Step 1 - Prepare for Year-End

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To help make things easy, we've gathered everything you need to do into one handy checklist.

 

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In this article, we'll provide a list of important dates and deadlines and outline the things to do to prepare for Year-End, such as:

  1. Review important dates
  2. Schedule a year-end meeting with stakeholders (IT, HR, Finance)
  3. Update Payroll Tax Remittance Frequency to avoid fines
  4. Confirm all taxable Benefits, Deductions, and Income Types have been set up accurately
  5. Add any manual cheques to Payroll so they’re included on tax slips

 

Part 1 - Review Important Dates

One of the best things you can do to prepare for a successful year end is to review all important payroll dates and deadlines.

This is an important step because statutory holidays can impact and overlap run-by deadlines, and since many people take extra time off around holidays, that can further alter timelines.

Date Event
Tuesday, Dec 23, 2025 Run Payroll by 4:30 pm EST for payment on Tuesday, December 31, 2025. If you require a deadline extension, submit a ticket to our support team.
Wednesday, Dec 24, 2025

If your business has three days to process payroll, or you've been granted a payroll deadline extension, run payroll by 4:30 pm EST for direct deposit on Tuesday, December 31, 2025.

No further extensions are possible for 3-day processing to ensure direct deposit on December 31.

Humi by Employment Hero's Payroll Support team will be available to assist with time-sensitive payroll inquiries until 5:00 pm EST.

Monday, Dec 15, 2025 - Monday, Jan 12, 2026 The CRA’s scheduled system shutdown. The CRA’s Internet filing applications will be temporarily unavailable from December 22, 2025 at 6:00 AM to January 12, 2026.

T4 submission in Humi by Employment Hero will be temporarily unavailable from December 15, 2025 to January 12, 2026.
Thursday, Dec 25, 2025 - Thursday, Jan 1, 2026 The Humi by Employment Hero office will be closed. Support will be available for high-priority issues on December 27th, 30th, 31st.
Thursday, January 1, 2025 The Year-End Adjustment tool is available in Humi by Employment Hero for the 2025 tax year.
Tuesday, January 13, 2026 The CRA online internet filing for T4s and T4 summaries will be available.
Monday, Feb 23, 2025 Last day to submit T4s (including T4 summaries) and RL-1s through Humi for automatic filing to the CRA and RQ on your behalf.
Saturday, Feb 28, 2026 Deadline to file T4 slips and summaries with the CRA, and to file RL-1 slips and summaries. If the last day of February falls on a weekend or public holiday, the filing deadline is typically extended to the next business day. However, employers must issue T4 slips to employees by the last day of February (February 28th).
Thursday, April 30th, 2026 Employees' personal tax returns should be filed by this date.

Understanding Cheque Dates

The cheque date of a pay period determines the tax year the pay period will be included in.

For example, a pay period that runs from December 1 to 31, 2025, with a cheque date of December 31, 2025, will be included in tax slips for 2025. However, if that same pay period had a cheque date of January 2, 2026, it would be included in tax slips for 2026.

 

Part 2 - Schedule a Year-End Meeting with stakeholders (IT, HR, Finance)

Meeting with IT, HR, and Finance stakeholders to educate them on the payroll year-end process will help set you up for a smoother year-end.

Since every organization is different, we can't tell you exactly what to talk about, but this meeting should help them understand how they can help, and provide a timeline of events that may impact their roles.

 

Part 3 - Update your Payroll Tax Remittance Frequency

Update your Payroll Tax Remittance Frequency prior to your first 2025 payroll run to avoid CRA penalties.

The CRA determines when you must pay (remit) payroll source deductions as an employer.

RQ will estimate your frequency at the end of the year and notify you of any changes.

Humi Tip

Both CRA and RQ remittance frequencies are normally based on your average monthly withholding amount (AMWA) from two calendar years ago.

CRA Remittances
Remitter Type Remitting 
Frequency
Average Monthly Withholding Amount (AMWA)
Quarterly remitters 
(New small employers)
Quarterly Not based on AMWA. The monthly withholding amount is zero to $999.99 and you have a perfect compliance history.
Quarterly remitters  
(Account opened for 12 months or longer)
Quarterly From zero to $2999.99 and you have a perfect compliance history.
Regular remitters Monthly From zero to $24,999.99
Threshold 1 accelerated remitters Up to twice a month From $25,000 to $99,999.99
Threshold 2 accelerated remitters Up to four times a month $100,000.00 or more
RQ Remittances
Remittance frequency Conditions
Annual The total of your source deductions and employer contributions for 2025 was $2,400 or less, or you estimate that this will be the case for 2026.
Quarterly

If you are not a new employer:

• your average monthly remittance for 2024 or 2025 was $3,000 or less;

• you fulfilled your fiscal obligations over the last 12 months.

If you are a new employer:

• the total of your source deductions and employer contributions for each month is less than $1,000;

• you have fulfilled all of your fiscal obligations.

 

Monthly Your average monthly remittance for 2025 was less than $25,000 or you are a new employer.
Twice monthly Your average monthly remittance for 2025 was $25,000 or more, but less than $100,000.
Weekly Your average monthly remittance for 2025 was $100,000 or more.

 

Where to View Your Remitter Type

You can view your CRA Remitter Type through the CRA's My Business Account, and your RQ Remitter Type through RQ’s clicSÉQUR account.
Be sure to update your Remitter Type in Humi if it has changed for 2026.

 

Part 4 - Confirm all taxable Benefits, Deductions, and Income Types have been set up accurately

Reviewing your Benefit, Deduction, and Income Types within Humi Payroll is simple. All you have to do is click on it to quickly see how the tax is set up.

How to review the tax setup for benefits, deductions and income types in Payroll:

In this example, we'll describe how to check the tax setup for your benefits, however, the steps are exactly the same for reviewing deductions and income types, respectively.

  1. In Payroll, click on the Benefits & Deductions tab and select Benefits from the dropdown.
  2. On the Benefits page, click on the benefit you want to review.
  3. The section on the right shows how the benefit tax is set up.

Use these links for more information on Benefits and Deductions and Income Types.

 

Part 5 - Add any income paid to employees outside of Humi in 2025 to the Year-End Adjuster

If you've paid an employee manually (i.e. outside of the payroll system via cheque or other method) and that amount is required to be on a tax slip, you must add it to Humi before year end using the Year-End Adjuster.

To do this, please submit a support ticket to Humi’s support team.

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