Using QuickFile

Before you begin, you must know the name and location (the drive and folder) of the payroll file that you want to send to TWC.

1. Once you have installed QuickFile, click on the Start button, click on Programs, click on QuickFile and QuickFile.exe.
   
   
2. Start by clicking on one of the three file format file-types (ICESA, MMREF, Other), then on the Find and Select File button. (You cannot type in the File Name box.) If you selected ICESA or MMREF, an open dialog box appears on your screen. If you selected Other, you will have to complete a few other screens before you reach the open dialog box (See topics below).
   
   
3. If the directory containing your payroll file is not shown, change to that directory now. (Click the down arrow on the right of the 'Look In:' box. A drop down directory menu appears. Navigate to the folder containing your payroll file for TWC.)
   
   
4. Click on the correct file and click Open. The file is selected and you are returned to the QuickFile program.

QuickFile submits data to TWC in the ICESA (Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies) format. However QuickFile can obtain this information from employer data that is in the ICESA, MMREF-1 or Other Text formats. ICESA format indicates the input data is in the format specified for wage reporting by the Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies. You may download the specifications for the ICESA format as a Word97 document or as a PDF file. This format consists of a 275-byte long record with 6 different types of information. Refer to the web site for details. A Record: Submitter Information. FEID required. B Record: Placeholder only-required but info not used. E Record: Employer information (One E record for each employer-quarter). S Record: Employee Salary information (one record for each employee of the above employer for the quarter). T Record: Employer Total information (ends the E-record group). F Record: Final record at the end.

A submission with multiple employers would have the records arranged like this:

• A Record
• B Record
• E Record (info about first employer)
  • S Record (for first E record employer)
• T Record (totals for first employer)
• E Record (info about second employer)
  • S Record (for second E record employer)
• T Record (totals for second employer)
• F Record

MMREF-1 format indicates the input data is in the form specified for wage reporting by the Social Security Administration. You may download the specifications for the MMREF-1 format as a Word97 document or as a PDF file . The MMREF-1 format consists of 512-byte long records of several types of information. The QuickFile program expects the following records. Additional record types are ignored by QuickFile. Refer to our web site for details about these record types. RA Record: Submitter information. RE Record: Employer information (One RE record for each employer and quarter). RS Record: Employee information for this employer for the indicated quarter). RF Record: Final record at the end.(Optional) A submission with multiple employers would have the records arranged like this: RA record (first record) RE record RS records RE record RS records RF record (last record)

Additional information is required by TWC that is not defined under the standard MMREF format.
These variations are:

RE record,
columns 300-308 = TWC Acct Number (9 numeric digits, no spaces or dashes)
columns 309-314 = Qtr-Year as MMYYYY (where MM = last month of the quarter, i.e. ' 03','06','09','12')

RS record,
columns 248-256 = TWC Acct Number (9 numeric digits, no spaces or dashes)
columns 338-340 = Hours Worked in Quarter (3 numeric digits with leading 0's)
columns 341-343 = Numeric county code of the Texas county where the employee worked

For employers with multiple work-sites, the following information is requested for each employee:

RS record,
columns 345-350 = NAICS code. The 6-digit Industry Classification code that best describes the work-site where the employee is assigned. This information is available on the Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics web site.

columns 352-361 = Establishment ID, also known as the Unit/Division/Location/Plant Code. This ID must be registered with the TWC Labor Market Information, Multi Worksite Reports office.

columns 363-367 = An optional numeric Unit Number that also associates this employee with a specific work site. This code will appear on unemployment claim notices mailed to you, allowing you to route it to the proper person in your company. You may assign this number yourself. We provide this as an option for your benefit.

The Other Text Format option supports multiple file formats. These screens are where you tell us about the format of the payroll information file by linking your data to our required fields. The data file used by this option is expected to contain only employee information (i.e. Social Security number, name of employee and total wages) or have a unique field value that identifies a row as an employee record. Currently we are only able to process 1 quarter's wages for 1 employer account at a time. Before the system can process this data file, you must complete a preliminary screen where basic information is recorded. This is the Employer and Filer Information Screen. We ask for submitter information so that we may contact you in case of a problem. This information is also required for the data to be posted to the TWC system. Once entered, you should not need to change the submitter information.

The employer information is used to build the required employer record in the data file as well as some fields of the employee records. There are Help messages available on-screen to assist as you are entering this information. Information required includes the Employer name and address, FEIN, TWC employer ID number, reporting quarter, tax rate, total and taxable wages, and the county code of the county in Texas in which most of the employees work. There is also an indicator that provides the ability to file a "No workers/No wages" report. The reporting quarter and year, tax rate, total and taxable wage fields must be reviewed and changed as needed.

You must click on "Save Info for Filing" before you can move to the next step: defining the Fixed-Position or Comma- Delimited data file.

A Fixed-Position File is one where the information is always in the same place on each row. Text is not enclosed in quotes and numbers must be the same length on each row. Rows of a fixed-length file might look like this:

When working with fixed-position files, the QuickFile Fixed-Length Import Program is used. The first step is to select the data file and press Start. When this is done, the program attempts to read the selected file and displays the first 10 rows in the ' File View' window at the top of the screen.

There are two ways to define the file layout to the program.

1. The easiest way for most people is to use the mouse.

1. First, tell the program what field you are going to define by clicking on the circular radio button at the left of the field definition.
2. Next, highlight the corresponding value on the displayed row. (You can move to other rows if you like.) It is best to highlight from left-to-right. This can be done repeatedly until you are satisfied.
3. Click Save Settings when you are finished.

2. Another method is to enter the starting position and length of each field in the boxes at the top right of the screen. This is useful if you have been provided with this information by the creator of the file.

1. First, tell the program what field you are going to define by clicking on the circular radio button at the left of the field definition.
2. In the "Starting Location" box at the upper right, enter the starting location. Enter the length of the field in the "Length" box.

3. Repeat this process until everything is defined.
4. If you make a mistake, you will have to start over. Press the Clear Settings button to erase the assignments and reset the screen.
5. When you are finished, press the Save Settings button so you don't have to do this again.
6. Finally, press the Import button to convert your data and begin the verification process. Refer to Validating the Payroll File Data.

A Comma-Delimited File is one where units of information (fields) are separated by commas. This is also known as a comma-separated-variable or comma-separated-value file and often has a '.csv' extension. This format is a standard save-as type for Microsoft Excel. Usually, text fields are enclosed in quotes and numbers are not. Rows of a comma-delimited file might look like this:

"Employee Name",1000.00,500.00,012345678,0,"",""

"Another Employee",2000.00,1500.00,012345678,0,"",""

When working with comma-delimited files, the QuickFile Comma-Delimited Program is used.

Begin by selecting the comma delimited data file containing the employee information. Pressing the Find File button opens a window where you can navigate to locate your file. Highlight the file, then press Select. The file-locator window will close. Then, if the file name in the upper box appears correct, press the Start button.

The blue box with the file names will disappear, revealing a new column titled "Your Data", which has just been read from your file. You can scroll through the file by pressing the 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons at the bottom of the column. As you do so, the 'Assigned' column values will also change if they have been defined before.

Your task here is to connect your data to the fields used by QuickFile. Here's how:

Note: When you finish, scroll through the file to make sure everything lines up properly.

1. In the center column (the gray one) click on a description that matches one of your data fields. The description box will change to a tan color.
2. Now, double-click on your matching data. The left column will change from black-on-white, to white-on-blue/green; and the data will appear in the right-hand column in a green box next to the description.
3. Repeat this process until everything is defined.
4. TWC requires a minimum of full last name and first initial for each employee . If the employee's first and last names are not in separate fields, you will need to tell QuickFile how to separate them out.
1. Make sure that all employee names are in the same format. Be careful that you do not mix the formats (Last/First & First/Last).
   Allowed formats are:
1. Firstname Lastname (separated by one or more spaces)
2. Lastname, Firstname (separated by a comma)
3. Firstname M Lastname (where M is the employee's middle initial)
4. Lastname, Firstname M (Firstname separated by a comma, M by a space)
5. Firstname M. Lastname (where M, the middle initial, has a period after it)
6. Lastname, Firstname M. (same as item d. with a period after M.)
7. Firstname M. Lastname, Sr. [Jr.], [III], [IV] (comma required after lastname)
8. Lastname, Firstname M., Sr. [Jr.], [III], [IV] (comma required after middle-initial)
2. Assign the name field to our required Last Name box.
5. If you make a mistake, you will have to start over. Press the Clear Settings button to erase the assignments and reset the screen.
6. When you are finished, press the Save Settings button so you don't have to do this again. (The settings will persist between filings until you change them.)
7. If the employee name is in a single field, you will be prompted for the format of the name, either "Last, First"; or "First Last". Select the correct format and press Save Settings again. Verify that the name was properly interpreted by scrolling through your data and observing the various name fields.
8. Finally, press the Import button to convert your data and begin the verification process. Refer to Validating the Payroll File Data .

Option Buttons:

• Help
  This button displays a series of brief help screens that go over how to use the form. Pressing 'OK' will take you to the next screen. Pressing 'Cancel' will stop the presentation.
  
  
• Save Settings
  Pressing this button will save the assignments you have made. This information is saved into the QuickFile program directory, in a file named QF_import_specs.ini (for fixed-length) or QF_import_specs_d.ini (for comma-delimited).
  
  
• Import
  Once all the necessary data areas have been associated with the QuickFile fields, select this button to start the conversion and edit processes.
  
  
• Clear Settings
  Remove the field assignments from memory so that you can start over. This is the only way to clear out a bad field assignment.
  
  
• Pick New Wage File (Delimited only)
  Re-display the file selection box so that another file can be selected.
  
  
• Close
  Close this form without taking any further action. Return to the previous menu.