QuickBooks Prefills Arkansas Form ARW-3 — What Users Need to Know

When Arkansas employers file annual wage and tax statements, QuickBooks Desktop’s payroll forms module can prefill the state’s transmittal document — Form ARW-3 — pulling company, employee, and withholding data directly from the company file. The feature works for most users without manual entry, but the form carries specific filing rules and field requirements worth reviewing before submission.

What Form ARW-3 Does

The ARW-3 serves as a cover sheet for the Arkansas copies of W-2 statements. Employers must submit it alongside employee W-2 copies to the state’s Withholding Branch by January 31 of the following tax year. If that date lands on a weekend or holiday, the deadline shifts to the next business day. The form must be mailed — postmarked by the due date — together with the W-2 copies; it should never be sent on its own, even if only a single W-2 is being filed.

One point that catches users off guard: the ARW-3 does not replace Arkansas’ periodic withholding returns. Monthly filers still need the AR3MAR, and annual filers still need the AR941A. The transmittal is strictly a summary document for W-2 submission, not a reconciliation of withholding deposits.

Payments should not be included with the W-2 and ARW-3 mailing — no checks, cash, or money orders.

How QuickBooks Handles the Form

When users open the ARW-3 within QuickBooks, the software populates most fields automatically based on existing payroll setup. Company name, address, state identification number, total wages, total Arkansas tax withheld, and employee count are all drawn from data already in the company file. In a properly maintained setup, no additional manual entry is typically required.

That said, QuickBooks leaves certain fields for the user to review. Any information the software could not derive from company data must be entered manually before printing or filing.

Fields to Verify

Company Name, Address, and State ID — QuickBooks pulls these from the company profile. The Arkansas state ID follows a specific 12-character format: eight numeric digits, a hyphen, and the letters “WHW.” Users should confirm their ID matches this structure.

Number of Employees — QuickBooks counts employees who had state tax withheld during the year. This figure may be adjustable if it does not match expectations.

Total State Income Tax Withheld — The software enters the cumulative Arkansas withholding for the year. This total should match the combined Arkansas tax withheld across all W-2 forms being submitted.

Total State Wages, Tips, Other Compensation — QuickBooks enters the annual wage total from payroll records.

Multiple FEINs — If the transmittal covers more than one Federal Employer Identification Number, the user must indicate which FEINs are included.

Where to Send It

Completed ARW-3 forms with W-2 copies go to:

Withholding Branch P.O. Box 8055 Little Rock, AR 72203-8055

When Numbers Don’t Match

The most common frustration users encounter with prefilled state payroll forms is a mismatch between the withheld totals on the transmittal and the actual W-2 amounts. This typically points back to data-entry inconsistencies during the year — a paycheck edited after the fact, a manual tax adjustment, or an employee set up with incorrect state withholding. Running a payroll summary report for the full year and comparing it line by line against the ARW-3 totals is the fastest way to isolate the discrepancy.

QuickBooks’ built-in Help button on the form window walks users through tracing specific figures back to their source transactions. For broader payroll data review, the software also supports exporting summary data to Excel for side-by-side comparison.

Users who notice recurring discrepancies or suspect their payroll data needs deeper review may want to reconcile withholding accounts before filing, since corrections after submission require amended forms.