This QuickBooks tip explains where you can easily access employee payroll forms; including the Federal I-9, W-4, and W-9′s.
Having used QuickBooks for many years, I can remember when needing an I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification), a W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate), or a W-9 (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification) meant a trip to the appropriate website to obtain the most current form – and depending on how busy I was at the moment, that could be a royal pain!
The I-9, Federal W-4, and W-9 are now available to anyone with a current payroll subscription using QuickBooks Pro/Premier 2009-2012 or Enterprise 9.0-12.0 from the Employees menu -> Employee Forms option; you’ll also find a Direct Deposit and Pay Card Authorization form.
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NOTE: If you don’t see the Employee Forms menu option; choose the Get Payroll Updates option and get the latest payroll update. Restart QuickBooks after the update has been installed.
The forms open in a “fillable”. pdf format, so employees can type in their I-9, W-4, Direct Deposit or Pay Card Authorization information and it will be legible!
You can easily send W-9′s to your vendors as an email attachment {once the .pdf of the W-9 is open and visible, from the File menu -> choose Attach to email}.
You will still need to obtain the current version of the State W-4 from their website and have that on hand.
These are certainly handy forms to have quick access to and will save you from having to worry about whether or not you have a copy of the form, the most current version of the form, or from having to go searching on the internet to download the most current version that is available.
Critical note: You MUST have a .pdf creator/reader installed on your computer in order to open/use these forms. If you currently don’t have a pdf creator/reader, check out Foxit Reader – it’s free!
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Many business owners feel that they can pay their employes “whenever” they want and that is true to a point. Business owners can pay their employees whenever they want as long as the “whenever” meets the laws of the state their business resides in.
As a business owner you probably feel “in control” when it comes to setting a payroll schedule for the people you hire. Certainly you have options, you can issue payroll on a:
- weekly
- bi-weekly {every other week}
- semi-monthly {twice a month, perhaps on the 1st and the 15th}
- or a monthly basis
While there is no federal laws that require how often you pay your employees, the payroll schedule you choose MUST conform to the requirements of the state that your business is located in.
Most states require that every employer has to pay all of the wages due to an employee on a regular payroll schedule, which is determined by you the business owner – BUT you must notify the employees of how frequently you intend to pay them. A “regular schedule” means that you must consistently pay your employees using whatever frequency you choose, in other words you can’t just randomly issue a payroll check.
Many states also tell a business owner how much of a “holdback” they can take. Meaning that if you decide your workweek starts on a Sunday and ends on a Saturday and that you will pay your employees on the Friday AFTER the end of the work week; you are holding back a week’s worth of pay.
A word of caution – a business can get into trouble if it doesn’t pay it’s employees as often as the law requires – and I’m sure you don’t want or need that additional headache! Believe it or not, but each state has their own set of rules and regulations {imagine that!}, in some states the rules are different depending upon the employees occupation. In other words, setting a payroll schedule that is realistic for your company AND that conforms to state requirements can be a mess!
The U.S. Department of Labor provides a fairly detailed overview of employee payroll schedules by state, you can find State Payday Requirements here, the information provided is ONLY an overview of general information – you should most definitely contact your state department of labor for all of the details!
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This payroll tip discusses being prepared for Wage & Hour and IRS Audits – what records have to be kept, how long you need to keep them, etc. From the General Ledger, a complete newsletter for Professional Bookkeepers published by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers.
Break out the trusty old metal/wooden file cabinets and wipe off the dust — or maybe it’s time to invest in some virtual file cabinets where documents are scanned in and stored off-site but accessible if you need them. Either way you are in for a shock!
We’ve mentioned previously that the U.S. Department of Labor is making a major push on wage-hour enforcements and that the IRS has also beefed up enforcement efforts – but what we didn’t include at that time was a list of documents that you must keep and how long they have to be kept. When October’s issue of the General Ledger arrived, this information was front page news; and I felt I needed to share it with you. I hope you are sitting down and have had your morning coffee!
Even if your company has never violated one IRS or DOL rule, substantial penalties may apply simply for not maintaining required records. Now is the time to gather or seek copies of the records you are required to keep under federal law. Records may be stored at at company offices; or for multiple locations, in a central office.
Keep for at least 4 years:
The IRS requires employers to keep the following for at least 4 years. NOTE: Because the 4-year period begins at different time, keep the following for at least 5 years.)
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The DOL or IRS (or both) require you to keep the following data. If not in hard copy, it should be available to print.
Keep for at least 3 years:
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Keep for at least 2 years:
Documents that support calculations for the following.
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Keep for at least 4 year
From April 15 following the due date of the return; employment related tax forms and data.
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Vendor and non-employee payments:
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All of this adds up to a LOT of paperwork that you have to keep on hand and accessible. Storage is going to be an issue for most businesses as well as making sure that the stored documents are kept safe – I know that these issues are a concern for me, as like most business owners I only have limited space.
We’ve used QuickBooks since we started our business in 2000, so all of the “detail” is housed in our QuickBooks file; we did have to archive our file at the end of 2006 because it was getting too big and running slow, so we have a backup copy that contains all the detail stored in our safe deposit box at the bank. Our current QuickBooks file contains a summary of that archived information, and I keep that backed up and stored in a several locations – locally on an external hard drive, on a remote (cloud based) location that both my husband and I have access to, and a backup which I keep on my laptop – so my QuickBooks file is pretty safe.
But, the hard copy paper payroll related data – well, right now all of that is stored by year in 3-ring binders; and all of the paper copies of business income and receipts are stored in cardboard file boxes in our attic! If there was a fire – well, we’d loose all that paper data! I guess it’s time that I get my act together and do something about electronic storage for at least all of the payroll related data.
How are you storing all of the information that would be required for a wage-hour or IRS audit?
We are teaming up with the Associated General Contractors {AGC} of America San Diego Chapter, Inc. for a day of QuickBooks for Contractors on Tuesday November 8, 2011; 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM .
QuickBooks is the leading small-business accounting software on the market today. But when it comes to knowing how to use QuickBooks in the commercial/government construction industry and dealing with complexities such as AIA Billing and certified payroll reporting, finding help becomes difficult. Join us {Nancy Smyth – Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc.} as we team up with the Associated General Contractors {AGC} of America San Diego Chapter; for an intensive day-long training session for using QuickBooks in the commercial/government construction industry. Below are some of the highlights of the course.
Morning Session – Job Costing, Estimating, Purchases & AIA Billing using QuickBooks
- The importance of job costing
- Working with/setting up you QuickBooks Item List {aka your cost codes}
- Creating and using Estimates & Progress Invoices
- Tracking Committed costs and subcontracts with Purchase Orders
- Proper Vendor/Subcontractor invoice entry
- Getting Equipment costs into your job costing reports
- AIA Billing and automation
Afternoon Session – QuickBooks Payroll & Certified Payroll
- What is Certified Payroll? Who makes the rules and how to comply
- Working with Wage Determinations
- Determining employee labor burden – OR – the hourly cost of having employees on the jobsite
- How to include employee labor burden in payroll
- Setting up and using QuickBooks Payroll to deal with Prevailing Wages – regardless of how you pay your fringes
- How to fill out a certified payroll report – what information is needed
- Electronic certified payroll filing requirements
- Automating the certified payroll reporting process
Who should attend?
- Business owners
- Estimators
- Controllers
- CFO’s
- Payroll processors
- Office Managers
- Accounting & Consulting professionals
- Union and non-Union Contractors
This course will be held at:
AGC San Diego Chapter Inc., 6212 Ferris Square, San Diego, CA 92121
Phone: (858) 558-7444 Extension 101
When: Tuesday November 8, 2011
Time: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM (8 hours)
Cost: $199 AGC Members OR $259 Non-Members
Register Online: https://www.agcsd.org/Calendar/Registration/registration.php?classType=educat&classID=1244
I look forward to seeing and meeting you all! Nancy Smyth, Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc.
QuickBooks 2012 will include batch timesheet creation as an enhancement to the current “Use Weekly Timesheet” feature, allowing you the option to select multiple employee or vendor names for time entry. From the information that I’ve seen, Intuit is marketing this feature to contractors as a timesaver, and it may be for some businesses, BUT THERE IS A CATCH……
Each group of employees or vendors that you select MUST work on the same Job, under the same Service Item AND the same Payroll Item MUST be used during timesheet creation – additionally, they must ALL work the same number of hours each day!
See the Batch Timesheet function in action on our YouTube video
In order to successfully use the Batch Timesheet feature in QuickBooks Pro/Premier 2012 and Enterprise 12.0:
1. You MUST enable timetracking
- Logged into QuickBooks as the QuickBooks Administrator in Single-User Mode
- From the Edit menu -> choose Preferences -> scroll to Time & Expenses {the last preference} -> click on the Company Preferences tab
- Under the Time Tracking – Do you track time option -> select Yes and set the FIRST day of your work week
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- Click OK to save your changes
2. The Use time data to create paychecks option MUST be enabled for each employee
- From the Employee menu -> choose Employee Center -> click on the Employees tab -> double-click on an employee name OR click the Edit Employee button
- From the Change tabs drop down menu -> choose Payroll & Compensation Info
- Make sure the Use time data to create paychecks option is checked.
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- Click the OK button to save the changes for this employee
- Repeat for each employee in your employee list
3. You MUST use the Weekly Timesheet function
- From the Employee menu -> choose Enter Time -> Use Weekly Timesheet OR from the Home Page -> click the Enter time icon -> Use Weekly Timesheet
- In the Name field, click the drop down list and select either Multiple Names (Payroll) OR Multiple Names (Non-Payroll)
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- In the pop-up window, select multiple names, by placing a checkmark next to the name, and click ok to finalize your selections
 Select multiple employees |
 Select vendors |
- Enter timesheet information, selecting the Job, Service Item and Payroll Item
- Click on the Save and Close button to enter the information
Be aware of a potential problem:
A potential problem that I see with this feature, is let’s say that there are 4 employees {or vendors} who worked on a Job Monday through Thursday; on Friday, only 3 of these employees {vendors} were there. When you enter multiple timesheets, I forsee most people selecting all 4 employees/vendors and automatically entering ALL of the the time for the entire week. Using the batch timesheet option, you would need to be very careful when entering hours in this type of situation – as it could result in an employee or vendor being paid for erroneous hours worked and no one catching it. On the flip side, for employees who worked overtime, additional entries would be required on their individual timesheets to record overtime hours – if not this would result in underpayment.
NOTE: If you really need this type of functionality, investigate our Crew/Overtime Entry Solution program, which allows you to enter “exceptions” {the 4th employee not working on Friday} prior to posting the time data to QuickBooks.
