Arkansas Form AR941A Not Found or Missing in QuickBooks Payroll

QuickBooks Desktop payroll users in Arkansas who file income tax withholding reports on an annual basis have reported difficulty locating and working with Form AR941A, the Employer’s Annual Report for Income Tax Withheld. The form is built into QuickBooks and designed to pre-fill from existing payroll data, but users who do not know where to find it — or who are unclear on whether they should be using it at all — can end up stuck at filing time.

What the AR941A Is and Who Uses It

The AR941A is specifically for annual filers of Arkansas state income tax withholding. QuickBooks populates the form automatically using the payroll data already entered throughout the year — company information, employee wages, tax withheld, and tax paid. In most cases, if all payroll data has been entered correctly, users should not need to manually input additional figures.

The form pulls three key dollar amounts directly from QuickBooks records:

• Arkansas Tax Withheld from Wages — the total state income tax withheld for the full calendar year.
• Arkansas Tax Paid — the total amount remitted to the state for the year.
• Total Arkansas Wages Reported — the combined wages reported on all W-2 and 1099 statements.

Company name, address, and account ID are also pre-filled based on what is stored in the company file. The Arkansas withholding account ID follows a specific format: 12 characters total, beginning with eight numeric digits, a hyphen, and ending with the letters “WHW.”

Filing Deadlines and Requirements

The AR941A must be completed and postmarked by January 31 of the year following the tax year being reported. Annual filers are also responsible for filing the ARW-3 transmittal form along with copies of all W-2 and 1099 statements by February 28. If a filer chooses to submit the AR941A, the ARW-3, and the wage statements together in a single mailing, the entire package must be postmarked by the earlier January 31 deadline.

Employers reporting 250 or more employees and payees are required to file their W-2s and 1099s electronically.

Payments should be made by check or money order payable to the Department of Finance and Administration, with the account ID written on the payment, and mailed to the DFA in Little Rock.

Monthly Filers: Do Not Use This Form

One point of confusion for some users is eligibility. Monthly filers should not file the AR941A. That form is reserved for annual filers only. Monthly filers must instead use Form AR3MAR to report Arkansas withholding tax. Using the wrong form can lead to filing errors or rejection by the state.

What to Do When QuickBooks Does Not Fill In a Field

While QuickBooks is designed to pre-fill the AR941A automatically, users occasionally find that certain fields are blank or appear incorrect. The accepted guidance is to review any fields the software did not populate and enter the missing information manually. QuickBooks provides built-in help directly on the form window — clicking the Help button while the form is open brings up context-specific troubleshooting and field-level guidance.

For users who want to understand where a specific number originated, the form offers clickable links that trace amounts back to the underlying payroll data. This can help verify that withholding totals match what was actually paid throughout the year.

Exporting and Saving the Form

QuickBooks also supports saving a copy of the completed payroll form as a PDF, which is useful for recordkeeping or for sharing with an accountant. Users looking to summarize their payroll data outside of QuickBooks can export relevant information to a spreadsheet for additional review or reconciliation before filing.

Address Changes Require Separate Action

One detail worth noting: if a company needs to update its address specifically for withholding tax purposes, changing the address in QuickBooks alone is not sufficient. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration requires the appropriate change forms to be submitted directly. Those forms are available through the state’s DFA website or can be requested by contacting the agency directly.

For broader QuickBooks payroll help and troubleshooting guidance, our network covers common filing and form issues across state tax requirements.