A QuickBooks automatic update for QuickBooks Pro 2013, Premier 2013 (all versions or flavors - Contractor, Manufacturing, Professional Services, etc), and Enterprise 13.0 (all versions or flavors), beginning right around June 3, 2013 with the last round of the update being released today, has created more problems than it fixed for many users and 3rd party developers.
Some users said that the automatic update caused QuickBooks to crash more often and the update also caused many 3rd party desktop add-ons to error out when connecting to QuickBooks or crashed QuickBooks when it attempted to connect.
What's your policy for installing QuickBooks automatic updates?
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Once you’ve successfully collected your final payment it’s time to give your customer an “Unconditional Waiver and Release Upon Final Payment” form (#4 release).
Never issue a #4 release form unless you have been successfully paid in full for the entire project. If you do even though you haven’t been paid and you didn’t allow for the exceptions then the courts wouldn’t side with you because unconditional is unconditional – it’s final.
If you have suppliers include the same forms from them.
This article is an overview of waiver/release forms and is not legal advice. Please contact an attorney in your state with any questions you might have.
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QuickBooks has no built-in ability to handle stored materials, like many of the more costly construction specific software programs. This causes problems for contractors who need to generate AIA Pay Apps and need to make sure that their books (or accounting data) syncs with their AIA Applications for Payments.
Because the General Contractor allows billing of stored materials on the AIA Payment Application you also need to include the amount of stored materials on your QuickBooks Progress Invoice in order for your accounting records to match your AIA billing records.
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You should submit and number the certified payroll reports sequentially, beginning with payroll #1 starting on the first week that you actually have employees working on the job site and for every week afterward until you have completed the work that you were hired to do.
"No Work" payrolls should be submitted whenever there is a temporary break in your work on the project and, therefore, you will have no employees on the job site. For example, you have employees working on the job site weeks 1-4; but on week 5 and 6 you have no employees on the job site - then for weeks 5 and 6 you would submit "No Work Performed" payrolls for those weeks.
Continue readingWhen it’s time to submit the invoice for the final payment you may need to include a “Conditional Waiver and Release Upon Final Payment” form (#3 release).
Usually this release form does not include a “release through date” like the #1 and #2 forms do because it’s your final invoice on the project.
Once you’ve received payment and it has cleared the issuing financial institution then typically that Conditional Release becomes an Unconditional Release. That means you’ll never be able to file a lien on the project (which is okay as long as you’re paid in full).
This article is an overview of waiver/release forms and is not legal advice. Please contact an attorney in your state with any questions you might have.
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Government audits used to be rare, but that has changed under the Obama administration, which has investigated companies more aggressively, Shusterman said. Government audits of employer I-9 forms rose from 250 in fiscal 2007 to more than 3,000 last year, according to data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cited by the Associated Press in December.
Mistakes or missing information, whether intentional or not and which might have nothing to do with a worker being in the country illegally, can lead to stiff penalties. Employers can be fined from $110 to $1,100 per violation for failing to comply with the form's requirements, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Penalties can be even steeper, up to $6,500 per violation, for participating in document fraud, or up to $16,000 for knowingly hiring an unauthorized worker.
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Calculating and distributing employee overtime is a burdensome process that many business owners and payroll administrators have to deal with on a weekly basis. Everyone has a different opinion on just "HOW" that overtime is to be calculated and distributed. By everyone, I mean the business owner, the payroll clerk, heck even the Federal and State government. No wonder it's just a problematic situation!
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Do you have a hard time with people who wear too much perfume or aftershave? You know, the people who you swear just opened the bottle and poured it over their head, rather than having taken a shower in the morning - the ones that walk by you and leave a trail of overwhelming SMELL behind them? Whether this happens in your work environment or when you are in the grocery store or out having dinner at your favorite restaurant - this can certainly be annoying.
People with fragrance sensitivities, often referred to as “multiple chemical sensitivities” when they are severe, are not just bothered or annoyed by fragrances. Rather, they have a physical reaction to certain chemical compounds in fragrances that may be contained in a myriad of products, including lotions, shampoos, perfumes, aftershave, deodorants, cleaning products, pesticides, air fresheners, and even floorings and wall coverings. Symptoms can include headaches, nausea, runny nose, itchy eyes, and skin rashes, and in more serious cases, breathing difficulties, poor memory and concentration, muscle and joint pain, and sleeping problems.
Continue readingYou’ve successfully collected your progress payment and now it’s time to provide your customer with an “Unconditional Waiver and Release Upon Progress Payment” form (#2 release).
If you have suppliers include the same forms from them.
The #2 release is unconditional which means you’re giving up all lien rights through the “release through date”. Never issue a #2 release form unless you have been successfully paid for that time frame. If you do even though you haven’t been paid the courts may not side with you because unconditional is unconditional – it’s final.
This article is an overview of waiver/release forms and is not legal advice. Please contact an attorney in your state with any questions you might have.
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Are you confused about payroll deductions and payroll liabilities? If so, don't feel alone! They can confuse a lot of people.
As bookkeepers we see a lot of things that we feel to be "odd" when dealing with payroll deductions. From the normal employee advance and repayments, to deductions for Fed-Ex or UPS fees, tool repayments, voluntary disability payments, you name it!
The question always seems to center around - is this really a company expense and how the heck do I record these transactions? Continue reading
One would think that if a project had prevailing wage requirements that the Wage Decision would contain an easy to understand breakdown of the fringe benefit portion of the prevailing wage - however, that is not always the case. Wage Decisions can be quite difficult to understand; based on whether the project is funded with Federal or State money and whether or not there is a large Union presence in a specific state and unraveling this can quite often be very confusing.
There is no such thing as a totally straight forward, easy to understand Prevailing Wage Determination that I've ever seen (or even heard of for that matter), but you do need to be able to learn how to understand and interpret them - and going to the "source" (General Contractor, State Prevailing Wage Division, Union Hall, etc.) is the best way to learn.
Please be advised that the following is ONLY a general overview and does NOT take into consideration whether this is a Union or Non-Union shop or whether the fringes are paid to the Union Hall or into one or more bona-fide plans on behalf of the employee, or if you are paying the full fringe amount in cash in lieu of fringes.
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Hi, I'm Nancy Smyth from Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc. I've been using and supporting QuickBooks products since the early 1990's. QuickBooks is a powerful product, but learning how to use it in your construction business can be difficult. I hope you find resources available here to be helpful.
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