Making New Year’s resolutions should not be limited to just those for our personal life; we should include our professional life as well – after all our professional life does take a great deal of our time.
The end of the year (or the beginning of a new year) is a good time to stop and take a look at the events of the current year and evaluate what went on and plan for the upcoming year. This is true whether you are a business owner or an employee.
Below are just some questions to ask yourself and they may trigger others.
- What happened this year that you felt took you off guard or left you feeling overwhelmed and unprepared?
- What tasks are the most time consuming?
- Do you find yourself crabby and frustrated?
- Are you presenting a professional image?
- Do you feel that you were spending more time than usual putting out fires?
- Did you feel that you were getting/providing good job costing reports?
- Are you getting the information you need in a timely fashion?
- Are you happy with the people you work with?
From a business owner’s perspective now would be a good time to take a look at overall business operations and look for ways to improve them in the upcoming year. You will need to involve every key employee in this process in order to gather their input and put together a plan that will work.
As an employee of a company this task is perhaps a little harder because you do not ultimately make the decisions on a day-to-day basis and you may feel that your opinion is not important. However, remember this – as an employee you do represent the company to others that you deal with.
The answers may be simple. You may need new software and computers; hire additional employees; provide training to existing employees, or simply improve communication and office procedures.
What Can Be Done?
Well, this really isn’t so simple to determine, but here are a few suggestions to get you started.
If you are an Employer
- Schedule a staff meeting, making it mandatory that all key employees attend.
- Insist that all key employees present you with a list of things that they feel need improving – this list must be presented to you 1 week before the meeting.
- You will review the individual lists and compile them into one big list which you will break down into categories and priorities – without disclosing who said what.
- Distribute this list a day or two before the staff meeting, giving everyone an opportunity to review it.
- Be open to criticism, because some of these issues may involve staff’s dealings with you.
If you are an employee
- Be honest when you make your list.
- Prioritize your issues.
- Be specific – a vague “I’m not getting the information” will not be helpful, whereas a specific “I’m not getting X when I need it”. X could be timecards, new hire information, gas receipts, materials receipts, bill approval or whatever.
- Be open to criticism, because when the staff meeting happens some of these issues may involve you.
Don’t be discouraged if your first staff meeting is difficult – if this is something “new” to your employees everyone may be feeling a little uncomfortable.
Try to create a relaxed environment and get everyone involved. Ask questions and encourage everyone to answer.
Hopefully, your staff meeting will be productive and everyone concerned will walk away with something positive and a feeling of accomplishment – as well as a list of things that they need to do.
Let’s assume that your staff meeting was productive – what next? We’ve provided a basic list of resources that you may find helpful in solving some of the standard problems that could be causing problems in your business:
New Computers:
If everyone agrees that you need new computers – look to your local computer store and not a big box store to have one custom built for you. Often times if you already own your software, this is a good way to go. Local computer stores may also allow you to pick and choose what version of Windows you would like installed – XP vs Vista vs Windows 7. Before buying new Windows 7 or Vista computers make sure that existing software you own will run on Vista.
New Software:
Maybe it’s time to bite the bullet and do that upgrade to the newest version of QuickBooks (usually once every 3 years is sufficient). How about purchasing QuickBooks integrated applications? Yes, we know the economy isn’t all that great right now, but can YOU REALLY AFFORD to spend hours in the office doing tedious paperwork that could be automated by an integrated application. Stop and think about it – where else can you hire an employee for up to a $1,000.00 per year? Automating time consuming tasks is an investment that you shouldn’t overlook.
QuickBooks Integrated Applications:
QuickBooks Add-On or Integrated Applications can be found on the QuickBooks Solutions Marketplace – http://marketplace.intuit.com/
Research the Solutions Marketplace for solutions to automate your company’s most time consuming tasks – estimating, scheduling, document management, etc. Check out products and request trials so that you can make a complete evaluation.
Training:
Whether it’s you or your staff that needs training, make the investment of both time and/or money – it will pay off in the end. The internet is full of wonderful free training resources and below is a list of our favorites:
- Small Business Administration http://www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses/index.html – offers free on-line courses for Starting a Business, Business Planning, Business Management, Financing & Accounting, Marketing & Advertising, Government Contracting, Risk Management & Cyber Security, E-Commerce, International Trade, Federal Tax Training, and Small Business Retirement.
- JumpUp http://jumpup.intuit.com/ – started by Intuit, helps the new business get up and running quickly.
- Accounting Coach http://www.accountingcoach.com/ covers everything from Accounting Basics to Stockholders’ Equity.
- QuickBooks On-line Community http://www.quickbooksgroup.com/webx/?14 lots of great info on QuickBooks including user forums that are monitored by Intuit employees.
- Construction Magazines http://www.freeconstructionmagazines.com/index.aspx
- Our Own QuickBooks for Contractors Resources, available in our Technical Support Area http://www.sunburstsoftwaresolutions.com/support.htm here you can find information on Certified Payroll, AIA Billing, Advanced QuickBooks training, Contractor specific articles, learn about email etiquette, and a download a free Construction Bookkeepers Test.
- Certified QuickBooks User Program http://quickbooks.intuit.com/product/training/certified_user_program.jhtml?img=239&kbid=4271&sub=&priorityCode=3969702399 while this program does not offer construction specific training it does provide training on the overall use of QuickBooks.
File Sharing/Document Management
- FolderShare https://www.foldershare.com/ this is a great tool for document management/file sharing that does not require emailing documents back and forth.
- Google Documents http://docs.google.com/demo/edit?id=scADvi3vvzG2HoaPvs33qFjY6&dt=document#document
Plan regular staff meetings, discuss results and findings and make group decisions. Work together and make a commitment to yourself and each other!
Happy New Year from Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc.
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 Payroll Schedule option, this is where you will create a new Payroll Schedule and corresponding Pay Frequency.
From the Payroll Schedule dropdown menu choose Add New, below is the setup for a bi-weekly payroll schedule:
There are two very critical dates that you must enter when you create a new Payroll Schedule, they are:
- What is the pay period end date? This date should be the date the the first bi-weekly payroll will end on.
- What date should appear on paychecks for this pay period? This date should be the date that the first bi-weekly paycheck will be run.
The screenshot above indicates the following information:
The bi-weekly pay period will end on Saturday July 10, 2010 and we will process payroll checks (date of checks) on Wednesday July 17, 2010.
Once you have created your Payroll Frequency/Schedule you will then edit each employee’s record, going to the Payroll & Compensation Info tab as select the appropriate frequency (Weekly, Bi-Weekly, or Monthly).
When you are ready to actually pay your employees, go to the Employee Center and click on the Payroll tab, each of your Payroll Frequencies will be displayed, click on the appropriate frequency (Weekly, Bi-Weekly, or Monthly) and click the Start Scheduled Payroll button.
We hope you have found this QuickBooks Payroll Tip to be helpful, if so, please feel free to leave us a comment below.
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 the rate of pay accordingly when creating the paycheck is highly error prone.
To successfully handle this task:
- Create new hourly payroll wage items in QuickBooks called Laborer, Dozer, Skid, and Supervisor – which represent each of the different Work Classifications that your employees are paid under.
- Edit Joe’s employee record, go to the Payroll & Compensation tab, add these new payroll wage items to his Earnings section by clicking into the Item column and selecting the newly created payroll items and assign the correct rate of pay.
- While you are in the Payroll & Compensation tab, make sure that the option to “Use time data to create paychecks” is checked.
- Enter Joe’s hours using the Weekly Timsheet function, splitting out and assigning how many hours he work on each job during the week and selecting the appropriate Payroll Item for the task.
- When you create Joe’s paycheck, QuickBooks will automatically pull in the correct rate that you assigned to each Payroll Item in Joe’s employee record.
Setting up QuickBooks in this manner makes the program work for you, instead of you having to always remember to manually make the pay rate changes.
Benefits include:
- A clearly visible audit trail for Worker’s Compensation Audits, as these Payroll Items now correspond to employee work classifications.
- Accurate pay checks.
- Less stress.
_____________________________________________________________________
Author’s Note:
Having to manually create new payroll items AND then update 25 employee records with new payroll wage items and rates of pay is a time-consuming process as you have to do each payroll item and employee one at a time.
Check out Wage Manager Solution, a QuickBooks integrated application designed specifically to automate this process.
Watch a 10 minute video which provides an overview of how Wage Manager Solution works.
From the Hire Act of 2010 website
President Obama signed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act on March 18, 2010. This new $17.5 billion legislation (scaled down from an earlier $150 billion package) is of particular interest to businesses as it includes new tax benefits directly related to hiring employees and writing off investments in equipment.
The new tax incentives for businesses to hire unemployed workers:
- payroll tax exemption of the employers share of Social Security taxes on wages paid to these workers after March 18, 2010.
- employer tax credit of up to $1,000 per worker
The new employees must meet these criteria in order to qualify for the business tax credits.
- hired between Feb 3, 2010 & Jan 1, 2011
- newly-hired employee was unemployed during the 60 days prior to starting work, or worked fewer than 40 hours for someone else during the 60 day period
Household employers are not eligible for the new tax benefits.
The HIRE Act is aimed at providing hiring incentives to restore some of the jobs lost in the latest economic recession. The goal is to help put Americans back to work as soon as possible. Business owners that hire qualifying workers sooner rather than later will get the most out of the tax credits, as the tax credits diminish over time, disappearing completely by January 1, 2011.
Another item of interest in this federal jobs bill is to permit small business owners to write off equipment investments of up to $250,000 this year, instead of taking years to depreciate. This in a doubling of the previous amount of $125,000. This will provide tax incentives for small businesses to grow while stimulating the economy with their investment spend.
President Obama’s job creation bill also includes provisions for putting people to work by reforming municipal bonds. Build America Bonds will allow the money to be spent on construction & repair of public projects like schools, highway and transit programs, as well as green and clean energy conservation projects like wind turbines and solar energy devices. Some of this money comes from moving $20 billion into the highway trust fund.
All politics aside, we will let the Americans going back to work decide how well the HIRE Act actually accomplishes its goals of a national recovery and job growth.
More details of the HIRE Act, including tax incentives like the payroll tax holiday can be found here.
A transcript of President Barack Obama’s signing of the HIRE Act at the White House can be found here.
The complete text of H.R. 2847 “Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act” can be found here.
