On the Second Week of Year-End, Payroll Gave to Me…

A spreadsheet full of people who

don’t live where they say they do!

If Week 1 was all about laying the foundation, Week 2 is about cleaning the floors before we build the rest of the house. Because no matter how flawless your payroll process is, bad employee data will break it faster than you can say “returned W-2.”

Let’s be honest — every payroll professional has their own personal list of “people problems.”

• Addresses that haven’t been updated since the Obama administration.

• Last names that don’t match Social Security cards.

• And that one employee who insists they live in Florida (for “tax reasons”) but gets their mail in Chicago.

This week, we fix that.

Why “Prepping the People” Matters

Payroll isn’t just math. It is math built on data... and if your data is wrong, your math doesn’t stand a chance.

Before you can run accurate year-end reports, you need to make sure every employee record is clean, current, and compliant. That means names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and work locations are all up to date... because when that data flows through taxes, garnishments, benefits, and W-2s, even one typo can multiply into a dozen small disasters.

NOW is the time for getting ahead of those preventable mistakes — and saving yourself hours of January “why didn’t anyone tell me?” conversations.

This Week’s People Prep Checklist

1. Run an employee data audit.

   • Check for missing or invalid SSNs, mismatched names, and incomplete addresses.

   • If your system allows it, export into Excel and use conditional formatting to catch blanks or duplicates.

     
     

2. Verify home and work locations.

   • Remote, hybrid, relocated — it all matters for taxation.

   • Confirm you’re withholding in the correct jurisdictions.

     
     

3. Sync with HR.

   • Cross-check terminations, rehires, and job changes.

   • Make sure your “terminated” list actually matches the HRIS/HCM system records.

     
     

4. Remind employees to review their personal info.

   • Send a friendly, non-threatening “please check your info” email before holiday distractions hit.

     
     

5. Clean up inactive or duplicate profiles.

   • Less clutter = cleaner year-end reports.

A Quick HR-Payroll Reality Check

HR owns the people. Payroll owns the pay.

But during year-end, those worlds collide.

This is the time to strengthen that partnership — because the cleaner your HR data is, the fewer payroll corrections you’ll need later.

Even a 15-minute huddle now can save you 15 hours in January.

(And if you’re both reading this? Congratulations — you’re already ahead of 90% of companies.)

You can’t have clean payroll without clean people data.

Fixing it now is the ultimate act of kindness for your future self — and your entire team.

This week, focus on the humans behind the numbers.

Clean up their info,

verify the details,

and take one big step closer to a smooth, stress-free January.

Payroll doesn’t just manage paychecks; it manages people’s trust... and that starts with accuracy.

You’ve survived the first two weeks of year-end like a champ. Your spreadsheets are cleaner, your coffee’s stronger, and your confidence is officially trending upward.

Week 3 Sneak Peek: “Prepping the Pay”

Next week, we shift from the who to the what. Once your people data is in shape, it’s time to dig into earnings, deductions, and benefits — before they start turning into “surprises” on W-2s.

Because nothing ruins holiday cheer faster than realizing your imputed income file never loaded.

Until then, keep the caffeine flowing and the data glowing. ☕💚