Do’s and don’ts for paying part-time employees

Do’s and don’ts for paying part-time employees

 Source:  The American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers; Bookkeeping Tips Newsletter

 

Do withhold FICA on part-timers, including retirees. 

Even if someone who works for you part-time also has a full-time job where they have had 100% of their FICA withheld for the year, you must withhold the full amount of FICA from their pay. These individuals can obtain a refund of any overpaid FICA on their 1040. Similarly, if a retiree receiving Social Security benefits works for you, say, one day a week, you must withhold FICA.

 

Don’t assume former employees who return part-time are Independent Contractors. 

If they do the same job they did before they left, especially in the same tax year, they are employees, not independent contractors.

 

Don't base worker status on length of service.  

A worker who fits the definition of “employee” is an employee and all employment taxes apply—even if he or she works for you only for a few hours on only one day, is still an employee.

 

Don't assume you must give benefits

To part-timers, or summer help or those hired for holidays. 

Nor are you required to include temps and part-timers in health, pension and other benefits. But to exclude them, have a written plan stating which benefits are not available to these workers.

 

Do define “part-time” v. “full-time” employees in your manual.  

For purposes of paying overtime under federal law, this distinction is determined by company policy, not federal law. Federal wage and hour law restricts only the number of hours worked in the workweek, when overtime must be paid (for each hour worked over 40 hours in the workweek) and the minimum overtime pay required, and the number of hours that children can work.

Got a QuickBooks Mess?
Call The QuickBooks Gal!

775-348-9225

jayne@qbgal.com

 Northern Nevada's Only 
Intuit Solutions Provider

Got Point of Sale? Want Point of Sale?
We have live versions in our office
Call to schedule a trial demonstration!
775-348-9200

qbdoc@qbdoc.com

Hide Unneeded Fields and Columns from Task Screens In Peachtree

By hiding unneeded fields from task screens, you can make transaction entry easier and reduce errors.

From within task screens such as Invoices, Sales Orders, and Purchase Orders, click the Layout button and select Customize Layout.

From the screen that opens, you can uncheck items in the Entry Screen column to hide them, creating a simpler input screen.


For more information on how to create templates for different situations and users, select Help from the Templates screen.


     

Ready to upgrade to Peachtree from your old One Write Plus?  
Call Us!

Peachtree, QuickBooks, Point of Sale Support

775-348-9225

775-348-9200

What IRS Auditors Look for When Examining a Business

Recently, a client asked me about the IRS and what they might look for in an audit.

* He keeps great records and is very careful not to "co-mingle" funds.
* All cash received is deposited to the company business checking account.
* And, in an effort to better control cash purchases, he has opened a separate bank account that he funds periodically from the business operating account.
* He then carries the ATM debit card for that account and makes "cash" purchases with that card.
* Additionally, all workers are either employees or licensed contractors.


I found a great article from Wells Fargo that I think provides a great check list for some of the most common issues the IRS may consider when reviewing a business file in an audit. Here is an excerpt from that article:

In the case of audit, be aware that the IRS training manual tells its auditors that they are examining you, not just your tax return.

The auditor wants to see how you match up with the income reported on your return, or what the IRS terms “economic reality.”

According to Frederick W. Daily, tax attorney and author of Stand Up To the IRS and Tax Savvy for Small Business, if your business is audited, the IRS is likely to investigate the following issues:

Does your lifestyle square with your reported income? “

An auditor sizes you up for dress, jewelry, car and furnishings in your home or office, if given a chance to make these observations. Someone who looks like a Vegas high roller, with the tax return of a missionary, will cause any auditor to dig deeper,” Daily says.

Does your business handle a lot of cash?

If your business handles a lot of cash, expect the auditor to suspect skimming, or diverting income into your own pocket, without declaring it.

Did you write off auto expenses for your only car?

Personal use of your business-deducted set of wheels is so common that auditors expect to find it.

That doesn’t mean they’ll accept it, however. Auditors don’t believe you use your one-and-only auto 100% for business and never to run to the grocery store or the dentist.

If you operate your car for both business and pleasure and claim a high percentage of business usage, keep good records (preferably a mileage log).

Did you claim personal entertainment, meals or vacation costs as business expenses?

Travel and entertainment business expenses are another area where the IRS knows it can strike gold. Document all travel and entertainment deductions. Taking buddies to the ball game and calling it business won’t fly if you can’t explain the business relationship in a credible fashion.

Did you “forget” to report all of your business sales or receipts?

If you failed to report significant business income—$10,000 or more—strongly consider hiring a tax pro to handle the audit. Remove yourself from the process altogether.

If the auditor finds evidence of large amounts of unreported income, and it looks intentional, he may call in the IRS criminal investigation team.


If you have employees, are you filing payroll tax returns and making tax payments?

Employment taxes are a routine part of every audit of a small enterprise.

And last but not least, if you hire people you call “independent contractors,” are they really employees?

The IRS routinely conducts audits of businesses that hire independent contractors, because of the tax savings associated with hiring contractors instead of employees.

These are great questions for all of us to ask about our business practices. Check with your tax professional for more guidelines to proper record keeping and IRS tax compliance.

How to Report on Transaction Activity of Specific Items

Peachtree Tip of the Month: How to Report on Transaction Activity of Specific Items

There’s an easy way to produce a list of customers who have purchased specific inventory items during a given date range. The Item Costing Report lists items with costing information for quantities received and sold.

Select Reports & Forms; Inventory; Item Costing Report. Click the Options OK to preview the report. button to set a date range and to filter by specific inventory items. Click

To include the invoice numbers of purchases and sales, click the Columns button and set Reference to Show.

If you want a simpler listing that includes only items included on customer invoices, you may want to take a look at the Find Transactions Report. Select the Company report group to locate this report. Click the Options button and select Transaction Type as a filter. Set this filter to Sale/Invoice. You can also filter by a range or specific Item IDs.

Thanks to the folks at Sage for this great tip!

Mark your calendars!
The ROI-Centric Conference of the Year is coming this Fall!
November 9-12 in Atlanta

Sign up today!

How to protect against discrimination suits with a comprehensive EEO policy

The most recent issue of HR 411 newsletter from the folks at Sage Accounting Software had an interesting article that discusses a point that all employers need to consider.

How do you handle those "Loaded questions" such as firing Baby-Boomers or banning hats in the office?

It's such a good guide that I thought it was worth reprinting.

FACT: There were nearly 100,000 claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2008. With recent increases in the number of out-of-work Americans, this figure is likely to rise in the coming years; meaning that no business—even yours—is fully immune to discrimination claims.

More and more disgruntled employees are alleging discrimination in situations where they may have been passed up for another candidate, they were fired for poor performance, or they weren’t promoted as quickly as they thought they should be. To protect against claims like these, it’s necessary to have a solid, and consistently applied, policy on equal employment opportunities.

Consider these seemingly innocent actions taken by you and members of your staff:

• A manager asks an interviewee, “What year did you graduate high school?”
• To give the company a more professional feel, you issue a policy banning hats in the workplace
• You terminate a 60-year-old woman whose performance has been declining
• You tell several male employees that they “can bring their wives” to the company picnic

Intentions aside, if the employees in the above situations feel that the underlying reason for these or subsequent actions is not based solely on job-related and performance issues, they can claim discrimination based on age, religion, or family/marital status. You would then be left to prove to the court that your actions were not based on personal characteristics, but rather valid job-related circumstances.

Don’t become another statistic: Use the following 8 key considerations when drafting an anti-discrimination policy:

1. Define the purpose. The purpose of your anti-discrimination policy, which is to provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals, should be clearly defined from the start. As such, employment decisions must be based on merit, qualifications and abilities, without regard to an employee’s (or a potential employee’s) race, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability.
   
   
2. Identify protected groups. Clearly define which groups are protected from discrimination, and keep in mind your state’s civil rights laws when doing so. For example, discrimination with regards to gender identity and sexual orientation is prohibited in certain states, but is not currently protected under federal law. Employers should check their state-specific requirements in order to ensure compliance with the law, provide for appropriate employee protections, and demonstrate the company’s commitment to non-discriminatory practices.
3. Provide examples. Provide examples of the types of employment decisions that are made without regard to one’s protected characteristics. These include decisions relating to selection, job assignment, compensation, discipline, termination, and access to benefits and training.
   
   
4. Identify a contact. Let employees know who they can seek out if they have questions or concerns about the company’s EEO practices. Employees with questions or concerns should be encouraged to bring these issues to the attention of their supervisor or the human resources department.
   
   
5. Include an anti-retaliation clause. Employees should know that they are protected from retaliation. As such, it’s important to clearly state that no employee will be discriminated against, or discharged, for bringing about a complaint of discrimination or for assisting in an investigation into discriminatory practices.
   

6. Describe the consequences. Clearly describe the consequences for engaging in discriminatory behavior. Anyone found to be engaging in unlawful discrimination should be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
   
   
7. Communicate your policy. All employees should be aware of your company’s policy on discrimination. Hold staff meetings distribute memos, and post the policy in breakrooms so that the severity of the issue hits home. It’s important to not only communicate the policy to your staff, but to stand by it as well. Doing so will demonstrate that you value, and strive for, a discrimination-free workplace.
   
   
8. Follow company policy. Having an EEO policy in place is important for communicating the company’s commitment to preventing discrimination in the workplace. However, failing to follow it can leave you susceptible to legal claims. To limit liability you must follow your policy consistently and demonstrate that you exercised necessary care to prevent and correct discriminatory behavior.
   

By using caution and adhering to the above-mentioned considerations when drafting your anti-discrimination policy, you will be communicating to your employees that discrimination will not be tolerated and that you are committed to providing equal opportunities. And should a discrimination claim arise, employers that follow their policy consistently are demonstrating their due diligence in protecting against unfair employment practices.

Peachtree SR1 Online Update Available Now

“PeachPodCast” - A Podcast for Peachtree and One Write Plus users featuring helpful information, tips, tricks and suggestions for bookkeepers, business owners, and consultants. You can listen to our archived podcasts at peachpodcast.custmbiz.com.

If you have not already updated your software with the SR1 on-line update you will be missing the 35 product corrections and several enhancements included in SR1:

• Multiple Contacts
• Print General Journal Entries
• Allocate Budget Amounts
• SPI 120 Support
• Support for Microsoft Windows 7

2010 SR1 also includes over 35 product corrections. Please view the SR1 Sales Brief for a list of the new product corrections.

I hope you find this information helpful.

If you have questions or comments, please send me an email at jayne@quickbooksgal.com. You can also visit our website: http://www.custmbiz.com/.

Deadline Nears for Small Biz Stimulus Tax Breaks

From an article at WebCPA.

The IRS said that time is running out for many small businesses that wish to take advantage of the tax breaks in the stimulus bill.

Eligible individuals have until Oct. 15 to choose the expanded business loss carryback option included in this year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and eligible calendar-year corporations have until just Sept. 15.

The carry back provision offers small businesses that lost money in 2008 a way to quickly get much-needed cash if they were profitable in previous years. The option is only available for a limited time, so small businesses should consider it carefully and act before it’s too late, said the IRS.

Under the Recovery Act, many small businesses that had expenses exceeding their income for 2008 can choose to carry the resulting loss back for up to five years, instead of the usual two. This means that a business that had a net operating loss in 2008 could carry that loss as far back as tax-year 2003, rather than the usual 2006. Not only could this mean a special tax refund, but the refund could be larger, because the loss is being spread over as many as five tax years, rather than just two.

This option may be particularly helpful to any eligible small business with a large loss in 2008. A small business that chooses this option can benefit by:

· Offsetting the loss against income earned in up to five prior tax years;
· Getting a refund of taxes paid up to five years ago;
· Using up part or all of the loss now, rather than waiting to claim it on future tax returns.

Under the Recovery Act, eligible taxpayers can choose to carry back a NOL arising in a taxable year beginning or ending in 2008 for three, four or five years instead of two. The option is available for an eligible small business, or ESB, that has no more than an average of $15 million in gross receipts over a three-year period ending with the tax year of the NOL. This choice may be made for only one tax year.

Most taxpayers still have time to choose this special carry back and get a refund. A calendar-year corporation that qualifies as an ESB must file a claim by Sept. 15, 2009. For individuals, the deadline is Oct. 15, 2009. This includes a sole proprietor that qualifies as an ESB, an individual partner in a partnership that qualifies as an ESB and a shareholder in an S corporation that qualifies as an ESB. Deadlines vary for fiscal-year taxpayers, depending upon when their fiscal year ends and whether they are making the choice for the tax year that ends or begins in 2008.

Individuals can accelerate a refund by filing Form 1045, "Application for Tentative Refund." Similarly, corporations with NOLs may also accelerate a refund by using Form 1139, "Corporation Application for Tentative Refund." Normally, refunds are issued within 45 days.

Visit IRS.gov for more information.

Hiding Inactive Records

“PeachPodCast” - A Podcast for Peachtree and One Write Plus users featuring helpful information, tips, tricks and suggestions for bookkeepers, business owners, and consultants. You can listen to our archived podcasts at peachpodcast.custmbiz.com.

Today I'd like to pass on a great tip about hiding inactive records

If you want to keep certain records from showing up in your list views and drop-down boxes, you can mark them inactive.

Then select Options > Global. Check the Hide Inactive Records box and click OK.

This will hide every record – Customers, Items, Vendors, etc. – that are marked inactive, saving you time by getting to the right record fast.

I hope you find this information helpful.

If you have questions or comments, please send me an email at jayne@quickbooksgal.com. You can also visit our website: http://www.custmbiz.com/.

Trouble E-mailing Customer Statements?

“PeachPodCast” - A Podcast for Peachtree and One Write Plus users featuring helpful information, tips, tricks and suggestions for bookkeepers, business owners, and consultants.

Today I would like to pass on a tip about E-mailing customer statements

If you are having trouble e-mailing customer statements when you get to ~statement and ~click Print/email. Peachtree doesn’t show Outlook as an option for emailing, it only shows network printers.

Check the following:

In Customer Maintenance, verify that the Form Options/Batch delivery method (within the Sales Info tab) is set to E-mail for each customer that you want to email.

From the Sales Invoice screen, try to email just one invoice.

If you can, then your e-mail is set up correctly.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you have questions or comments, please send me an email at jayne@quickbooksgal.com. You can also visit our website: http://www.custmbiz.com/.

Prior Period Locking In Peachtree

“PeachPodCast” - A Podcast for Peachtree and One Write Plus users featuring helpful information, tips, tricks and suggestions for bookkeepers, business owners, and consultants.


Today I want to tell you about Prior Period Locking in Peachtree.

Have you ever worked on a client’s books only to find that when they bring you the file that payroll numbers have changed? You printed all of the 941 forms from the past quarters; you have proof of what actually happened in that quarter. Then, as you are looking at your final calculations, you notice that the numbers are just not adding up. What happened?

The answer is simple. Your client may have inadvertently made a change to a prior period in their Peachtree software. For example, they gave someone a raise, and then not thinking about the ramifications, went into a prior paycheck and made a change. Once they saved the change, the “new” numbers were immediately reflected in the tax forms.

Here is an easy way to stop this problem from happening:

This year when you visit your clients, ask them to turn on prior-period locking. This feature keeps Peachtree users from making changes in their invoices, payroll, purchase orders, etc. that have already occurred.

Prior-period locking is found in the navigation bar under Tasks > User Security. Then, set up a new user with “view only” rights to “Transactions in the Prior Period.”

Thanks to the folks at Peachtree for sharing these tips in their latest newsletter. I’ll continue to bring you more tips from a variety of sources that I hope you will find useful or time-saving.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you have questions or comments, please send me an email at jayne@quickbooksgal.com. You can also visit our website: http://www.custmbiz.com/.