Related topics

Government Reports

Electronic Filing for Record of Employment

Generating the Record of Employment (ROE)

Using Electronic Filing for T4s

You can create T4 information to a file that you can submit to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by CD or electronically.

For the year you select, the Payroll program will create the T4 information (including the T4 Summary) to a file in the format required by the Canada Revenue Agency.

Note: Sage HRMS supports up to 12 "Other Information" fields on the T4. 

Before you start

  1. Contact your local Federal government representatives to advise them that you are going to use electronic filing software to file T4 data, and to obtain publications outlining their requirements for electronic filing. Confirm the following information with the agency:
    • Your company's business number (example 123456789RP1234) with the government.
    • Your 6-digit magnetic media transmitter number.
  2. On the Income Taxes window in Payroll Setup, enter the business number in the Reporting ID field of the EI rate you use (or of the tax code INCTAX if EI exempt). Payroll prints the Reporting ID as the business number on the employer and CRA copies of the T4 (but not on the employee’s copy, as stated in government specifications).
  3. Verify that your employee information is correct and complete in Sage HRMS. For example, each employee record must contain the employee’s first and last names, city, province, postal code, and country.
    • The province must be a valid 2-character province code; for example, BC (do not include periods or spaces).
    • The country must be a valid 3-character country code; for example, CAN (do not include periods or spaces).
  4. Verify that all earning/deduction codes in Sage HRMS are assigned to the correct T4 box numbers.

Note: The program takes the information as it displays on the T4 report in Sage HRMS. It does not format or change deduction codes. If your Sage HRMS data is incorrect or is not up to date, your electronic filing will contain errors. 

Generating the T4 electronic file

  1. From U.S. Payroll > Government Reports, choose T4s Electronic Filing.
  2. In the Payment Year field, enter the year of the T4s you are filing.
  3. If you want to use a selection list to select the employees for T4 processing, choose that selection list.
  4. Choose a range of employees for whom T4s will be processed (in addition to or instead of a selection list).
  5. Choose how to sort the employees.
  6. In the Report Type field, choose:
    • Original, if generating an original file for submission.
    • Amended, if generating a file to amend an original file.
    • Cancelled, if generating a file for cancel. Cancelled slips are indicated in an XML file with report type code "C" and the summary with the report type code "A".

    Note: To cancel a return you have filed in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format, mail or fax your request to your Tax Centre, to the attention of Employer Services.

  7. Optionally select employees who are assigned a particular EI rate. For example, if you use two EI rates in your Payroll system, and you want to select only the employees who are assigned to the second rate, then select the Rate 2 check box.

    8. Similarly, to select employees who are exempt from EI premiums, select the EI Exempt check box.

    Note: The Rate 1 to Rate 5 check boxes and the EI Exempt check box apply to both the federal EI and Quebec EI.

  8. Complete the information on all tabs of the window, using publications from CRA to guide you. You must complete the information on the Employer and Transmitter tabs, even if the employer is also the transmitter. The Transmitter Info II tab includes fields such as:
    • Transmitter Type. To identify the transmitter, choose from the list, one of the options defined by the CRA.
    • Transmitter Number. Enter your magnetic media transmitter number assigned to you by the CRA. The transmitter number must be prefixed by the code MM.
    • Submission Reference ID. Enter a unique number that the transmitter creates to identify each submission they file with CRA.
  9. In the Local File Path field, enter the location where the file will be created on your hard drive or directly on disk. Do not include the file name; you specify it in the next step.
  10. Name the file by entering these fields:
    • File Name Prefix. Enter any combination of numbers or alphabetical letters.
    • File Creation Number. The program displays a default number. You can accept this number, or enter a number that identifies the submission.

      • For example: Enter 001 if submitting the file for the first time; enter 002 if resubmitting it for the second time, and so on. The program automatically appends the File Creation Number to the end of the File Name Prefix, as required by the CRA’s file-naming convention. If you enter T4EFILE in the File Name Prefix field and 001 in the File Creation Number field, the file will be named T4EFILE001.XML

  11. Click Process to start the file generation.
  12. The system verifies your data.
  13. If invalid data is found, the system informs you and stops processing. Edit your data, and then restart the file generation.
  14. If no errors are found, the program creates an XML file at the location you specified in the Local File Path field.
  15. Click Close.

To review historical forms, click the History button, and another window displays the forms previously generated.

Submitting the File

Before submitting the file, CRA recommends that you verify it with an XML validating parser. For more information about validating parsers and general submission procedures, refer to the CRA publications, visit the CRA website, or contact your local CRA representatives.

Note: Sage HRMS uses Sage Payroll Tax Forms and eFiling by Aatrix services for printing and filing most government reports and forms. To learn more about this functionality, read About Sage Payroll Tax Forms and eFiling by Aatrix.