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Magnetic Media Formats

This chapter contains the following topics:

State Magnetic Media Reporting

General Appearance

Record Formats

Format Specifications

Verify a Format

Sample Report

Copy Format

Delete Format

State Magnetic Media Reporting

This selection allows you to define state quarterly and annual electronic reports according to specifications provided by each state. Some states have mandatory electronic file reporting requirements for quarterly unemployment insurance reports and/or annual wage reports. If this is the case in your state, you need to use this selection to enter the formats for these reports.

Magnetic media formats is similar to, but more powerful than, the Quarterly reports formats described in the preceding chapter.

Records can be grouped and sorted according to some field in the record. Each such group can be preceded by a group header record and/or followed by a group total record.

Records can also be batched at arbitrary intervals (so many employees to a batch). Each such “batch” can be preceded by a header record (called an intermediate header record) and/or followed by an intermediate total record.

General Formats

The general format for electronic report files typically consists of File Header records (in which employer information is reported), Employee detail records (used to report employees, their wages and other information, one record set per employee), and File total records. The different kinds of records (File header, Employee detail, File total) are called record classes.

Because this selection covers all states, record classes are provided as solutions to the problems presented by individual state rules and regulations.

Defining Magnetic Report Formats

The format for an electronic media report is defined by entering some general information about the report, using the General appearance option, and then entering specific layouts for each of the record classes included in the report, using the Record formats option. A record class can contain more than one record type. For example, many states base their formats on the Federal W-2 electronic report format, which uses three different record types for reporting employee detail. You would enter a record format for each of these record types. You can print a list of your report formats and their specifications using Format specifications.

Verifying Report Formats

After a report format is entered, it must be verified before it can be used. This is done with the Verify option. The Sample report option allows a sample electronic report file to be produced which can be viewed with a word processing program, text file viewer, or printed with the Magnetic media report list selection, which is accessed directly from the Reports, general main-menu selection.

The Copy option allows an existing format to be copied to a new one. This is useful when two report formats are almost the same and have only slight differences.

Use the Delete option to delete am electronic report format when it is no longer needed.

A format is sometimes called a layout.

For more information, refer to the State Magnetic Media Reports appendix.

General Appearance

Use this option to:

Select

General appearance from the Magnetic media formats menu.

The following screen displays:

From this screen you can work with new and existing formats. Enter the information as follows:

1. Report format code

Enter a code to identify this new or existing format. Each segment of the code is required. The first segment is intended to identify the state and the second segment to contain further identification such as the effective date or revision number. Neither segment is validated and any input is accepted.

Options 

You can also use one of the options:

2. Report format description

For a new format, enter up to four lines of description. For an existing format, the description displays automatically.

3. Annual or quarterly report or Report frequency

The field name changes based on the setting for Show state jurisdiction fields in Control information. If that field is checked then this displays as Report frequency, otherwise it is Annual or quarterly report.

If the field label is Annual or quarterly, enter A if this format is for an annual report (used by Annual reports (Mag media)), or Q if it is for a quarterly report (used by Quarterly reports (Mag media)). These reports are found under the main menu Reports, General.

If the field label is Report frequency, you have two additional options. You may also select M for Monthly reports (used by Monthly reports (Mag media)) and S for State quarterly reports (used by Quarterly reports (Mag media)). These reports are found under the main menu selection Reports, State.

Reports created for any of the selections can be printed using Magnetic media report list.

4. Report file name and

5. Report file name extension

Enter the appropriate file name and extension for the electronic report file. For example, the Federal W-2 magnetic media report uses the file name W2REPORT. The file name to use is given in the reporting specifications provided to you by your state agency. The extension is usually blank.

6. Record length

Enter the record length for this electronic format file. All records output for the report have this length. The record length is given in the electronic reporting specifications provided to you by your state agency.

Record length does not include the optional CR/LF specified in the next field. If you answer Y to Field #7, the actual record length will be two characters longer than what you enter here. If you want a record length of 512 and you are select Y to field 7, enter 510 for the record length.

7. End each record with CR/LF ?

(Carriage return/Line feed)

Answer Y to append carriage return and line feed characters (in that sequence) to the end of each record in the report file. Answer N to not append. The electronic reporting specifications provided to you by your state agency specify whether this is to be done or not.

Field number to change ?

Options 

Make any desired changes. For an existing entry, you can use one of the options:

Press <Enter> for the next entry screen, which displays as follows:

Enter the following information:

8. Employee names are entered

If you enter your employees’ names with the personal name first (e.g., “Martin van Buren”) in each employee record, enter F here. If you enter them with the surname first (e.g., “van Buren, Martin”), enter L here.

9. File header records ?
10. Group header records ?
11. Intermediate header records ?
12. Employee records ?
13. Intermediate total records ?
14. Group total records ?
15. File total records ?

These fields let you select which record classes to include for this format. Consult the specifications provided to you by your state agency for which record classes you need. Generally, those records which appear only once at the beginning of the report file are in the file header class. Those that appear for each employee are in the employee class. Those that appear only once at the end of the report file are in the file total class.

If your state requires employee records to be grouped by a field (for example, plant number) you may need to include either or both the group header class and the group total class.

If your state requires intermediate totals after a specified number of employees have been reported, you need to include the intermediate total class.

The software will allow you to respond N to each of these fields, but a report with no classes at all is not meaningful.

Answer Y to include a record class, or N to exclude it from the report.

16. Group ordered by field

If you have entered N for both Field #10 and Field #14, groups are not used and the report is ordered in straight employee-number sequence. This field then displays as Not applicable and cannot be entered.

Otherwise, this field is required (the software will allow you to leave it blank, but the resulting format cannot be verified).

Enter the number of the field to be used in grouping employees. Field numbers consist of two segments: a prefix EF or EX, followed by am arbitrary number. The prefix indicates whether this is a regular or extended field, respectively. All of these fields are in the Employees selection.

Upon entry of a valid field number, its name displays alongside.

Regular fields are listed in the State Magnetic Media Report FieldsAppendix of this manual. Extended fields are user-defined. You can view them via Define extended fields.

Options 

To avoid looking up the field number, you can use one of the following options instead of entering a field number.

If you enter the first segment of the field number as EF, instead of entering the second segment you can use the option:

If you enter the first segment of the field number as EX, instead of entering the second segment you can the option:

If you choose to display a window of either the regular or the extended fields, all of the fields are displayed in a scrollable table, one column wide. The current field is highlighted. Use <Up>, <Down>, <PgUp>, <PgDn>, <Home>, and <End> to move to the desired field. Alternately, you can press # to enter a field number directly. The table will scroll to that point. Either way, when you have selected the desired field press <Enter> to select it.

17. Intermediate record frequency

If you have entered N for both Field #11 and Field #13, employees are not batched. This field then displays as Not applicable and cannot be entered.

Otherwise, this field is required (the software will allow you to leave it blank, but the resulting format cannot be verified). Enter how many employees there are in each batch.

If the number of employees is not an exact multiple of the frequency entered, one batch is necessarily a short batch. This is always the last batch on the file.

Field number to change ?

Make any desired changes. Press <Enter> for the next entry screen:

Enter further information as follows:

18. File header
19. Group header
20. Intermediate header
21. Employee
22. Intermediate total
23. Group total
24. File total

These fields correspond respectively to Fields #9 through 15 on the previous screen. Record classes which are absent from this format (i.e., which were entered as N on the previous screen) appear as Not applicable on this screen and cannot be entered. Conversely, any record class which was entered as Y on the previous screen must have at least one record type defined for it on this screen.

The following fields allow up to ten record types to be named for each record class. The name for a record type can be up to three characters. These names are used as identifiers when adding record formats. When an electronic report file contains several different records, they are identified by codes which appear in the same place in each record. Each record uses a different code. For example, one of the Federal W-2 reports uses the following record identifiers:

To make an electronic report format easy to use, use the record identifiers as specified in your state’s electronic format as the names for the record types in the fields below.

Each record type you enter here must be subsequently be defined using the Record formats selection (otherwise the report format cannot be validated).

Record types should be entered in the order in which it is intended that they appear on the report. Two identically-named record types are not permitted within the same record class. This is legal (though not recommended) within different record classes. When it happens, each record type is distinct and must be defined separately.

Enter the names of the record types in each record class included in the electronic report format.

Field number to change ?

Make any desired changes. Press <Enter> to complete the transaction.

Record Formats

Use this option to enter the formats for each record in the electronic report. First, you select which electronic report format to work with, and then you select the record class and record type whose format you want to enter or change.

Select

Record formats from the Magnetic media formats menu.

The following screen displays:

From this screen you can work only with existing formats. To create a new format, use the General appearance selection.

Enter the information as follows:

Report format code

Options 

Enter the report format code you want to work with or use one of the options:

Upon selection of an existing format, the following screen displays:

For each record class (lettered A) through G) on the screen), the record types already specified for this format in General appearance are listed. It will be recalled that there can be up to ten for each class.

From this screen you can work with both new and existing record types for this report format, provided that they are among the record types listed in A) through G) of the screen itself. There is one exception: If the General appearance selection has been utilized to eliminate a record type from the format after that record type has been defined in Record formats, that record type is accessible even though it does not appear on this screen. The only thing you can do with it after it has been accessed is to delete it.

Enter the information as follows:

* 1. Record class

Options 

Enter a record class A through G (as shown in the above screen), or use the option:

* 2. Record type

Options 

Enter the name of a record type for the class entered above, or use the option:

3. Record description

Enter a description for this record format.

Field number to change ?

Options 

Make any desired changes. For an existing entry, you can also use one of the options:

Press <Enter> for the next entry screen:

This is a scrollable screen containing a single row for each defined field in the record. Fields are in ascending sequence by their position. Fields cannot overlap each other, and the record length defined for this format in General appearance is the rightmost available location for any field. However, gaps may exist between fields. All fields are in straight ASCII format (you cannot define binary or packed-decimal fields).

Any field in either the employer or employee record (regular or extended) can be included in the record layout, as well as any predefined text.

Options 

The current field is highlighted and can be changed. To move horizontally, press <Enter>. The cursor will move to the next field. Vertical movement is possible only when the cursor is in the leftmost column, in which case the options available are:

Note that <Left> and <Right> are not active, and that <Up> and <Down> are active only when in the leftmost column. However, <Esc> is active in all columns — in the leftmost column it terminates screen entry and returns you to the previous screen, in any other column it cancels changes to this line and returns you to the leftmost column.

Enter information by column as follows:

Beg

Enter the beginning position of the field. This cannot exceed the record length and must be greater than the ending position of the preceding field if any.

End

Enter the ending position in the field. This cannot exceed the record length, must be less than the beginning position of the next field if there is one, and must not be less than the beginning position of this field. The length of the field, as determined from its beginning and ending locations, cannot exceed fifty characters.

Be aware that it is permissible to define a receiving field smaller or larger than the defined size of the sending field. Truncation or padding will occur as required. Editing symbols (minus sign, decimal point) do occupy space, and you must allow for them when defining the beginning and ending positions.

Field

Specify a code identifying what employee or employer information you want to put into this field. Field numbers consist of two segments:

Options 

A prefix, which is one of the following:

An arbitrary number identifying the field.

Upon entry of a valid field number, its name displays alongside.

Regular fields are listed in the State Magnetic Media Report Fields Appendix of this documentation. Extended fields are user-defined. You can view them via Define extended fields.

Options 

To avoid looking up the field number, you can use one of the following options instead of entering a field number:

If you choose to display a window of either the regular or the extended fields, all of the fields are displayed in a scrollable table, one column wide. The current field is highlighted. Use <Up>, <Down>, <PgUp>, <PgDn>, <Home>, and <End> to move to the desired field. Alternately, you can press # to enter a field number directly. The table will scroll to that point. Either way, when you have selected the desired field press <Enter> to select it.

If you enter the first segment of the field number explicitly, the cursor moves to the second segment and the option key corresponding to the prefix entered remains available. For example, if you type EF the cursor moves to the second segment and the <F1> option (but only that option) remains available.

Decimals

Enter the number of decimal positions (digits to the right of the decimal point) to show in the report for a numeric field. The default is 2 decimals. Decimal positions are not entered for alphanumeric (character) fields or date fields.

Note that the positions to the left of the decimal are not entered because they are implied. The number of digits to the right of the decimal are subtracted from the size of the receiving field as determined by its beginning and ending locations. Any positions required for editing symbols (decimal point, minus sign) are also subtracted. Whatever is left over is what you have available to receive the integer portion of the sending field. No warning is issued when this remainder is smaller than the defined size of the sending field (nor indeed when it is zero or even negative).

Neg

Options 

If the field selected can be negative, make one of the following selections for showing the minus sign of a negative number:

Generally, states do not allow negative money amounts to be reported.

Rnd

Options 

If the Decimals field is set to anything greater than zero, this field determines when the decimals are rounded. Select Y to round the decimals to the nearest dollar amount. Otherwise, select N to not do any rounding.

In most cases you will set this to N, but Louisiana requires this option set to Y.

Just

If the field selected is alphanumeric, enter L to justify the contents of the field to the left, R to justify the contents of the field to the right, or N for no justification. Here is an example, assuming that the sending field is six characters long and its current value is “bbXYbb” (where bb represents spaces):

Fill

If the field selected is alphanumeric (character) and is justified to the right, enter S to fill the unused positions on the left with spaces (blanks), or Z to fill the unused positions on the left with zeros.

Special

Special information is associated with certain fields. This information varies with the type of field, and cannot be represented in the simple row/column arrangement of this screen. When such information is present, a Y displays in this column. A special window displays to enter or change the data. Each of these windows is explained separately in the following sections.

If you want to change special entries for an existing line, you can use the <F6> option from the leftmost column. Alternately, you can press <Enter> repetitively until the Special column is reached, at which point the window will appear.

The special column can never be entered directly. A Y in this column does not imply that any (non blank) value has been specified for whatever special processing is available, nor is there any way you can change the Y to an N — the Y is merely there to inform you that a special window is in fact associated with this field type.

Entering Information in Special Entry Windows

This section explains how to enter information in different types of special entry windows.

Special entry windows: Text

This special entry window is displayed for the following field:

All text fields are numbered EF-001, but this is merely a convention and does not imply that they are all the same.

Text

Enter the text you want to appear in the electronic report in the position specified by Beg through End.

Suppress

Answer N if you want the text to always appear in the report. Answer Y if you want to sometimes suppress the text. This feature would be used if a text field was intended as a caption for an adjacent field, and you wanted the caption not to appear when that field was not present.

Field #

This field displays only if the preceding field is Y.

Field number is selected exactly as described previously for the Field column on this screen, except that you cannot enter a text in here. It is not required that the field entered here be included elsewhere in this record layout (or anywhere else in this format).

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: zip code/SSN

This special entry window displays for the following employee fields:

Fill text

Enter the text to replace the field shown in the title of the window when that field is not numeric. You might for instance force non-numeric (e.g., Canadian) postal codes to be recorded as asterisks. Usually the replacement (fill) text is blank.

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: FIPS numeric state code

This special entry window is displayed for the following fields:

The FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) state code is not stored in Employees. Instead the state/territory postal abbreviation is translated to a FIPS code as needed, using an internal table. The purpose of this window is to specify what substitute will be used when this translation fails (because of invalid state abbreviations in Employees, or because of new states admitted to the Union since the last Passport Business Solutions upgrade).

Fill text

Options 

Enter the text to use when the state is not found in the table of FIPS numeric state codes, or use the option:

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: hire/termination dates

This special entry window is displayed for the following fields:

Hire and termination dates are not required fields when entering an employee record. This special entry field allows you to specify the text to use when the hire or termination date has not been entered.

Fill text

Enter the text to replace the hire or termination date shown in the title of the window when that field has not been entered. Usually this replacement (fill) text is blank.

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: hire/termination dates this quarter

This special entry window displays for the following fields:

Hire and termination dates are not required fields when entering an employee record. Additionally, the hire and termination dates cannot be in the period covered by the electronic report. This special entry field allows you to specify the text to use when the hire or termination date has not been entered or is not in the period covered by the report.

Fill text

Enter the text to replace the hire or termination date shown in the title of the window when that field has not been entered or is not covered by the period being reported. Usually this replacement (fill) text is blank.

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: was employed ?

This special entry window is displayed for the following fields:

Employee Fields #49, 50, & 51 are for use on quarterly reports. They relate respectively to the first, second, and third month of the quarter, and let you specify whether an employee was employed or paid wages for each month of the quarter.

Date in month

Enter the date in the month used as a criterion for determining whether an employee worked or was paid wages for the month.

Was employed code

Enter the code specified by your state which indicates that an employee worked or was paid wages for the month.

Was not employed code

Enter the code specified by your state which indicates that an employee did not work and was not paid wages for the month.

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: W-2 box 6 check-marks

This special entry window is displayed for the following fields:

Employee Fields #144 - 149 are used to report the status of the check boxes on the Federal W-2 form (Box 6 check boxes). This special entry window is used to specify the values to report which indicate that a box has been checked or not checked.

When box is checked

Enter the code which indicates that the check-mark field shown in the window title is checked.

When box is not checked

Enter the code which indicates that the check-mark field shown in the window title is unchecked.

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: foreign address indicator

This special entry window is displayed for the following field:

It allows you to specify the values that indicate whether the employer’s address is foreign or not. This field is used for the Federal W-2 electronic format and any state format that is based upon that format.

When employer address is in the USA

Enter the value which indicates that the employer’s address is not foreign.

When employer address is not in the USA

Enter the value which indicates that the employer’s address is foreign.

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: quarter letters

This special entry window is displayed for the following field:

1st quarter code

Enter the letter which is used to represent the first quarter of the year.

2nd quarter code

Enter the letter which is used to represent the second quarter of the year.

3rd quarter code

Enter the letter which is used to represent the third quarter of the year.

4th quarter code

Enter the letter which is used to represent the fourth quarter of the year.

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: no workers / no wages indicator

This special entry window is displayed for the following field:

When making an electronic report (Quarterly or Annual), you are asked the following questions:

If the answer to both of these questions is N, the first value entered in the window above is reported in the electronic report file. If the answer is Y to one or both of these questions, the second value entered in the window above is reported in the electronic report file.

When you have no workers or wages to report, no employee records, intermediate header or total records, or group header or total records are output. Additionally, you can specify to not output any file total records when you have no workers or wages to report by answering N for the third entry in the window above.

When you have no workers and no wages to report

Enter the code which indicates that you had no workers or wages for the reporting period.

When you do have workers or wages to report

Enter the code which indicates that you did have workers or wages for the reporting period.

Report file totals when no workers and no wages ?

Answer Y to report file totals when you have no workers and no wages for the reporting period. Answer N to not report file totals when you have no workers and no wages for the reporting period.

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: extended date fields

This special entry window displays for:

Select date format to use for this extended field

Options 

Select which date format to use for this field. Your choices are:

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: employee report name sequence

This special entry window displays for the following field:

Some electronic format specifications need to know how employee names are reported, either as First name first or as Last name first. This field allows this information to be reported.

Employee names are reported First name first

Enter the code which indicates that employee names are reported as First name first.

Employee names are reported Last name first

Enter the code which indicates that employee names are reported as Last name first.

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Special entry windows: total employees covered by UI

This special entry window is displayed for the following fields:

Employer Fields #33, 34, and 35 are on quarterly reports and are not meaningful if used on annual reports. They refer respectively to the first through third month of the quarter, and let you to specify whether an employee was employed or paid wages for each month of the quarter.

Day in month

Enter the day in the month used as a criterion for determining whether an employee worked or was paid wages for the month.

Any change ?

Enter Y to re-enter the window, or Y to return to the main screen.

Format Specifications

Use this option to print a full list of the exact specifications that define one or more electronic report formats. This is different from a sample report. A sample report shows what the report looks like. The format specification shows all the information you entered to get the report to look like that.

Select

Format specifications from the Magnetic media formats menu.

Enter the starting and ending codes for the report formats for which you want to print specifications.

Starting format code and

Ending format code

Enter the range of the formats you want to print. Follow the screen instructions.

Verify a Format

Use this option to verify a format before using it.

Select

Verify from the Magnetic media formats menu.

A screen displays, allowing you to enter the format code for the electronic report you want to verify.

Options 

Use the following options.

After you have selected the report format to verify, the printer selection menu displays. On selecting a printer, the program begins checking the report format for errors.

As the format is verified, the following screen displays counts of errors and warnings found.

An error report prints at the end of the verification process. Under the column Error/warning, error messages are identified with an E and warning messages with a W.

You must correct errors before you can use a report format.

You can either correct warnings or leave them as they are.

Sample Report

Use this option to make a sample report from an electronic format.

Select

Sample report from the Magnetic media formats menu.

A screen displays asking for the disk drive to which the sample report is to be written.

The sample report is written to this disk drive in its current directory. The file name of the sample report will be XXXXXXXX.SAM, where XXXXXXXX is the file name you entered in General appearance for the format.

After the sample report is finished, you are asked to remove the diskette from the drive.

Because the sample report is a text file, you can look at it with a program that displays a text file to the screen or you can use the selection Magnetic media report list on the Reports, general menu, to print the file.

Copy Format

If you have already created an electronic format that you want to keep, and you are going to add another similar format, use this option to copy the existing format. Then make changes to the copy.

Select

Copy from the Magnetic media formats menu.

A screen displays for you to enter the format code to copy from and the code to be assigned to the new format.

Enter the information as follows:

1. Copy from report format

Options 

Enter the code of the format you want to copy from or use the option:

2. Copy to report format

Enter the code you want to assign to the new format. If you enter the code of a format already on file, you see an error message informing you of this and that you must delete the existing format first before you can use this format code.

Enter another format code that is not already used.

3. Format description

Enter up to four lines of description of 30 characters each for the new format.

4. Annual or quarterly

Enter A to specify that the copy to format is for an annual report, or Q to specify that it is for a quarterly report.

Field number to change ?

When the format has been copied, press <Esc>.

Delete Format

Use this option to delete electronic formats which you no longer want to keep.

Select

Delete, from the Magnetic media formats menu.

Options 

A screen displays for you to enter the format code to delete. Enter the code or use the option:

To delete a format, answer Y when you are asked whether it is OK to delete it. Otherwise, press <Enter> to keep it.

If you answer Y, a message displays stating that the format has been deleted. Press <Enter> and then select the code of another format to delete, or press <Esc>.

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