Too short a lookback and you miss an older payroll tax problem. Too long and you pay to check periods that were never in question. Here is how to decide how far back your reconciliation should go.

Reconciling payroll taxes across several states is not one task, it is one task per state, repeated. Here is what the process actually involves, the records you need, and where businesses usually get stuck doing it themselves.

Payroll ran, employees got paid, deposits went out on schedule, and the agency’s balance still does not match what you think you paid. That gap is rarely random. Here is why it happens, the five most common causes, and how to trace yours.