UCMS QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

1. Access www.uctax.pa.gov or use the logo found on the Department of Labor & Industry Home Page to access the UCMS Login Page.
    
2. Register to obtain your User ID and Password and Login to your account.
        
3. Passwords must be reset every 120 days. The previous ten passwords may not be used.   
    
4. Employer Home Page – Choose a menu option to navigate through your portal
    
    
    
5. Employer Profile
   • View or change demographic information
   • Update address, officers
   • Inactivate account
   • Manage Representatives – add or change Third Party Administrator (TPA)
   • Receive account messages
    
6. Quarterly Reporting
   • Filing online limited to 100 employees
   • More than 100 employees use File Validation Tool. Files must be validated through the current version of the File Validation Tool which is in UCMS. The File Validation Tool can be found by going to the website under www.uctax.pa.gov
    
7. Making a Payment – four options
   • ACH Debit* – Payments made after 2:00 p.m. will post on the 2nd business day
   • ACH Credit* – Bulk Filers (TPAs) must use the CCD+ convention to make their individual client payments
   • Credit Card
   • Payment Voucher

Tips to Access UCMS

1. Shortcuts and links may not have the correct browser address or may include spaces. Access UCMS by entering www.uctax.pa.gov in your browser or click the UCMS logo found on the Department of Labor & Industry Home Page.
    
2. Use the most current version of Adobe and Internet Explorer Versions 7 – 10.
    
3. If you are having issues accessing UCMS or are getting an error message, try clearing your "cookies."
   
   

   For all browsers:

   1. In the browser key in CTRL + SHIFT + DEL.
   2. A window will appear with a list of items to delete. Select Cookies and then click "Delete" or "Clear."
   
   
4. On every screen there is a Help button in the upper right corner, which is designated by a "?". The Help section will provide general information specific to that screen.
    
5. To view more or less of the screen at one time, you can adjust the font size by accessing the zoom bar at the bottom right of the window or selecting "Text Size" or "Zoom" located within the View menu at the top of the screen.

UCMS PROFILE MAINTENANCE REFERENCE GUIDE

1. Access www.uctax.pa.gov or use the logo found on the Department of Labor & Industry Home Page to access the UCMS Login Page. Enter your user ID and password to Log In.
    
2. Select "Employer Profile" from the Navigation Menu on the left side of the screen.
    
3. To add or update your Employer Profile:
    
   Profile Maintenance:
   • Summary – Select "Edit Profile" or click on a specific tab to update the information. To inactivate the account, select "Close Account" located to the right of Account Status.
   • Name - Changes can only be made to the Trade Name. If the Legal Name is incorrect or has changed, contact us at the number shown below.
   • Addresses – This page can display street, mailing, statement of account mailing, and records addresses. Select "Edit" or "Add Additional Address" to update the information.
   • Telephone – This page can display business, fax and mobile telephone numbers. Select "Edit" or "Add Additional Telephone Numbers" to update the information.
   • Email – Select "Edit or "Add Email Contact" to add or change an email address for the employer. If your preference for receiving correspondence is Email, you will receive an email notification when a new correspondence is available in the employer portal.
   • Contacts – Select "Edit" or "Add Additional Contacts" to maintain current contact information.
    
   Organization:
   • Structure – This page displays general business structure information. If any of the information is incorrect, contact us at the number shown below. If the business structure has changed, you must complete a new PA-100 Enterprise Registration Form.
   • Owners/Responsible Parties – Select "View" to display ownership information in greater detail or "Edit" to update the information. Select "Remove" from the details page to remove an owner. Select "Add Additional Owners/Responsible Parties" to add more owners.
   • Activity – The percentages of business activity are displayed but cannot be changed.
   • Account History – This page displays the active and inactive periods for the account.
    
   Establishments:
   • This page displays general information about business location(s). Select "View" to display establishment information in greater detail, or "Edit" to update the information. Editing the establishment allows the business activity information to be changed. Select "Add Establishments" to enter information about additional business locations.
    
   Manage Representatives:
   • This page displays TPA/representative information. Select "Edit" to update the current representative information or to terminate a TPA relationship. Select "Add New Representative" to add additional representatives and indicate the services they provide.

Online Filing Tips

1. Employers with 100 or less employees may manually enter employee wage detail directly in the UCMS employer portal. Employee information is pre-populated in UCMS to facilitate the entering of quarterly wage detail. Note that employers with more than 100 employees must file wage detail electronically via File Upload or FTP.
    
2. File early in the month the report is due to prevent interest and/or penalty fees in the event of unexpected delays.
    
3. Save your progress frequently. For security purposes, UCMS will automatically "time out" in 15 minutes if a button is not selected.
    
4. File the report before making a payment, allowing you to allocate the payment to the correct report. If filing more than one report, do not make the payment until all the reports are filed.
    
5. When printing a payment voucher, a new window will open. After printing, you may need to close this window to return to UCMS.
    
6. If an individual has left your employ and received no wages for the quarter, remove them from the list rather than entering "0" wages. After four quarters, the employee will no longer be pre-populated in the list of employees.
    
7. To remove an employee, click on the box next to their name, then click the "Remove Selected Employees" button. If re-employed, the employee can be added back by using the "Add New Rows" button.
    
8. Sort the list of employees by social security number (SSN), last name or first name by clicking on the small box to the right of the column title.

Tips for Electronic Filing Using File Upload or FTP

1. Employers with more than 100 employees must file wage detail electronically via File Upload or FTP. Employers with 100 or less employees may manually enter employee wage detail directly in the UCMS employer portal.
    
2. Reimbursable Financing Method employers/clients should enter zeros for any Taxable Wage fields.
    
3. File naming conventions must be according to those indicated in the UCMS File Layouts and Formats for Electronic Reporting of PA Quarterly UC Wage and Tax Data Handbook  
    
4. If the files are incorrectly formatted, they will either fail to process or the data within the file will post inaccurately. Errors to watch for
   • If you use the CSV format:
     • Too many commas
     • Not enough commas
     • Need to indicate both the quarter and year in the E Record
     • Do not use decimal points in any amount field in the E and S records
     • Make sure there are no extra blank lines
      
   • If you use the ICESA:
     • Use caution when truncating the record length. The fixed-length file is 275 bytes
     • Make sure there are no extra blank lines
      
   • Bad file names due to multiple extensions. File names, including extensions, must be in uppercase:
     • To see file extensions in Windows, go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options. Select the View tab. Un-check "Hide extensions for known file types".
    
5. Always use the UCMS File Validation Tool to ensure that your files upload correctly and to reduce failures or inaccuracies. Access the current version of the File Validation Tool Program.
       
6. Upload the file one time. Depending on the size of the file and during high volume filing, it may take time for the system to process the data. View the status of the file(s) by logging in and reviewing the Manage Uploaded Files screen.