong box

Correcting an Error in Reporting
Because you're required to provide employees with their W-2 forms one month before reporting the information to the SSA (two months if you're filing electronically), you may find out about any errors and be able to correct them before you report to the SSA.

If you discover errors in the information you've actually reported to the SSA, you must file Form W-2c with your corrections. You should only file Form W-2c after the SSA has completed processing the original W-2 report―you can track processing status online. 

Beginning December 5, 2009, you can file Form W-2c online for current and prior years.

For More Information
The SSA maintains a website, Employer W-2 Filing Instructions and Information, with resources for employers. In addition to providing basic paper and electronic filing instructions, the site includes a variety of resources and tools, including Business Services Online, a Social Security number verification service, customer service options, and answers to frequently asked questions.

The IRS's 2009 Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 is available online and includes detailed information for W-2 and W-3 reporting.