25Aug 2009 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Time Card Entry and Overtime Calculations – Beyond the Basics

Payroll Tips, The "Sunburst" Website
Entering employee time cards in QuickBooks is the foundation for job-costing payroll in QuickBooks and issuing your employees paychecks – or at least it should be – especially if your employees work on multiple jobs or are paid a different rate of pay for different tasks that they perform. Knowing how many man hours it took to actually complete a job or project is just as important as knowing the cost of having those employees on the jobsite. Many business owners say that they “have all that information in their heads”, but I’ve found that actually having this information available in reports that you generate within QuickBooks helps you to analyze not only the profit of that specific job, but the overall profitability of your company and helps you to…
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02Jun 2009 by Nancy Smyth

Summer Hiring – Rules for 2009

Construction News, IRS Information, Payroll Tips
From the May 2009 issue of the General Ledger. Firms owned by parents that employ their children. Owners’ children can work for the firm, regardless of age, number of hours worked or time of day—if the parent(s) own 100% of the business. Children under 16 cannot do hazardous work such as use lawn mowers, sewing machines, etc., work where food is cooked, or work near flammable or hazardous material. Minimum wage: 100% of owners hiring only immediate family members need not pay the minimum wage. But if owners regularly employ nonfamily members, they must pay even family members the minimum wage. Owners’ children under 21: Wages are exempt from FUTA. Owners’ children under 18: Wages are exempt from FICA—if the parents are sole owners or sole partners—but FIT must be…
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28Apr 2009 by Nancy Smyth

White House Delays rule requiring electronic verification

Construction News, IRS Information, Payroll Tips
{from the American City Business Journals/Denver on 4/27/09} Federal contractors will now have until June 30 before they have to use the E-Verify system to check the eligibility of their employees to work in the U.S. The Obama administration postponed the date the electronic verification rule would apply to government contractors and subcontractors in order to have more time to review it, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The rule was issued by the Bush administration in November. Business groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the rule, contending the government doesn't have the authority to make use of E-Verify mandatory. Congress created the E-Verify system as a voluntary program, they noted. More than 117,000 employers now use the Web-based system, which compares information supplied by employees with government records.…
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03Mar 2009 by Nancy Smyth

Economic Stimulus Plan – Your Business and Payroll

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, Construction News, Payroll Tips
The new stimulus legislation means changes to payroll no later than April 1, 2009. {This information is from Intuit's website and posted here for your information.  Visit Intuit's payroll website for additional information.} What does the stimulus plan mean to your business? New payroll tax credits and COBRA provisions will mean changes to how you handle payroll taxes and quarterly tax filings. The IRS asks that employers calculate federal withholding and advance earned income credit payments with new tables just issued as soon as possible, but no later than April 1st, 2009. Why not let Intuit Payroll handle the burden of tracking these changes so you can focus on running your business? Over one million small businesses trust us to do just that already, more than any other payroll service.…
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05Feb 2009 by Nancy Smyth

New 2009 W-4

Payroll Tips
As a business owner thinking of hiring new employees in 2009, you need to be aware that there is a new IRS form W-4 that must be completed.   Additionally, employees who claimed "exempt" in 2008 and want to again for 2009 must submit a new W-4 by Friday, February 13, 2009 AND the employee's 2009 income cannot exceed $950.00, cannot include more than $300.00 in unearned income such as interest and dividends - AND the employee must be eligible to be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return. Obtain the new form from the following url - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf?portlet=3
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