Managing the CARES Act Employee Retention Credit in Beyond (COVID-19)
Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, certain employers, including tax-exempt entities, are eligible for a fully refundable tax credit. This credit is equal to:
- 50% of up to $10,000 in qualified wages paid to each employee for 2020.
- $7,000 per employee for each quarter of 2021 (70% of up to $10,000 in qualified wages), for a potential total of $28,000 per employee.
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You can view these credits in Beyond, and they will be applied to the employer portion of social security taxes.
Getting Started
- Click COVID-19 in the left-hand menu.
- Scroll down to the “Employee Retention Credit (ERC)” section. Here you can find details on how the credit works and who is eligible.
Applying Your Employee Retention Credit
Once you are able to use this credit, a new notification will appear during the approval stage of each new pay run. This notification will show you the amount of Employee Retention Credit you are eligible for and how much your payroll tax liability will be reduced.
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How Beyond Manages My ERC-Related Tax Credit
When you opt to use the Employee Retention Credit in your account, Beyond will calculate your credit balance for qualified wages paid since January 1, 2021, and add that amount to your ERC credit balance. We will continue to calculate additional qualified credit for future pay runs through December 31, 2021, and this value will be added to your credit balance.
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Beyond will automatically track and apply these credits to reduce your 941/943 tax liability. By default, any remaining credits will be used to reduce the tax payments of your future pay runs until the entire credit balance is utilized.
If you prefer to receive the remaining credit as a refund, you can file a Form 7200 directly with the IRS. You will need to report the refund amount in Beyond so that we can reduce the remaining credit value accordingly (see more information below).
Note: The dates for qualified wages (January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021) are in accordance with the CARES Act and IRS guidelines.
View a Summary of Your ERC Tax Credit
In the “Employee Retention Credit” section of the COVID-19 menu, you can monitor your credit balance.
What You Can See
- Credit balance: The value of ERC funds that have not yet been redeemed.
- Total credits: The total cumulative value of ERC-related tax credits attributed to your account.
- Total payment reductions: The value of ERC tax credits that Beyond has already applied toward a reduction in your 941/943 tax liability.
- Total redeemed via refund: A summary of the refund value you reported after submitting Form 7200 to the IRS.
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Click View Details for a line-item summary of your credit balance and usage, including credits and reductions, check dates, run IDs, and employees. You can also print this report.
Redeem Credit Using a Refund from the IRS
After Beyond automatically applies your tax credits toward your 941/943 liability, you may have some remaining credit. This credit will automatically roll over, and we will continue to reduce your future tax payments until the remaining balance is used.
However, you also have the option to redeem the remaining balance via a refund from the IRS. To do this, you will need to:
- File a Form 7200 directly with the IRS to claim the remaining value.
- Report the total from Part II of Form 7200 in Beyond. This is required to ensure accurate records of your remaining credit balance.
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Click Redeem With a Refund to report your IRS ERC refund. Enter the amount you reported to the IRS and click Save. Your remaining credit balance will then update to reflect the value of these funds redeemed via refund.
Need Help?
If you still have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Our team will be happy to provide answers and assist you in any way we can.