Film Accounting Glossary
Quarterly payroll return
What is a quarterly payroll return?
Also called Form 941, or payroll tax return.
A quarterly payroll return is the employer's periodic filing reporting wages paid and taxes withheld and remitted, filed federally on Form 941 and separately in each state where the production had employees.
The payroll company files them as employer of record, but the production owns the accuracy of what it reported. Errors surface as notices months later, typically when the production entity has already been wound down.
Example
Form 941 federally, plus a separate return in each state where the crew worked. A show that shot in three states files in three states, and an error surfaces as a notice months later, usually after the entity has been wound down.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Filed by the payroll company as employer of record. The production still owns the accuracy of what was reported.
Common mistake
Assuming the payroll company's filing removes the production's exposure. It files what the production reported, and errors surface as notices months later.
Related questions
- Who files a production's payroll tax returns?
- The payroll company as employer of record, federally on Form 941 and separately in each state where the production employed people.
- Why do payroll tax notices arrive so late?
- Because they follow the filing and reconciliation cycle, so a first-quarter error can surface months afterwards, often once the production entity is closing.