Available for Basic Payroll, Full Service Payroll
Use the Preview W-2s report to review employee W-2 information before creating final W-2 forms.
The preview shows a snapshot of employee W-2 data at the time you generate the preview. Reviewing W-2 previews before finalizing forms can help you find missing or incorrect information early.
Preview W-2 forms are for review only. They are not official W-2 forms.
The video walks you through the steps of creating a preview of your W-2 forms.
Who can preview W-2 forms?
Employers using Patriot Payroll and their invited users with payroll software permissions can preview employee W-2 forms before creating and downloading final W-2s.
What is included in the W-2 preview?
The preview includes one W-2 copy for each employee included in the preview report.
Each preview W-2 is watermarked with PREVIEW. A preview W-2 is not an official W-2 form and should not be given to employees as their final W-2.
How do I preview employee W-2 forms?
Go to Reports > Payroll Year-end Forms > Preview W-2s.
Select the W-2 year from the dropdown.
Click Download Preview of W-2s to download a preview of all employee W-2 forms.
Open the downloaded PDF file.
Review each preview W-2 carefully.
Correct any issues you find in Patriot.
Generate a new W-2 preview after making corrections.
Repeat the review and correction process until the W-2 preview is accurate.
After the preview is accurate, finalize your employee W-2 forms.
How do I preview W-2 forms for selected employees only?
To preview W-2 forms for only certain employees:
Go to Reports > Payroll Year-end Forms > Preview W-2s.
Select the W-2 year from the dropdown.
Click Employees’ W-2 Status.
Check the box next to each employee you want to include.
Click Download Preview of Selected W-2s.
Open the downloaded PDF file and review the selected employees’ preview W-2 forms.
Where does the W-2 preview download?
Patriot downloads the W-2 preview as a PDF file.
The file will save to the default download location set on your computer or browser. Common download locations include:
Downloads
Documents
Another folder selected in your browser settings
Why does my W-2 preview say PREVIEW?
The word PREVIEW appears on the W-2 preview because the form is for review only.
A preview W-2 is not an official W-2 form. Do not print or distribute preview W-2 forms as employee copies.
What happens if my company has 50 or more employees?
If your company has fewer than 50 employees, the W-2 preview report downloads immediately.
If your company has 50 or more employees, Patriot emails you when the preview report is ready to download.
What should I check before finalizing W-2 forms?
Review the preview W-2 forms carefully before creating final W-2s. Check for incorrect or missing employee W-2 information.
If you find an issue:
Correct the information in Patriot.
Generate a new W-2 preview.
Review the updated preview.
Repeat the process until the preview is accurate.
What should I do after the W-2 preview is accurate?
After you review the W-2 preview and confirm the information is accurate, finalize your employee W-2 forms.
For next steps, see Patriot’s help articles:
Key points
A W-2 preview is a snapshot of W-2 data at the time you generate the preview.
Preview W-2 forms are watermarked with PREVIEW.
Preview W-2 forms are not official W-2 forms.
Generate a new preview after making corrections.
Finalize W-2 forms only after the preview information is accurate.