Toast Payroll: Get Started With the Year-End Checklist

In this Article:

Year-End Overview
Important Year-End Dates (formerly the Year-End Checklist)
Prepare for 2026

Year-End Overview

We know year-end season can be difficult when you have to manage payroll, tax, and ACA obligations all at once, but we're here to help. Below is a short 3 minute video and some key points you'll want to keep in mind throughout the year-end season.

Use the Tax Center to stay prepared for the new year; it's equipped with employee, year-end, and Form W-2 tasks that will help keep track of your year-end season with Toast Payroll. Visit this page often in November and December to complete any available tasks. Visit the Tax Center Around Year-End section of Toast Payroll: Manage Payroll Taxes to see just how the Tax Center can help.

In 2026, active employees can use the MyToast app to access their Form W-2 via Pay > Access tax forms (W-2s). Otherwise, former employees or those using a computer can locate their Form W-2 in Toast Payroll by selecting the Taxes & Documents link on the dashboard immediately after they .

Keep an eye out for the blue notifications on top of your Toast Payroll dashboard. We'll remind you of year-end actions to take and Form W-2 availability, plus we'll include links to the appropriate places in Toast Payroll.

Important Year-End Dates

Prior to:	Do these things, if applicable:	Notes:
Submitting your last payroll of the year	(box 12DD)	Navigate to Taxes to confirm your Form W-2 delivery setting. Create an off-cycle payroll by submitting via the blue chat dot in the lower-right corner of Toast Payroll. Submit group term life, 3PSP, etc. by contacting us via the blue chat dot in the lower-right corner of Toast Payroll.
January 6 (3 business days after the start of Q1)	Self-print/ Accurate , including former employees Accurate , including former employees	Navigate to Taxes to fill in all missing data and complete each task. Current and former employees should navigate to their own profiles to confirm SSNs, names, and addresses. This is a vital step towards an accurate Form W-2. Request a void by contacting us with the information contained in . Information received after this deadline will not be reflected on your Q4 or annual tax filings.
January 9	(if you use the )	Navigate to Benefits > View and manage health benefits > Apply for ACA filing and complete all Toast Payroll ACA checklist items.
January 19 (on or after)

Prepare for 2026

After submitting all applicable pieces of information for 2025, you'll be ready to begin the new year.

Form W-2s

The One Big Beautiful Act has "no taxes on tips" and "no taxes on overtime" provisions. This means individual employee tax deductions are available for eligible employees when they file their 2025 personal income tax return in 2026. To aid in this personal tax filing, Toast payroll has indicated these tip amounts and overtime premium amounts on employee profiles in Toast Payroll under My Profile > Taxes & Documents > Year End Documents. offers more information. See an accountant or tax professional for advice.

Form W-2s will be available on Monday, January 19th, 2026. Find out where Form W-2s live in Toast Payroll and the MyToast app and see how to print and distribute them in . Former employees can access their Form W-2 the same way active employees do.

You can post a in a high-traffic area of your restaurant regarding when and where employees may access their Form W-2.

Minimum Wage Updates

Regularly review your state and local and before the effective date. Many of these do go into effect on January 1st and July 1st. Visit your state and/or local Department of Labor website for additional information regarding your state and/or local requirements.

Tax Notices and Updated SUTA Rates

Toast Payroll customers are responsible for keeping their tax information up to date. This includes your state withholding account number and its payment frequency and your state unemployment account number and its rate. If you receive notification from a tax agency, navigate to Settings > Payroll > Tax Accounts to verify and/or update your tax account information. Inaccurate rates may result in a tax variance at quarterly filing and/or tax notices. Check out for more details.

FUTA Reduction Credit

Check if your state is impacted by a (California only in 2026) and prepare for a higher Q4 variance in your Q1 tax package.

Company Holidays

If you plan to offer holiday pay in 2026, be sure to update your company holidays by following the steps in .

1099 Contractors

Although Toast Payroll does not file taxes for 1099 contractors, we can help you find the information they need to file.

An HR+ user should navigate to Reports > Standard.
Search for the Quarterly Employee Payroll Audit Report and select the eye icon, then Queue on the following page.
Next, select the appropriate FEIN and Year.
Now toggle the following first four fields to Yes: Include demographics, Include earnings, Include deductions, and Include taxes.
After selecting Queue once more, select My reports in the pop-up.
The My reports tab of the Document Courier automatically refreshes every 30 seconds while processing the report. Once the Quarterly Employee Payroll Audit is ready, select the Download hyperlink.
Lastly, open this file in a spreadsheet viewer. Before you send this report to a contractor, make sure to remove all other employee rows. Columns E and F list the names of each individual in the report, so we suggest removing every row besides row 1 (column headers) and the row containing the contractor.

This list is not all inclusive, nor do all items apply to each employer. Consult with your HR team and/or professional advisor to verify all year-end requirements applicable to your business.

This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for advice.