South Dakota Form 21 Page 2: Line 10 and Line 15 Detail Worksheet Explained

QuickBooks users responsible for South Dakota unemployment insurance filings have raised questions about Form 21, page 2 — specifically the Line 10 and Line 15 Detail Worksheet — and how to get the fields on that page to populate or become editable. The confusion centers on where the data comes from, which fields QuickBooks fills automatically, and which fields require manual entry before the form can be signed and submitted.

What the Worksheet Is For

The Line 10 and Line 15 Detail Worksheet on page 2 of South Dakota Form 21 serves two broad purposes. First, a business uses it to report that operations in South Dakota have been discontinued, or that there has been a change in business operation or ownership — a sale, lease, or other transfer. Second, the same page is used to describe adjustments made for prior quarters, including explanations for debit or credit notices received from the state Department of Labor.

Most of the information on this page does not come over automatically from the rest of a QuickBooks company file. The user is expected to enter it directly.

Activating the Page

A common point of confusion is that page 2 may appear inactive or empty when a user expects to fill it out. QuickBooks will not present Line 15 on page 2 unless the preparer checks the corresponding box on Form 21, page 1, at Line 15. That checkbox is what activates the detail section on the following page.

The same logic applies in reverse for Line 10. If an amount has been entered on Form 21, page 1, at Line 10, the user is expected to complete Line 10 on page 2 as well. In other words, the two pages are linked: entries on page 1 signal what needs attention on page 2.

Business Information Fields

Several fields on page 2 do carry over automatically from page 1. The account number, legal business name, and mailing address all flow from what was already entered on the first page of the form. The user does not need to retype those.

The owner’s name, however, is a manual entry on page 2.

Reporting a Discontinued or Transferred Business

If a business has been discontinued without a successor, the user enters the date of last employment or the date wages were last paid — whichever is later — and signs where indicated at Line 5.

For a business that was sold, leased, or otherwise transferred, several fields come into play:

• Effective date of disposition — the date the transfer took effect.
• Reason for disposition — a brief explanation of why the business changed hands.
• Date wages were last paid in South Dakota — the final payroll date in the state.
• Retaining part of the business — the preparer must check “Yes” or “No” to indicate whether any portion of the business is being retained. This question must be answered whenever a sale, lease, or transfer occurred.
• Name and address of successor — the identifying details for the party taking over.

South Dakota unemployment insurance law permits the transfer of the employer’s payroll experience and experience rating account to a successor. The form asks the preparer to specify whether they authorize that transfer.

Signature Requirements

The completed report must be signed by the appropriate party. For an individual employer, that means the individual themselves. For a corporation, the president, treasurer, or another principal officer signs. For other entity types, a responsible, duly authorized member or agent with knowledge of the company’s affairs may sign.

Adjustments for Prior Quarters

The lower portion of page 2 handles adjustments. The user enters the quarter or quarters to which the adjustments apply, along with an explanation for each. This includes responses to debit or credit notices from the Department, as well as any corrections the preparer has identified for prior reporting periods.

Finding Additional Help Within QuickBooks

For fields that QuickBooks does not populate automatically, the in-product help window offers field-level guidance. Users who need broader assistance with the form window itself — or who want to understand where a specific number on the form originated within their QuickBooks data — can use the Help button on the form window for additional payroll form context.

The Bottom Line

The Line 10 and Line 15 Detail Worksheet is largely a manual form. QuickBooks carries over identifying business information from page 1, but everything related to a business closure, transfer, successor details, experience-rating authorization, and prior-quarter adjustments must be entered by hand. The key to unlocking the page is simple but easy to miss: check the Line 15 box on page 1 to activate Line 15 on page 2, and remember that any amount entered on Line 10 of page 1 triggers a corresponding requirement on page 2.