10Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

5 Tips for Effective Reference Checks

Payroll Tips
A great article that I just had to share from a newsletter that I subscribe to. There are many reasons why you should check the references of prospective employees. Often, applicants’ resumes and application forms are incomplete or even contain misrepresentations that could lead to a bad hiring decision. So, if you check references, you can help eliminate undesirable applicants, identify the best candidate, reduce turnover and training costs, and even prevent liability for negligent hiring. At a minimum, carefully conducted reference checks can help ensure that your hiring decisions are more informed. Generally, reference checks should be made before the offer of employment is extended so that you have as much information about a candidate as possible. However, it may be difficult to get a reference-giver to provide helpful…
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05Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

#QuickBooks for Contractors blog-Freebie Friday eBook Giveaway

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Payroll Tips
Welcome to the launch of "Freebie Friday's" here on the #QuickBooks for Contractors blog. Each Friday we will be offering a free and fee-based QuickBooks related eBook, offering tips, tricks, and training - so stayed tuned, visit often or sign up to have our posts delivered daily via email. To start off our Freebie Friday's eBook series, we are offering a 19-page eBook called Payroll Mistakes - It's Not As Easy as 1-2-3 ; it seemed appropriate since year end payroll is just around the corner.  After all, payroll is an essential part of your business – not just a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly annoyance.  Payroll is the primary way that employees are rewarded for good job performance and retained.  If you are issuing late or incorrect paychecks it can…
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03Nov 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Payroll Tips – Getting Ready for W-2 Processing

Payroll Tips
A QuickBooks Payroll Subscription makes processing W-2's pretty much a piece of cake at year end; however, there are still some things that you need to do to properly prepare for W-2 processing. It's not too early to start thinking about year end payroll activities, below are some year-end payroll tips to help you out. By December 1, 2010: Ask employees to verify their name and SSN BEFORE you issue your W-2's. Remind employees that if there is a change in their filing status due to marriage, divorce or dependents (birth, adoption, child turning 21),  they may want to file a new W-4 for 2010. When a name is changed, continue to use the old name until the employee presents you with an updated social security card or the SSA…
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03Aug 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Payroll Services-Which Option is Right for You?

Payroll Tips, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
Figuring out which QuickBooks Payroll option is right for your business can be a pretty daunting task;  especially with all of the payroll options that are now available. We all know one thing - if you have employees, you have to pay them!  That's simple. Determining which QuickBooks Payroll option is the right solution for your company is a different story though - let's look at the options available: Intuit Online Payroll – internet based and totally removed from your QuickBooks desktop company data file.  It comes in two versions – Basic and Plus. Basic includes the ability to process an unlimited number of payrolls each month, includes free direct deposit or allows you to print checks and check stubs on your own printer – directly from the on-line system;…
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08Jul 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Payroll Tip – Changing Hourly Wage Mid-Week

Payroll Tips, QuickBooks Add-Ons, The "Sunburst" Website
A reader wrote to ask the following QuickBooks payroll question. How can I change the hourly wage for employees (and their OT rates) in the middle of a pay week when using QuickBooks? I have 54 union employees that I have to do this for due to an hourly wage pay scale increase. Oh, and I will also need to change some of the company paid union fringe benefit amounts as well. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: There are a couple of ways that you can accomplish this when using QuickBooks, however, because you are dealing with union hourly wage rates, it really depends on: Are you still working on contracts that will use the existing hourly rates of pay and fringe benefit amounts? Are the new hourly wage rates for contracts that…
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07Jul 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Paying Employees Using Different Frequencies

Payroll Tips, Questions from our readers
A reader asked the following question regarding paying employees using different frequencies: We are new to QuickBooks payroll and would like to set up different pay frequencies for our employees, as follows: Company officers - monthly salary Clerical staff - hourly basis, bi-weekly Field Workers - hourly basis, weekly How do we accomplish this when using QuickBooks? _______________________________________________________ Answer: Yes, you can accomplish this when using QuickBooks Basic, Enhanced, or Assisted Payroll. QuickBooks allows you to create a "Pay Frequency"  and a "Payroll Schedule" to meet your various payroll needs. Begin by going to the QuickBooks Employee Center and clicking on the Employees tab. Pick an employee and choose the Edit Employee button, switch to the Payroll & Compensation Info tab.  In the upper right corn you will see a…
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23Jun 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Employees With Multiple Rates of Pay

Payroll Tips, Questions from our readers, The "Sunburst" Website
A customer called with the following question: We have 25 employees on the payroll at all times - more in the summer when things are busier.  My employees can earn multiple rates of pay in one week (sometimes even in the same day) on the same or multiple jobs.  How do I handle this in QuickBooks without always having to manually change the pay rate when I create their paychecks?  To be more specific, let's talk about "Joe".  Joe can work as: a laborer making $12.00 per hour a dozer trax operator making $17.00 per hour a skid steer operator making $18.00 per hour a supervisor making $25.00 per hour _____________________________________________________________________ Answer: This is indeed a complex situation, as well as a very common one, and having to manually change…
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27May 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tips Payroll Mistakes – It’s NOT As Easy As 1-2-3! Part 4

Payroll Tips
Payroll is an essential part of your business – not just a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly annoyance.  Payroll is the primary way that employees are rewarded for good job performance and retained.  If you are issuing late or incorrect paychecks it can lead to dissatisfied, unmotivated workers – or worse.  It’s hard to keep good employees when a company gets payroll wrong. The relationship between employees and employers is highly regulated by the government and many of these regulations involve payroll.  There are literally hundreds of things that you have to know, as well as hundreds of mistakes that you can make.  As a result, the payroll process is much more complicated than anyone who has never done it can possibly know. The consequences of some mistakes can be more…
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26May 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip Payroll Mistakes – It’s NOT As Easy As 1-2-3! Part 3

Payroll Tips
Payroll is an essential part of your business – not just a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly annoyance.  Payroll is the primary way that employees are rewarded for good job performance and retained.  If you are issuing late or incorrect paychecks it can lead to dissatisfied, unmotivated workers – or worse.  It’s hard to keep good employees when a company gets payroll wrong. The relationship between employees and employers is highly regulated by the government and many of these regulations involve payroll.  There are literally hundreds of things that you have to know, as well as hundreds of mistakes that you can make.  As a result, the payroll process is much more complicated than anyone who has never done it can possibly know. The consequences of some mistakes can be more…
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25May 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tips Payroll Mistakes – It’s Not As Easy As 1-2-3 – Part 2

Payroll Tips
Payroll is an essential part of your business – not just a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly annoyance.  Payroll is the primary way that employees are rewarded for good job performance and retained.  If you are issuing late or incorrect paychecks it can lead to dissatisfied, unmotivated workers – or worse.  It’s hard to keep good employees when a company gets payroll wrong. The relationship between employees and employers is highly regulated by the government and many of these regulations involve payroll.  There are literally hundreds of things that you have to know, as well as hundreds of mistakes that you can make.  As a result, the payroll process is much more complicated than anyone who has never done it can possibly know. The consequences of some mistakes can be more…
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24May 2010 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tips Payroll Mistakes – It’s Not As Easy As 1-2-3! Part 1

Payroll Tips
Payroll is an essential part of your business – not just a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly annoyance.  Payroll is the primary way that employees are rewarded for good job performance and retained.  If you are issuing late or incorrect paychecks it can lead to dissatisfied, unmotivated workers – or worse.  It’s hard to keep good employees when a company gets payroll wrong. The relationship between employees and employers is highly regulated by the government and many of these regulations involve payroll.  There are literally hundreds of things that you have to know, as well as hundreds of mistakes that you can make.  As a result, the payroll process is much more complicated than anyone who has never done it can possibly know. The consequences of some mistakes can be more…
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09Apr 2010 by Nancy Smyth

Top 10 Overtime Questions – Part II

Payroll Tips, QuickBooks Add-Ons, The "Sunburst" Website
Paying overtime may be expensive, but not paying it properly can create even more liability for your organization. In our previous post, we focused on five overtime questions (numbered one through five), including what the basic overtime requirements are, whether overtime must be paid for weekend work, and how overtime is calculated. In this post, we address five more common overtime situations, numbered as questions six through ten. You will find out when overtime has to be paid in holiday or vacation weeks, whether compensatory time off can be given instead of overtime, when unauthorized overtime should be paid, and what the penalties are for noncompliance. 6.  Are employees entitled to overtime in weeks they receive holiday pay or take vacation? Not unless the employee actually works more than 40…
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08Apr 2010 by Nancy Smyth

Top Ten Overtime Questions – Part 1 of 2

Payroll Tips, QuickBooks Add-Ons, The "Sunburst" Website
The requirement to pay employees overtime seems simple enough; once a nonexempt employee has worked 40 hours in a single workweek, each additional hour worked MUST be paid at time and one-half the regular rate of pay.  Yet, many employers are confused about the mechanics of implementing the law, such as how overtime pay is calculated when a nonexempt employee is paid a salary or works two jobs. This confusion can be expensive.  The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued enforcement data for Fiscal Year 2008 (FY 2008) which showed that the agency collected over $123 million in back wages for overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The violations covered over 10,000 wage claims involving almost 183,000 employees and represented 88% of the claims filed with the…
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07Apr 2010 by Nancy Smyth

Do I Really Need an Employee Handbook?

Payroll Tips
Your company can and SHOULD protect itself from possible employee discrimination lawsuits by creating an Employee Handbook or some other written documentation that clearly states your company's expectations regarding harassment and discrimination. A thorough employee handbooks should include: a mission statement an organizational chart a detailed listing of products and/or services offered policies on: work hours vacations holidays conduct dress code (if applicable) promotions overtime health benefits retirement benefits stated policies on: discrimination harassment drug & alcohol abuse employee safety use of company property Once your Employee Handbook is in a draft format, have it reviewed by a labor lawyer. While creating an employee handbook can be a daunting task there are some very good resources and templates on the web - that are free!  One very good resource, that…
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02Sep 2009 by Nancy Smyth

E-Verify Update

Construction News, Payroll Tips
In previous posts we've been following the evolution of the E-Verify program and today I'd like to post an update on this program. Beginning on September 8, 2009 (less than a week away folks) a new federal rule will require general contractors AND subcontractors - including those who are receiving American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to use the E-Verify program. At this time a July 1, 2010 compliance deadline is anticipated for businesses with more than 30 employees, if the businesses plan to work on state-funded projects. From what I understand penalties can be harsh for non-compliance, violators can be fined $1,000 to $10,000 and be put in jail for 1-5 years.  Additionally, contractors will loose ALL government contracts for up to three years and possibly loose business permits…
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