This article is intended to close the 2023 year, in preparation for 2024 payrolls. 

Note: This article only applies to our on-premise Acclaim customers who would like to update the software themselves. You can also request for a year-end service installation by completing and returning the year-end installation services form. If you are a hosted customer, please review this article instead.

Year-End Checklist

• Renewed your license for 2024
• Reviewed your accruals (Employee Year-to-Date Report and opening balances)
• Reviewed your accruals and deductions payroll categories if they reset at year-end 
• Processed all payrolls for 2023
• Reviewed your Employee Information (name, social insurance number (SIN), address, etc.)
• Reviewed your Company Information (name, address, RCT #, etc.)
• Reviewed your employer (EI) rate (Setup > Company > Edit > Taxation Information > "EI Rate")
• Confirmed the name of your current accounting package (Setup > Preferences > Interfaces > "Accounting")
• Made a backup of your data (Utilities > Backup Company Data)
• Ensure that no other users are logged into Acclaim at the time of your upgrade 

Year-End Update Process

1. In Acclaim, navigate to Setup > Preferences. Make a note of where your "Working Directory" is. After installing the new version, you might be prompted for the location of your Acclaim database. 
2. Close Acclaim. Ensure that no other users (if any) are logged into Acclaim. 
3. In your favorite web browser, go to Paymate's customer portal at customer.paymatesoftware.com.
4. Log into your Paymate customer account. Your "Client ID/Username" is your six-digit customer number that begins with a "1". 
   Note: If you do not remember your client ID/username, please refer to any old invoices from Paymate. You can find your client ID at the top of the invoice. If you do not remember your password, please click on 'Forgot Password?' to reset your password. 
5. After logging into your Paymate customer account, please confirm that your contact information is accurate. Be sure to save if you made any changes! 
6. Scroll down into the Your Products section. Click "Download" next to Acclaim. 
7. At the bottom of the page, under Current Downloads, click "Download" next to "2024 - Acclaim (2024 tax tables)". The executable file (.exe) will be downloaded to your browser's default downloads folder. 
   Note: If you're not sure where your browser's default downloads folder is, please check your browser settings or contact your IT person. 
8. From your Windows settings, open the Add/Remove Programs or Uninstall a Program function in your Windows Control Panel. 
9. Uninstall your current version of Acclaim. 
10. Open the folder where you downloaded the Acclaim .exe file from step #9. Run this file by right-clicking and selecting 'Run as Administrator'. 
11. Follow the instructions in the download wizard to install the new version of Acclaim with the 2024 tax tables. 
    Note: If you have multiple computers that use Acclaim, you must install the new version of Acclaim with the 2024 tax tables on each computer. Repeat steps 5 through 13 to do this. The serial number and remaining licenses are only activated once.
12. In Paymate's customer portal, scroll up until you see a table with your serial key, expiry date, and maintenance year keys. Highlight the "Maintenance Year" key and right-click to copy the key. 
13. Launch Paymate Acclaim. You will be prompted to enter an "Activation Key". 
14. Paste the maintenance year key that you copied into the field. 
15. Click "OK". Ensure that you see that your online activation was successful. Your Acclaim is now renewed for 2024!

*If you are experiencing any difficulty, please email us at support@paymatesoftware.com with your customer ID, a brief description of your issue, and any screenshots that may help us resolve your issue. We are open Mondays through Fridays, 9am to 5pm (EST).

Closing Off Your Current Year

WARNING: When you are closing the year, the additional CPP2/QPP2 payroll categories will be added into the system. Acclaim will suggest payroll category codes to use for these new ones (e.g. 310 and 311), but if you are already using these payroll category codes for other categories, then you will receive an error message. Simply change the suggested codes for CPP2/QPP2 to codes that you have not yet used and continue the year-end close process as normal. 

1. In Acclaim, navigate to Yearend > Close Year. 
2. Read the details of each step of the process before clicking the "Next" button to proceed to the next step. 
3. Note: Not all steps may apply to you, and Acclaim will automatically skip the steps that do not apply. 
4. Review the options available and proceed to the next step by clicking "Next".
   Note: We strongly suggest to create a backup prior to closing the year. 
5. If you are not skipping the backup, select your "Backup" location. Click "Backup" to complete the backup. 
6. Select the payroll categories that you'd like to reset to zero for next year, then proceed to the next step by clicking "Next". 
   Note: If your deduction and accrual payroll categories do not have "Reset at Year End" checked in their payroll category setup, they will not appear in this list. Their values will automatically carry over to the next year. 
7. The values for your employee and employer maximums and minimums are automatically entered. However, you can overwrite this value for year-end if needed. Once this is complete, proceed to the next step by clicking "Next". 
8. Acclaim will prompt you to type in "CLOSE 2023" (the year you are closing). Enter this into the required field. 
9. Once you've typed in the prompted text, click the "Process" button and then "OK". The 2023 year is now closed! 

Upgrading Your Tax Tables

1. In Acclaim, log into your company in the data year "2024". 
2. Navigate to Setup > Employees. 
3. Click "Net Claim". A list of all the basic personal amounts for all provinces and territories will appear. 
4. Click "OK". This will update you to the latest tax tables.

Review Your Payroll Groups and Pay Calendars 

1. Navigate to Setup > Payroll Groups.
2. Select a payroll group.
3. Review the pay calendar to ensure that the pay periods and pay dates are correct.
   1. If your pay frequency is 'weekly', you may have 52 or 53 pay periods this year. Be sure to update the pay frequency if you have a different number of pay periods this year. 
   2. If your pay frequency is 'bi-weekly', you may have 26 or 27 pay periods this year. Be sure to update the pay frequency if you have a different number of pay periods this year. 
4. Click "Save" to save your changes.
5. Return to your list of payroll groups and repeat steps 2 through 4 for each payroll group you have.

Review Your Employees' Taxation Information & Verify Opening Balances 

1. Navigate to Setup > Employees. 
2. Select an employee. 
3. Navigate to the 'Net Claim' tab.
4. If you have any additional tax credits, it will be listed here. Make any changes as required. 
   
5. Navigate to the 'Pay Card' tab. 
6. Verify the opening balances for any accruals, such as vacation or sick. Make any changes as required.
7. Click "Save" to save your changes.
8. Return to your list of employees and repeat steps 2 through 7 for each employee. 

(Quebéc Customers) Updating QPIP and QHP Rates 

1. Navigate to Setup > Payroll Categories. 
2. Select your QPIP payroll category. 
3. Update your QPIP rate. 
4. Click "Save" to save your changes.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for your QHP payroll category. 

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