Certified payroll reporting requirements are complex. There is no single certified payroll form that will meet the requirements in all 50 states. Don’t be fooled!
It’s a common misconception that a single certified payroll report form will meet the prevailing wage requirements found in each of the 50 states. To be fair, at one time or another a contractor in any state will work on a federally funded construction project and submit the US Department of Labor WH-347 form (or an acceptable substitute). However, that would be the only time.
21 states follow the reporting requirements of the US Department of Labor and file a WH -347 form or an acceptable substitute for each government-funded construction project that they work on.
14 states have enacted state prevailing wage laws, which are overseen by a single state agency – perhaps the State Department of Labor, or Department of Transportation. . In this situation a contractor is required to file the certified payroll report form that is been developed by the state when they work on a construction project that is funded primarily with state money and the WH-347 when a project is funded with federal dollars
The remaining 15 states have prevailing wage laws that are monitored by multiple state agencies or require that the certified payroll reports be submitted electronically. in this case a contractor must know which agency is providing the filing requirements so that the proper payroll report form can be generated or electronically uploaded.
(To find out what prevailing wage requirements your state follows, see the Certified Payroll Reporting Requirements by State page on our main website.)
Electronic certified payroll reporting requirements have become increasingly popular since 2004. Electronic compliance requires less manpower and quicker recognition of compliance issues. Many state and local governments are using online compliance monitoring systems which of been developed by TRS Consultants/Hill international, LCPtracker, or Elation Systems. Other states have designed their own systems.
An electronic certified payroll file contains all the normal information that is required on a paper report, however, that information is transferred into a special machine readable file format (usually an XML document or a specifically designed Excel spreadsheet). If your software can produce these machine readable files. All you need to do is log into the online system, and upload the files. If your software doesn’t have the ability to create the XML document or Excel spreadsheet you’ll need to first complete the normal paper report and then log into the system and manually reenter all of that data.
Many contractors are facing these challenges on a daily basis. while they may have software program that will create paper certified payroll reports. Those reports may not meet state specific prevailing wage requirements; let alone produce a file in the proper format to be electronically uploaded.
QuickBooks users face this challenge on a daily basis, especially if they are using the built-in QuickBooks certified payroll report. It simply doesn’t meet any of the state specific or electronic filing requirements. For example, the California Department of Industrial Relations, created a Compliance Monitoring Unit (CMU) that became effective January 1, 2012 for construction projects that are funded with state bond money. The CMU utilizes the system developed by TRS Consultants/Hill International and the electronic upload file MUST contain all of the information that is required on the DIR Form A-1-131 when it is converted to an XML file.
If you use QuickBooks and need to file electronic certified payroll reports in Alaska, for the Texas Department of Transportation, for Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, or have to upload the reports to TRS Consultants/Hill International, LCPtracker, or Elation Systems check out Certified Payroll Solution – it will provide you with Federal or State specific paper certified payroll reports and provide you with the correct electronic file format to submit.
If you use QuickBooks for your accounting and you create your Estimates in Excel instead of within QuickBooks you loose out on job costing capabilities and so much more!
I often see and hear comments such as this as I browse the web or talk with potential customers for our software:
Right now we are using QuickBooks Contractor. It is ok for our accounting software but we are looking for something that works as an overall system for our office – CRM, estimating, job costing, proposals, work tickets and most importantly easy for my guys to use. Right now we are using Excel for Estimates and invoices.
When I see and hear comments like this I get so confused – because QuickBooks does allow you to create Estimates, Proposals, and do Job Costing - so I thought I’d attempt to write a short article to address this.
Creating Estimates in Excel vs. QuickBooks – Pros and Cons:
Excel is REALLY easy to use – anyone can quickly whip up an Estimate, Proposal or a Work Order., you can create some great looking documents that you are proud to hand to your prospective customer. But that is about as far as you can go.
QuickBooks, on the other hand, if set up properly will allow you to create an Estimate, Proposal, Work Order, or an Invoice and perform job costing just by entering vendor bills, writing checks, entering credit card charges, and employee payroll. You then can access all kinds of Job Costing reports and an Actual vs. Estimate Report – which allows you to see the difference between what you thought you’d make on the job vs. what you actually made.
But….QuickBooks requires more work on the front end and then proper training for your employees.
I think I just heard everyone groan! There is no way that I can write a “short” article on the benefits of using QuickBooks to prepare these documents for your business, but I can provide you with some suggestions to get started.
- Is the QuickBooks Estimate function turned on? If not go to the Edit menu -> Preferences -> Jobs & Estimates -> Company Preferences tab -> set “Do You Create Estimates” AND “Do You Do Progress Invoicing” to Yes
- Modify/Customize the built in forms to meet the needs of your company using the Layout Designer, by downloading a pre-built template or by using the Create Form Design option. All of these options are available from the Lists menu -> Templates -> and then clicking the Template button at the bottom of the window.
- Create a FULL list of the services, cost codes and/or products your company uses for billing
- Have a meeting – get EVERYONE involved – take that master list of products and/or services/cost codes and come up with descriptions that EVERYONE can agree on {letting them know that they can “tweak” it more to their liking later}
- Go to the Items List and set up items that correspond to that master list of of the things your company does, creating Group Items or Inventory Assemblies if appropriate
- Create an Estimate, a Proposal, or a Work Order using the entries in your Item List – print it out and see what everyone things of it. If they are happy teach your Estimators how to use the Estimating function
- When entering Vendor bills, writing checks, or entering Credit Card Charges use the Items tab and assign the cost to the job
- Turn on time tracking, enter employee hours by Job, Service Item, and Payroll Item
- Create a Progress Invoice from an Estimate for the current amount that you are billing the customer
- Look at the Estimate vs Actual Report for a specific job and look at the report results
These suggestions are just the tip of the iceburg for taking QuickBooks from plain-Jane accounting to job-costing accounting. Use the search box on our site and enter specific keywords for additional tips.
If you can’t get your Estimators to leave Excel, there is a 3rd party application Transaction Pro Importer – that will import your Excel based Estimate into QuickBooks for you and you can implement some of the other suggestions in this article.
I hope you’ve found this article to be helpful, if so please take a moment to leave a comment or ask a question – or share it on your favorite social networking site if you think others would find it to be useful.
Best practices and tips for installing a QuickBooks 2012 upgrade on a computer that already has an existing version of QuickBooks in place.
Remember, QuickBooks MUST be installed using a Standard User Account when you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7 AND you use QuickBooks integrated 3rd party programs – see Windows, QuickBooks & 3rd Party Apps – The Struggle Within.
If you have Intuit do the upgrade, DO NOT let the Intuit rep install the new version from within your computer’s Administrator account and DO NOT let them choose the “upgrade” option when they do the installation. Also, make sure that your computer IT person is aware of the requirements and best practices – many do not.
Make sure that you watch and understand what is being done to your computer – don’t let others simply do “whatever”
Installing/upgrading QuickBooks is a fairly straightforward task, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some things that can trip you up along the way. Below are some “best practice tips”, based on technical support calls from our customers, that will help you to ensure a smooth installation/upgrade:
PLAN AHEAD and make sure that everything is in order – DO NOT install the new version of QuickBooks 2012 on the day that you need to run payroll, do billing, or perform any intensive task that requires access to your computer/company data file.
- Perform some basic file maintenance in your current QuickBooks version – backup your file, rebuild the data, check the current file size and number of database file fragments.
- If you use 3rd party integrated applications, make sure that you contact the software developer (if they haven’t already contacted you) about compatibility with and update procedures for working with QuickBooks 2012 – Gold and Silver Developers {those who have applications listed on the Intuit Marketplace} did not have access to a final release copy of QuickBooks 2012 until 9/12/2012; for other developers – well they might have access to the new version today.
- Start with the computer that houses your QuickBooks data file – paying close attention to the following screens.
- On the “Choose Installation Type” window select the “Custom and Network Option“
- On the “Custom and Network Options” window, select whatever the current settings are on your computer
- On the Upgrade or Change Installation Location window, choose the Change the install location option. This installs QuickBooks 2012 in a new folder and when the installation is complete you will have BOTH your current {old} QuickBooks version and the new QuickBooks 2012 version installed on the computer.
- When the installation is complete, you’ll be prompted to reboot your computer. After the reboot, start QuickBooks 2012 and open your company file.
- Rebuild your data file, check your file size and number of database file fragments.
- Install the new version of QuickBooks on each of your other computers; repeating Steps 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Once the new version of QuickBooks is installed and running properly on all of your computers, remove the old version by going to your Control Panel -> choosing Add/Remove Programs {Windows XP} OR Programs & Features {Windows Vista & 7}, find the old version in the list of programs and choose Uninstall or Remove.
We hope that you’ve found these best practices and tips for installing a QuickBooks upgrade to be helpful. If so please take a moment to leave a comment or share it on your favorite social network.
Frequently Asked Questions about upgrading to QuickBooks 2012 {or any new version for that matter} from QuickBooks users.
Each year when Intuit releases a new version of QuickBooks, I’m flooded with a sea of phone calls/emails from QuickBooks users asking a multitude of questions about the new version. Below are some of the most frequent questions that I’m asked.
Should I/Do I NEED to upgrade to the new version?
I’m usually very conservative in regards to this question, especially the last few years with money being so tight for everyone, but typically my answer is:
IF you are currently using a version of QuickBooks that Intuit will sunset/retire next year OR if you feel that your business would benefit from some of the new features/functions – then you should go ahead and purchase the new version now {while pricing is low} BUT wait awhile before you actually install/move your company data file to the new version. I usually recommend that you wait until AFTER you’ve issued W-2′s and other year-end payroll tax returns.
Here’s why I respond this way:
- Every year when the new version of QuickBooks is initially released, bugs or problems with the program are discovered by the folks who upgrade as soon as the new version is available, I see the problems being reported on the Intuit forums and other QuickBooks forums as well – and the people who are reporting the issues aren’t very happy. So my question to you is — do you want to be one of the early adopters who gets caught or bitten by a bug in the program that wasn’t discovered before it was released?
- If you are currently using a version of QuicBooks that Intuit will sunset or retire next year, then you should go ahead and purchase now, but wait until after you’ve issued your W-2′s. Based on historical data, if you are currently using QuickBooks 2009/Enterprise 9 Intuit will be retiring these versions in May of 2012. If you are using QuickBooks 2008/Enterprise 8.0 {and I actually spoke to someone last week using the 2008 version}, run your payroll in-house and issue your own W-2′s – then you will need to upgrade in order to have the most current W-2 forms.
- If you are using the 2010 or 2011 versions, are happy with things the way they are and don’t want/need any of the new features – then just hold off.
Will the 3rd party add-ons that I use be compatible with the new version?
This is ALWAYS a difficult question for me to answer. QuickBooks add-ons can be written by anyone, so you have to take into consideration when that developer will have access to the new version of QuickBooks to test their product, make sure it works as expected, make any necessary coding changes if they discover a problem, put out an update or patch, etc.
Most of the time there shouldn’t be a problem, but you never know for certain. My best piece of advice, when you rely on 3rd party apps to run your business, is to contact the developer who wrote the program and ask them directly before installing the new version, here’s why – it may be a little technical so bear with me:
- Gold and Silver level developers, who have their 3rd party applications listed on the Intuit Marketplace, have historically been able to have access to a beta version of the new QuickBooks version in late July/early August so that they could perform testing, etc. As of today {September 9} this early access has not been made available to Gold and Silver Developers. NOTE – 9/12/2012 Gold & Silver developers can now download QuickBooks 2012.
- There is a beta version of a new SDK (the Software Development Kit that many developers use to write their add-ons and is required if they are a Gold/Silver developer) that will allow developers to work with some of the new features. But the new version of the SDK is of little use if they also do not have access to the new QuickBooks version for testing, debugging and documenting new procedures or features that the developer might be able to take advantage of.
- Other developers who use the SDK but are not Gold/Silver developers OR use other methods of working with the information in your company file – perhaps they use IIF files or other methods to access the QuickBooks file; also do not have access to the new version for testing and in reality they probably will not have access until right around the same time as you do.
Will my current computer/network run the new version of QuickBooks?
QuickBooks 2012 will require that your computer meets the following requirements, check your computers current settings by clicking your Start button -> choose Computer -> select System. This information came from data provided while I was beta testing and may be different when the final version is released:
Operating System:
- Windows XP, all versions – Service Pack (SP) 2 or later strongly recommended
- Windows Vista, all version with User Account Control (UAC) turned on {installed under a Standard User Account if using 3rd party add-ons}
- Windows 7, all versions with User Account Control (UAC) turned on {installed under a Standard User Account if using 3rd party add-ons}
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows Server 2008
Processor, RAM, Hard Drive Requirements:
NOTE: You’ll be better off with the recommended requirements.
- 2.0 GHz Pentium 4 Processor {2.4 GHz recommended}
- 1 GB RAM {2 GB recommended} for a single user or client machine
- 2 GB RAM for multiple, concurrent users for Pro & Premier
- 2 GB RAM or more strongly recommended for Enterprise on a server
- 2.5 GB free disk space for the actual QuickBooks program – additional space required for the data files
- 250 MB disk space for Microsoft >NET 4.0 Runtime {provided with the installation}
Screen (monitor) resolution:
- QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise is optimized for a 1024 x 768 screen resolution
Database Server Requirements:
- Windows XP, all versions – Service Pack (SP) 2 or later strongly recommended
- Windows Vista, all version with User Account Control (UAC) turned on
- Windows 7, all versions
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows Server 2008
When installing the new version should I choose the upgrade option?
We’ll be dedicating an entire blog post to best practices for installing a new version on a computer that currently has QuickBooks installed. Look for this information on Tuesday September 13th.
How does upgrading affect the size of my current file?
During beta testing I worked with two different files so I could see, first hand, how upgrading to QuickBooks 2012 would affect the size of the QuickBooks data file. To check the size of your own QuickBooks file – with QuickBooks open press the CTRL and the 1 keys at the same time OR press the F2 key at the top of your keyboard – this will open a Product Information window and you can find your file size – you should also check the number of DB {Database} file fragments.
The first file was a very small QuickBooks 2011 file with the following specs:
- File size – 14,252 K {which roughly translates to 14 megs}
- Total Transactions – 146
- DB (Database) File Fragments – 3
After upgrading this file to QuickBooks 2012 this same file had the following specs:
- File size – 17,716 K {which roughly translates to almost 18 megs – meaning the file grew 4 megs just from the upgrade}
- Total Transactions – 146
- DB (Database) File Fragments – 10
This is cause for concern, in my opinion – a 4 meg file size increase and a total of 10 database file fragments for a file that only has 146 transactions!
The second company file was
- 162,287 K {162 megs}
- 17,583 transactions
- 1 database file fragment
After the upgrade to QuickBooks 2012,
- File size was 192,396 {about 192 megs or an increase of 30 megs}
- 26 database file fragments
We’ll be dedicating an entire blog post to some basic file maintenance before and after converting your current QuickBooks file to the new version on Monday September 12th.
What are the new features in QuickBooks?
This is the most popular question that I receive and one of the reasons that I started this blog — so you’ll have to stay tuned for that information.
What’s it gonna cost me?
Beginning on September 26, 2011 you will be able to pre-buy QuickBooks 2012 from Authorized QuickBooks Affiliates and directly from Intuit websites. The prices shown below are BEFORE any discounts.
- QuickBooks Pro (single user) – $229.95
- QuickBooks Pro 2 User – $459.95
- QuickBooks Pro 3 User – $649.95
- QuickBooks Pro Add-a-Seat – $229.95
- QuickBooks Premier (single user) – $399.95
- QuickBooks Premier 2 User – $749.95
- QuickBooks Premier 3 User – $999.95
- QuickBooks Premier Add-a-Seat – $359.95
*NOTE: I believe that the Premier Accountant Edition will cost an additional $100 over the prices indicated above and will include Intuit Statement Writer. I have not yet seen official pricing, so will update this price at a later date.*
QuickBooks Pro and Premier is scheduled to be available beginning October 9, 2011 at leading retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, BJ’s, Costco, Fry’s, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Sam’s, and Staples. Typically, the prices that you receive at these retailers will beat any discounts that you would receive if you purchased the software from an Authorized Intuit Affiliate or from Intuit.
Will your software work with the new version?
It should, however, I am waiting – just like everyone else to get my hands on a final release version of QuickBooks to do some more testing before making a more positive statement. I have run our software through some preliminary testing while beta testing the new version and did encounter a couple of issues, nothing major – but I couldn’t tell if the issue was with the QuickBooks beta {because I was having some issues with it} or with our software. I have found over the years that it’s always best to wait until I’ve run tests with a final release and not a beta release before making that final compatibility statement.
I hope you found our frequently asked questions about upgrading helpful. If so, please leave a comment or share it on your favorite social media platform by using the buttons below.
Do you have a question about upgrading?
Top 10 Tuesday includes our favorite tips and news stories from around the web. This week there are some important articles for you to read and information to be aware of, split out into the following categories:
QuickBooks News & Tips:
- The Wall Street Journal | How I Built It – For Intuit Co-Founder, the Numbers Add Up (an interview with Scott Cook)
- QuickBooks & Beyond – An Overview of the Apps in the Intuit App Center (Part 1)
- QuickBooks & Beyond – An Overview of the Apps in the Intuit App Center (Part 2)
Tax News:
- accountingTODAY for the WebCPA – IRS Lowers Interest Rates in Fourth Quarter
Construction News:
- Construction Law in North Carolina – The NC Court of Appeals Upholds Contractor Lien Rights
- Construction Advisor Today – Nearly Half of All States Have Adopted a Residential Energy Code at Least as Stringent as 2009 IEC
- Orlando Sentinel – SunRail project finally starts to leave the station
Business, Social Networking, Customers & Websites:
- TechRepublic – Three Tips for working with bullets in PowerPoint
- Rebecca Tervo – Financial Roadmap Part 7; Budget and stay on the map!
- BRASS TACK thinking – Consider This: 24/7 Access, Work, and Social Media
Well there you have it, these were the top 10 most interesting articles that we found on the web last week – I’m sure there are a bunch more that I missed, do you have an article that you’d like to share?
