T4 Filing Checklist: How to Prepare, Review, and Submit T4 Slips

A reliable T4 filing starts before the slips are created. Close and reconcile your year-end payroll, verify employee information, prepare the T4 slips and T4 Summary, complete a documented review, deliver slips to employees, and confirm the CRA submission.

Current CRA instructions for the applicable remuneration year take priority, particularly for taxable benefits, unusual deductions, amended information, or other non-standard payroll circumstances. A T4 slip reports remuneration paid by an employer to an employee during a calendar year, subject to the CRA's applicable conditions. Review the CRA's T4 slip guidance before finalizing your process.

Quick summary

What You Are Filing: T4 Slips, the T4 Summary, and the CRA Return

These documents serve different purposes. The T4 slip gives each employee a record of employment income and relevant deductions or benefits for the calendar year. The T4 Summary consolidates the information reported for the employer's T4 return, while the electronic submission sends the required information to the CRA.

Do not treat the Summary as a replacement for employee slips. You generally need to provide the applicable T4 slip to each employee and file the T4 return with the CRA by the relevant filing due date. Confirm the current requirements in the CRA employer guide for filing T4 slips and the Summary.

Step 1: Gather the Year-End Payroll Records

Start with a complete source file rather than relying only on the payroll software's final report. Gather:

• Final payroll registers for every pay period and pay group.
• Employee legal names, addresses, SINs, employment dates, and status changes.
• Gross pay, commissions, bonuses, vacation pay, and other remuneration records.
• Taxable benefits, allowances, reimbursements, and employer-paid amounts requiring review.
• CPP, EI, income-tax deductions, payroll remittance reports, and payment confirmations.
• The payroll liability ledger and general-ledger postings.
• Records for employees who joined, left, changed status, or received more than one type of payment.
• Prior correction, replacement, or amended-slip records affecting the current year.

Before completing your T4 filing checklist, reconcile your payroll records and T4 slips and summaries against final payroll totals. This helps prevent preparation from an outdated register or unapproved adjustment.

Step 2: Reconcile Payroll Before Preparing T4 Slips

A payroll reconciliation connects your payroll system to the accounting records and remittance evidence. Work through it consistently:

1. Compare payroll registers with the general ledger. Confirm that wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, vacation pay, and other payroll accounts agree with final reports.
2. Review taxable benefits and allowances. Identify amounts requiring T4 treatment and confirm their period and account coding.
3. Reconcile deductions. Compare CPP, EI, and income-tax amounts with payroll liability accounts and remittance records.
4. Investigate variances. Trace differences to timing, reversals, manual adjustments, terminated employees, corrections, or posting errors. Document each explanation and approval.
5. Confirm year-end cut-off. Check that remuneration belongs to the correct calendar year and that late entries or reversals were not counted twice.

Use current CRA instructions for field-specific treatment. A reconciliation identifies differences, but it does not by itself determine whether a particular benefit, payment, or deduction belongs in a specific T4 box. A broader year-end slips and records process can connect payroll remittances, filing calendars, confirmations, and supporting documents.

Step 3: Prepare the T4 Slips and T4 Summary

After reconciling payroll, use the correct tax-year forms, software version, or electronic specifications to prepare draft slips and the Summary. Enter employer information and each employee's verified identifying details before transferring the approved amounts.

Check employment income, deductions, taxable benefits, and other applicable boxes against the payroll workpapers. Do not copy a prior-year slip without reviewing the current year. CRA electronic specifications may contain detailed field instructions, so confirm the requirements for the relevant year before creating the final file. The CRA publishes current specifications for the T4 Statement of Remuneration Paid.

Step 4: Run a T4 Quality-Control Review

Complete a separate quality-control pass before delivery or submission:

• Employer name, address, account number, contact information, and tax year are correct.
• Each employee's legal name, address, and SIN match approved records.
• Every employee requiring a slip is included, with no duplicate or unexplained missing slips.
• Employment income agrees with the reconciled payroll register and general ledger.
• CPP, EI, income-tax deductions, and taxable benefits agree with supporting records.
• Unusual amounts, negative values, major year-over-year changes, and manual entries have explanations.
• Employee totals and employer totals agree with the T4 Summary.
• Replacement, amended, or cancelled situations have been identified for separate review.
• The final file uses the current CRA format, specifications, and applicable transmittal information.

Where practical, have someone other than the preparer review the final slips and Summary. If a second reviewer is not available, document the checks performed, reports used, and person approving the submission.

Step 5: Deliver T4 Slips to Employees

Employee delivery is separate from CRA filing. Confirm recipient details, use the delivery method permitted for your process, and retain evidence that each slip was delivered or made available as required.

Keep a distribution log showing the employee, delivery date, method, and any returned or undeliverable item. Do not discard returned slips or assume that a failed email resolves the obligation. Check current CRA guidance when an employee cannot be reached or recipient information is uncertain.

Step 6: Choose a CRA Electronic Filing Method

The practical choice is usually between CRA Web Forms and Internet File Transfer, subject to current CRA requirements and your payroll system.

Do not choose a method simply because it was used last year. Confirm that it supports your current return type and that the data can be checked before submission. The CRA's Internet File Transfer guidance covers schema, specifications, transmittal information, and validation.

Step 7: Submit, Confirm, and Save the Filing

Immediately before submission, confirm the tax year, return type, employer account, number of slips, recipient information, and final totals. Ensure the submitted file is the reviewed version, not an earlier export.

Save the CRA confirmation, receipt, reference number, or other proof provided by the filing channel. Record the submission date, preparer, approver, method, and file name or system reference. A filing is not fully documented until another person can locate and understand the evidence.

Step 8: Retain a Complete T4 Filing File

Store the T4 file securely with controlled access. Retain:

• Final payroll registers and general-ledger reconciliation.
• Benefit, deduction, adjustment, and remittance support.
• Employee master-data review and exception notes.
• Draft and final T4 slips, the T4 Summary, and submitted return file.
• Employee distribution confirmations and returned-slip records.
• CRA submission confirmation, receipt, or reference number.
• Approval notes, correction correspondence, and post-filing follow-up.

Cloud-based recordkeeping can help authorized team members access the same organized file, but security and access controls remain important. Apply current CRA recordkeeping requirements and your organization's document-retention policy rather than relying on a generic period.

If You Find an Error After Filing

First identify whether the error affects an employee slip, Summary totals, employer information, or more than one part of the return. Preserve the original submitted file and confirmation, then compare the submission with the payroll reconciliation and supporting records.

Do not overwrite the original file or submit a correction without checking current CRA instructions for the relevant correction, amendment, replacement, or cancellation situation. The correct process depends on the type of error and information affected. When the issue is material or unclear, ask a qualified payroll or tax professional to review it.

When Professional Payroll or T4 Support Makes Sense

Internal preparation may be practical when payroll is straightforward, records are complete, and someone can perform an independent review. Professional support becomes more useful with multiple pay schedules, taxable benefits, frequent employee changes, manual adjustments, incomplete reconciliations, prior corrections, or limited review capacity.

Verma Accounting & Financial Services provides payroll processing, deductions, T4 filings, organized financial records, and cloud-based collaboration for individuals and businesses across Ontario and Canada. Its payroll services may suit employers seeking help organizing the workflow, reviewing payroll information, or completing T4-related work. Confirm the scope for your specific payroll and tax-year requirements.

T4 Filing Checklist FAQ

What is the difference between a T4 slip and a T4 Summary?

A T4 slip reports one employee's remuneration and applicable deductions or benefits. The T4 Summary consolidates the employer's T4 information. Reconcile employee slips to the Summary before submitting.

What payroll records should an employer reconcile?

Reconcile final payroll registers, gross pay, taxable benefits, CPP, EI, income tax, payroll liabilities, remittances, general-ledger postings, employee changes, and manual adjustments.

Can an employer file T4 information returns through CRA Web Forms?

Yes, CRA Web Forms is an electronic filing option. Confirm that it suits your return and follow the current CRA instructions for required filer, employer, tax-year, contact, and recipient information.

When should an employer use Internet File Transfer?

It may suit an employer or payroll system producing a structured electronic file. Use the applicable schema, specifications, transmittal information, and validation process.

What should an employer keep after submitting a T4 return?

Keep final slips, the T4 Summary, payroll reconciliation, benefit and deduction records, delivery evidence, remittance records, submitted file, and CRA confirmation in a secure system.

What should I do if I discover a T4 error after filing?

Identify the affected information, preserve the original submission, and check current CRA correction instructions before submitting anything else. Obtain professional advice for complex corrections.

Conclusion: Use the Checklist Before You Submit

The central T4 filing decision is whether your payroll records are complete and reliable enough to support the slips and Summary. Do not submit until payroll totals, employee details, taxable benefits, deductions, delivery records, and the final CRA file agree.

Use this checklist as a control framework, then verify tax-year-specific requirements directly with the CRA. A clear reconciliation, documented review, confirmed submission, and complete filing file will make later questions easier to answer.

If you need help with payroll records, T4 preparation, or related filing support, contact Verma Accounting & Financial Services to discuss your requirements.