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Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Division of Employment and Training Services
Employment Security Tax
P.O. Box 115509
Juneau, AK 99811-5509
Toll free (888) 448-3527
Creating and uploading CSV files using EXCEL for Multiple Filers
The multiple filer feature of the on-line system is for payroll, bookkeeping, CPA’s and
other entities that file Alaska Quarterly Contribution Reports for more than one
employer/client. All employer/client accounts are combined and uploaded together.
Multiple filers have 2 choices for completing the process:
1) Upload header detail file and upload a wage detail file for each account into a
grid, OR
2) Hand key header detail and upload a wage detail file for all accounts.
Power Point demonstrations of our on-line processes can be viewed at:
http://labor.alaska.gov/estax/training.htm
General guidelines:
File format must be comma delimited
No leading or trailing spaces
No text qualifiers (quotes around values in columns)
No column headings or descriptors
Do not total the wage column in your file
Do not exceed the maximum number of characters in a column
Do not insert blank lines between rows of detail
See the specifications for required layout for fields, columns, and maximum lengths
Unnecessary commas in your file will be read as a new field and result in an error
Create one row for each employer in the header record
Create one row for each employee in the wage detail record. Employees listed more
than once in the same file must work for different employers.
Remove all employees with no wages (zero) in the quarter from the file
Negative wages are not accepted
No limit on the number of employers or employees that can be submitted
DO NOT open your completed CSV file using Excel
Use NOTEPAD to open completed CSV files to make corrections OR make
corrections in your Excel file and recreate the CSV file.
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Step by Step Instructions for Creating Header File
The following specifications are to create an upload file to combine all client accounts
together. This information can also be manually keyed on the screen after the wage
detail is uploaded. This file contains information on all the employers for which you are
submitting quarterly reports. Zero reports can also be included in this file. This is
equivalent to the top portion of the Alaska Quarterly Contribution Report.
A. Open a new workbook in Excel. Click on the following: File/New/Workbook
B. DELETE all of the extra pages in the workbook. This can be done by right clicking on
top of the area that says “sheet 2” and select “delete”. Repeat for “sheet 3” etc..
C. Create columns without headings or descriptors in Excel for all of the following fields
to complete the header file:
Column
Max. Length
Column Contents & Requirements
1 or A
8
Alaska Employer Account Numbers are 5, 6 or 7 digits in
length. Leading zeros are not necessary.
2 or B
4
Reporting Year – Format: CCYY (ex. 2007)
3 or C
1
Reporting Quarter – Valid Values: 1, 2, 3, or 4.
4 or D
1
Zero Report (Y/N) – Yes/No field – Valid values Y or N. Must
be upper case.
“N” value must have a corresponding wage file record
“Y” value will submit a zero report for that employer/client
5 or E
1
Wages reported to other states – Yes/No field – Valid values Y
or N. Must be upper case.
6 or F
11,2
Less excess wages – Format numeric with decimal. No $ or
commas. Blanks invalid. If no excess wages, report 0.00.
Maximum field length is a total of 11 digits example:
999,999,999.99.
7 or G
11,2
Not currently being used. Leave blank. Future enhancement for
Prior balance. Maximum field length is a total of 11 digits
example: 999,999,999.99.
8 or H
11,2
Remit amount. Not currently being used. If a value is included,
the system will bypass the value.
9 or I
6
Employee count month 1. Report number of employees
working on the 12
th
day of the first month of the quarter. Report
0 if no employees for the month. Numeric, no commas,
decimals, or slashes. Blanks are invalid. No preceding zeros.
10 or J
6
Employee count month 2. Report number of employees
working on the 12
th
day of the 2nd month of the quarter. Report
0 if no employees for the month. Numeric, no commas,
decimals, or slashes. Blanks are invalid. No preceding zeros.
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11 or K
6
Employee count Month 3. Report number of employees
working on the 12
th
day of the third month of the quarter.
Report 0 if no employees for the month. Numeric, no commas,
decimals, or slashes. Blanks are invalid. No preceding zeros.
REPEAT ALL 11 STEPS FOR EACH EMPLOYER/CLIENT
EXAMPLE of how your file should look:
D. Prior to creating your CSV comma delimited file save a copy in Excel as your
working copy.
E. To save the file as CSV (comma delimited) for uploading online, select “File/Save
As” and change the file type to CSV (comma delimited) and name the file something
that has meaning for you when you upload the file online. For instance: Header
Records Submitted [Date]. See following example:
Click
“SAVE”
select
“CSV”
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F. Excel will then give you the following message that you must answer YES to:
G. Close the CSV file by clicking the upper right hand “x”. YOU MUST CLICK NO when
this 2nd message is received or your formatting will be changed.
Your finished file will be the name of your file with a .CSV extension. Example:
“HeaderRecordSubmitted04232007.CSV”. DO NOT REOPEN THIS FILE IN EXCEL.
Step by Step Instructions for Creating Wage Detail File
This is equivalent to filling out the bottom portion of the Alaska Quarterly Contribution
Report.
1. Open a new workbook in Excel. Click on the following: File/New/Workbook/OK.
2. DELETE all of the extra pages in the workbook. This can be done by right clicking on
top of the area that says “sheet 2” and select “delete”. Repeat for “sheet 3” etc.
3. Create columns without headings or descriptors in Excel for all of the following fields
to complete the wage file detail for each employer/client account. The information
must correspond with the header information that is uploaded or manually keyed.
Column
Max. Length
Column Contents & Requirements
1 or A
8
Alaska employer account numbers are 5, 6 or 7 numeric digits.
Leading zeros are not necessary.
2 or B
4
Reporting Year – Format: CCYY (ex. 2007)
3 or C
1
Reporting Quarter – Valid Values: 1, 2, 3, or 4
4 or D
9
Social Security Number – Must be 9 digits. Must include
leading zeros. Do not include hyphens. Define the field as text
or put a single quote (‘) in front of the SSN to keep the leading
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zeros. Leave field blank if SSN has not been received.
5 or E
25
Employee Last Name – Maximum 25 characters. Hyphens are
allowed. Do not include commas, spaces or parenthesis. Alpha
characters only.
6 or F
15
Employee First Name -Maximum 15 characters. Do not include
commas, spaces or parenthesis. Alpha characters only.
7 or G
1
Employee Middle Initial – Maximum 1 character. Alpha
characters only. Field can be blank.
8 or H
9,2
Employee Total Reportable Wages – Numeric with decimal. No
$ sign or commas (example: 1000.95 or 623). Maximum field
length is a total of 9 digits example: 9,999,999.99
9 or I
1
Project Code – Not currently being used. Leave blank.
10 or J
20
Hourly Rate – Not currently being used. Leave blank.
11 or K
10
Occupational Code – 6 or 8 digit numeric code, or title.
Decimals and dashes allowed when part of a valid
occupational code. Coding manual located:
http://labor.alaska.gov/estax/forms/toc_forms.htm as PDF.
12 or L
2
Geographic Code – 2 digit numeric code. Coding manual
located http://labor.alaska.gov/estax/forms/toc_forms.htm as
PDF.
REPEAT ALL 12 STEPS FOR EACH EMPLOYER/CLIENT.
Wage file must have corresponding header record.
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NOTE: To maintain leading zeros in the SSN field you have two choices:
a) Type a single quote before entering the SSN. (Example ‘001882222) OR
b) Select column “D”, right click and select ”Format/Cells/Number/Text” then OK.
Example:
Make sure that all employee records are included in the file. Incomplete employer files
will be accepted and any additions or corrections to that employer’s report must be
submitted as an amended report(s). You may submit one employer’s records or multiple
employers’ records at the same time in the same CSV (comma delimited) file. See the
following for an example of a completed wage file for multiple employers:
4. Prior to creating your CSV comma delimited file save a copy in Excel as your
working copy.
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5. To save the file as CSV for uploading online, select File/Save As/, change the file
type to CSV (Comma delimited) and name the file something that has meaning for
you when you upload the file online (For instance: Wage Detail Submitted
[Date].CSV). Example:
H. Excel will then give you the following message that you must answer YES to:
I. Close the CSV file by clicking the upper right hand “x”. YOU MUST CLICK NO when
this 2nd message is received or your formatting will be changed.
Your finished file will be the name of your file with a .CSV extension. Example:
“Wagedetailsubmitted04232007.CSV”. DO NOT REOPEN THIS FILE IN EXCEL.
Click
“SAVE”
select
“CSV”
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UPLOADING FILES:
1. Go to: https://tos.dol.alaska.gov/tos/
2. Login using existing myAlaska login, or create myAlaska user name and
password, if you do not already have one.
3. Under “Contribution Reporting” select “multiple filing”.
4. Register remitter or select from menu if previously entered.
5. Select “Submit Wages” to upload files.
6. Select “Browse…” to locate CSV header file to upload.
7. Select “Upload” to upload CSV file.
OR
8. Enter header data manually by typing in the information for each employer
account on the page. You may include zero reports during this process.
9. Select “Next”
10. Select “browse” to locate the wage file you created, certify and upload.
11. Review errors in file.
12. Select “Submit”.
13. Print Vouchers or a Summary List
a. Print Vouchers Only
b. Print Vouchers with Summary(DO NOT mail in the summary reports)
c. Print Vouchers/Summary/Wages
d. Print Summary List to Submit with Payment
14. Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) payments can be made individually by going to
“Pay Taxes” from the main menu or checks can be mailed in with the Payment
Voucher.
15. In the event that you have errors in your file see below for helpful suggestions on
correcting these errors either in NOTEPAD or EXCEL. After corrections are
completed follow steps 1 through 15.
16. Payroll, bookkeeping and accounting organizations that submit payment for their
clients may submit one check with multiple payment vouchers. Please use option
13(d) Print Summary List to Submit with Payment, to mail with a check.
COMMON ERROR MESSAGES (not a
complete list)
REASON
Server Error OR Unexpected Error
1. Formatting error that application does
not recognize OR
2. Server or browser problems OR
3. Excel spreadsheet was auto summed
to check the total reportable wages.
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When total was removed the entire row
needed to be deleted instead of just
the cell.
CALL 888-448-3527 for assistance
Incorrect number of columns found on
line1. Columns expected 12 found 11 OR
20
1. Check specifications and make sure
you have a column for each category.
OR
2. Inadvertently uploaded the Excel file
instead of the CSV file.
Employer not found
Account number incorrect
Employer cannot submit for this
year/quarter
Account closed or canceled
Less excess wages can not be greater
than total reportable wages
Wage file total is less than the amount
entered as excess wages in the header
file. This error will also show when the
header file does not locate a
corresponding wage file for that employer.
SSN value soc
Occupational code (SOC) is invalid or
missing
SSN value geo code
Geographic code (GEO) is invalid or
missing
SSN value wage_amt
Individual wage amount cannot be blank,
zero, negative or exceed the maximum.
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Correcting Errors in Notepad using the CSV file:
1. Right mouse click on the “start” button and select “explore” OR from the desktop
select “my computer”
2. Right mouse click on the csv file DO NOT OPEN USING EXCEL
3. Select “open with” “notepad” first time users will need to select “choose program” to
find notepad.
4. The file will have commas in between all of your columns of detail from the Excel file
you originally created. Example: 123456,2007,1,smith,joe,j,1240.00,,,31903,62
5. Check the very end of the file for extra commas and delete these if necessary and
select “file, save”
6. Some applications put extra spaces in the file. To remove these select “edit/replace”
type a space in the “find what” box and nothing in the “replace with” box. Then select
“replace all” and “file save”
7. From the edit menu select “find” or “control f” to locate the SSN or name of the
employee that needs to be corrected. This will take the cursor to the line you need to
correct.
8. Highlight area to be corrected and type new or corrected information
9. Select “file, save”, close file and return to the steps outlined in the upload section.
Correcting Errors in Excel
NOTE: Do not open the CSV in Excel to make your corrections. Use your original Excel
file and recreate the CSV file after making your corrections.
1. Review the specifications for the file and make the necessary corrections to your
Excel file.
2. To recreate the CSV file: Select “file/save as”
3. The first message will ask if you want to replace the existing file. You must answer
YES
4. The second message will state that your file may contain features that are not
compatible with CSV (comma delimited). Do you want to keep the workbook in this
format? You must answer YES
5. Then close the CSV file by clicking the upper right hand “x”. You will receive a third
message asking if you want to save your changes. YOU MUST CLICK NO here or
your formatting will be changed.