Washington (State) L&I Electronic (XML) Upload Available

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There is a new XML upload format specified by Washington L&I which goes into effect on January 1, 2020.  We have completed the necessary coding changes to Certified Payroll Solution and have run through initial testing.  

We have talked with the Certified Payroll Division of L&I and they have been quite helpful to us in making these changes.

RESOURCES FROM WASHINGTON L&I WEBSITE -  L&I has provided an XML Payroll Upload Guide on their website -                                        https://www.lni.wa.gov/licensing-permits/_docs/XML+Payroll+Guide.pdf - which discusses (and provides a link) to the REQUIRED USE of an additional tool called XML Notepad.  

If you are only using the Federal WH-347 form, these changes do not apply and are not necessary.

The first change is to the Washington State Certified Payroll Report itself. When we called L&I about 12 years ago, the requirements on the Certified Payroll Report were that the amounts on the report for each employee were “This Job” amounts, so gross pay, deductions and net Pay would be just the amount earned for this employee on this job and work classification, usually prorated. This is impossible to audit as usually no amounts match a paycheck.

Effective January 1, 2020, per L&I, these amounts are now the gross, deductions and net pay for all jobs/work classification/bonus/etc. (paycheck(s)) for the week worked). This is easier to audit and verify, and these are the amounts that are required in the upload file. We have left one certified payroll report you can print by job amounts, along with the job totals. Note that the amounts on this printed report will not be what is in the upload file. Leaving this form present allows for any current jobs to be continued to be submitted this way, as well as satisfying any cranky GC’s.

To continue to print the form using the OLD method of reporting:  In CPS-->Linked Data menu -->Jobs, select the job and choose Edit-->click the Form Options tab --> from the Form to Use menu, choose the third option and it will still print the by job amounts.

The other changes to the program are new required fields for the XML upload. Most changes are to the Work Classification, but there are also changes to the Employee and Job information as well.

If you have not used CPS to generate Electronic Uploads previously, the first step is in CPS--> System Setup menu --> Preferences -->Data Locations --> Electronic Upload Folder. Set this to a separate folder that will hold files that you upload via the internet. You will have to login to the L&I web site, then upload the files from this folder that CPS creates. Once this folder is given, CPS will allow you to specify the Washington L&I XML format in Linked Data --> Jobs--> Form Options.

Please note that there are many different XML formats, and you need to choose the Washington L&I format as the XML formats are not interchangeable. This form is the last  option.  You may specify it as a default upload format in CPS --> System Setup --> Defaults --> Job Defaults.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  There is an additional option to generate BOTH the Washington L&I and the LcpTracker upload formats at the same time.

How to obtain the update:

Existing customers with an active maintenance contract are able to download and install the update at their convenience, following the instructions below:

•  Backup your CPS data (Backup & Restore menu --> Enhanced Backup)
•  From the CPS Help menu --> About --> "Login to Web Service Center" --> once there click the "Download Current CPS Setup/Installation button".
•  Repeat this procedure on each computer that CPS is installed on.
•  Download complete setup instructions here OR from the Special Notices section on the Web Service Center.

Existing customers WITHOUT an active maintenance contract - please contact us at (888) 348-2877 for a price quote to reinstate your maintenance, late fees do apply.

New customers will have this functionality built into the program.

New trial users will have access to the new form BUT electronic uploads are disabled in trial status.  When you purchase the software you will then be able to complete the setup and generate the XML file for upload.