Year-End Compliance Deadlines You Don't Want to Miss

Use the table below as a quick reference for what needs attention now, and which team typically owns each task.

Human Resources/ People Operations compliance

Human Resources compliance at year-end centers on payroll, benefits, and employee reporting. These items set the foundation for several required filings that follow early in the new year.

By December 31

These are true cutoff items. Miss them, and you’re usually looking at corrections, recharacterizations, or follow-up filings in January.

• Run final payroll for the calendar year. Make sure the last payroll run captures all compensation earned in the year, including bonuses scheduled for December payment.
• Ensure all wages earned are paid in the correct tax year. Cash-basis payroll generally counts when paid, not when earned. Timing is key here, especially around year-end bonuses and commissions.
• Complete 401(k) employee deferrals for the year. Employee deferrals must be withheld from paychecks dated within the calendar year to count toward annual contribution limits.
• Complete HSA / FSA payroll contributions. Confirm all employee and employer contributions intended for the year have been processed and reflected correctly in payroll records.
• Record terminated employee final pay in compliance with state timing rules. Several states require immediate or accelerated final pay. Year-end is a common time for issues to surface if records aren’t clean.

By January 31

These items land shortly after year-end and rely on clean payroll and contractor data from December. They’re worth flagging before the year closes, but execution typically happens once the year is fully closed.

• Distribute Form W-2 to all employees. Employees must receive their W-2s by January 31, whether delivered electronically or by mail. Accuracy is important, since corrections create downstream filings.
• Distribute Form 1099-NEC to contractors. Contractors paid $600 or more during the year must receive a 1099-NEC. This often surfaces classification or address issues if records weren’t kept current.
• Correct and reissue returned or invalid W-2s or 1099s. Undeliverable forms or errors should be addressed quickly to avoid penalties. If compliance-related mail or notices come back around these filings, Postal can help action them on your behalf.

February–March (If Applicable)

These items don’t apply to every company, but they tend to show up once January filings are settled. At this point, it’s less about preparation and more about responding cleanly and on time.

• Distribute ACA Forms 1095-B / 1095-C to employees. Applicable to employers subject to ACA reporting requirements. Deadlines can shift year to year, so confirm whether your organization is required to distribute these forms.
• Respond to SSA or IRS payroll notice letters. Mismatch notices or payroll-related questions often arrive in this window. If a notice comes in by mail, Postal can receive it, surface what matters, and help route or action the response quickly.

Finance and Accounting compliance

Finance and accounting compliance at year-end is about closing the books accurately and preparing for required tax and reporting filings. Clean inputs reduce rework and follow-on issues in the months ahead.

By December 31

These tasks lock in the financial record for the year. Once the calendar turns, changes here tend to ripple into amended filings, revised disclosures, or cleanup work later.

• Close the general ledger for the calendar year. Ensure all transactions for the year are recorded, categorized correctly, and posted to the correct period. This is the foundation everything else rests on.
• Reconcile payroll, benefits, and tax liabilities. Confirm payroll runs, benefit deductions, and accrued tax liabilities align with what’s been paid and what’s still owed. Small mismatches here often spring up as notices later.
• Capture equity compensation events. Record option exercises, restricted stock units, cancellations, and forfeitures that occurred during the year. These figures feed both financial reporting and upcoming tax filings.
• Confirm sales tax collections through the year-end. Validate that collected sales tax matches transaction records across applicable states. If year-end sales tax notices or correspondence arrive by mail, Postal can receive and route them for action.

By January 10

This is the first finance deadline of the new year and comes up quickly after the books close. It’s operational, but missing it can trigger penalties.

• Deposit December payroll taxes (monthly depositors). Employers on a monthly deposit schedule must remit federal payroll taxes for December by January 10. If any IRS notices related to payroll tax deposits arrive by mail, Postal can receive and help route them for resolution.

By January 31

This is when year-end numbers turn into formal filings. Most of the work here depends on everything being finalized in December, so delays earlier tend to show up at this point.

• File Form W-3 with the Social Security Administration. This transmits employee W-2 information to the SSA and must align exactly with what employees received.
• File Form 1099-NEC with the Internal Revenue Service. Contractor payment reporting is due to the IRS by January 31. Discrepancies often trigger follow-up notices if totals don’t match payroll or accounts payable records.
• File Form 941 (Q4) with the Internal Revenue Service. The fourth-quarter payroll tax return reconciles wages, withholdings, and deposits for the end of the year.
• File state quarterly payroll tax returns. States generally mirror federal payroll reporting, but forms and deadlines vary. Accuracy across jurisdictions is crucial here.
• File state W-2 and 1099 transmittals. Many states require separate filings in addition to federal submissions. If state agencies send payroll-related correspondence by mail, Postal can receive and help route those items for action.

February–April

This window is where year-end financials turn into income tax filings. Exact deadlines vary by entity type and whether you file extensions, but decisions made here impact the rest of the tax year.

• File Form 1099-MISC (if applicable). Certain payments not reported on Form 1099-NEC may still require reporting. This typically applies to rents, prizes, or other specific payment categories.
• File federal income tax return or extension. Corporations and pass-through entities must file Form 1120, 1120-S, or 1065 by their applicable deadline, or submit an extension if more time is needed.
• File state income or franchise tax returns or extensions. State requirements often differ from federal rules, especially for franchise or minimum taxes. Extensions are common, but they don’t always extend payment deadlines.
• Pay taxes due (if not extending). Any tax owed must generally be paid by the original filing deadline to avoid penalties and interest, even if an extension is filed.

If tax notices or state correspondence arrive by mail during this period, Postal can receive them, flag deadlines, and help route next steps quickly.

Legal and Corporate Governance compliance

Legal and corporate governance compliance focuses on keeping the company in good standing with the states where it operates. Year-end is often when gaps come to the surface and records need to be reviewed and updated.

By December 31

These items are about closing the legal record for the year. They’re often straightforward, but gaps here can create friction with banks, investors, or state filings down the line.

• Finalize and store board and shareholder minutes for the year. Ensure all meetings and written consents from the year are documented and properly stored. Missing or incomplete records tend to surface during audits or financings.
• Update the cap table to reflect year-end ownership. Confirm that ownership reflects all issuances, exercises, transfers, and cancellations through December 31. This should align with both legal records and finance reporting.
• Record equity grants and exercises. Equity activity should be formally approved, documented, and reflected in company records. This is especially important if grants or exercises occurred late in the year.
• Update registered agent information if it changed during the year. Any changes to registered agent or registered office details should be reflected in state records. If confirmation notices or state correspondence arrive by mail, Postal can receive and help action them.

Early Q1

These obligations typically follow right after year-end and vary by state. They’re predictable, but easy to miss if entity details or addresses aren’t up to date.

• File state annual reports or Statements of Information. Most states require a recurring filing (usually every year, and sometimes every two years) to keep entities in good standing. These filings usually confirm officers, addresses, and registered agent details. Postal can handle these filings when they come in.
• Pay state franchise taxes (where applicable). Some states require annual franchise or minimum taxes early in the year, regardless of profitability. Notices and payment reminders are often sent by mail, which Postal can receive and action.
• Renew state or local business licenses with calendar-year terms. Licenses issued by cities, counties, or states often renew on a calendar-year basis. Missing a renewal can delay operations or trigger penalties, especially in regulated industries.

IT and Security compliance

IT and security compliance is lighter than other areas, but the stakes are higher when something is missed. Year-end is a natural checkpoint for access controls and incident obligations.

Most IT and security work is operational. This section only covers the limited set of items that carry formal legal or regulatory deadlines.

By December 31

This is the one IT and security item with a clear year-end compliance angle. It’s simple, but regulators take it seriously.

• Remove system access for all terminated employees. Access to company systems should be fully revoked for anyone no longer employed, including email, internal tools, and third-party platforms. In some states, this is explicitly required under privacy and data security laws, and year-end reviews often show gaps that slipped through earlier.

Ongoing and event-driven obligation

These obligations aren’t tied to the calendar. They only apply if an incident occurs, but timelines are strict once triggered.

• Issue breach notifications within statutory timelines. If a data breach or security incident meets legal notification thresholds, notices must be sent within defined timeframes that vary by state and circumstance. These requirements are unforgiving, and delays can materially increase regulatory exposure.

Executive and company-wide accountability

At the end of the year, compliance stops being departmental and becomes a leadership responsibility. This is the point where everything above needs a final review, approval, and clear ownership.

• Ensure all required filings and payments above are completed. Someone at the executive level should confirm that each department has met its obligations, especially where deadlines overlap or dependencies exist.
• Approve tax extensions where needed. Extensions are a legitimate planning tool, but they require explicit approval and coordination across Finance and Legal. Payment obligations may still apply even when extensions are filed.
• Certify accuracy of government filings. Many filings require an officer signature or certification. This isn’t a formality. Signatories are attesting that information is complete and accurate to the best of their knowledge.

Hand off your end of year compliance tasks

End-of-year compliance doesn’t usually fall apart because teams don’t know what to do. It slips when documents scatter across inboxes, filings arrive by mail after deadlines have passed, or ownership isn’t clear at key moments.

Postal helps teams centralize and act on compliance-critical mail and filings without adding more tools or manual follow-ups. That includes receiving and routing government notices, handling registered agent mail, managing state filings like annual reports and Statements of Information, and flagging deadlines tied to tax, payroll, and regulatory correspondence.

Instead of chasing paperwork across departments in January, you get a clear record of what arrived, what needs action, and what’s already been handled—all in one place.