07Nov 2012 by Nancy Smyth
Job Costing Payroll When Using a Payroll Service

Job Costing Payroll When Using a Payroll Service

Job Costing Tips, Payroll Tips, Questions from our readers, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
Using an outside payroll service, such as Paychecx or ADP, is a popular option for many business owners.  While using a payroll service often provides many benefits one of the biggest challenges or drawbacks is for the company that needs job costing.  See this question submitted by a reader. My company uses a 3rd party to do all of our payroll.  We receive an itemized report back showing what we spent for the week.  I am having trouble trying to get this information charged out to individual jobs.  I track all of the hours separately in Excel, with estimated costs.  How can I job cost this information?  Thank you – Michelle Hi Michelle I bet you are having trouble getting payroll information charged to individual jobs, that’s one of the…
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11Apr 2012 by Nancy Smyth

ASA Seminar Payroll & Tax Strategies for Public Works Contractors

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, Construction News, Webinars & Training
  ASA (American Subcontractors Association) San Diego Chapter Seminar on Payroll and Tax Strategies for Public Works Contractors, May 8, 2012 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. PST, $55.00 Members/$85.00 Non-members - register here. I'm very excited to be working with Steve Kuzmack, President of Fringe Benefit Experts as we present a 2-hour seminar for the ASA San Diego Chapter on Payroll and Tax Strategies for Public Works Contractors.  Steve will be live, while I will be logging in remotely.  Come join us to learn:  Why cash is "KING"! and why Public Works Construction and Prevailing Wage projects require advanced financial planning methods and tools along with an understanding of the ever-changing compliance requirements -- so that you get paid on time! What You Will Learn Learn How: To reduce payroll taxes…
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09Apr 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Learn To Use QuickBooks In Your Construction Business

Be A Better Bookkeeper, Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Webinars & Training
  Learn to use Quickbooks® in your construction business - QuickBooks® for Contractors Bookkeeping Tips & Training is a new website that we launched over the weekend.  We are very pleased to announce the launch of a brand new QuickBooks® training resource for contractors and the accounting professionals who support them, owned and developed by Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc. - Learn to use QuickBooks® in your construction business. The new website will feature reasonably priced bookkeeping tips & training via: eBooks Live webinars Pre-recorded videos Specifically for commercial/government construction contractors who use QuickBooks® for their bookkeeping and accounting needs, their bookkeepers, and the accounting professionals who support them.  This new support and training site provides answers and techniques that are not available in the QuickBooks® Help file or even even…
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26Mar 2012 by Joyce M. Washington

Construction – Tools & Tax Tips

From Our Guest Bloggers, IRS Information
  In the construction industry, for tax purposes, you do treat the purchase of a hammer and a cement mixer differently.  Sure you may view them as "tools of the trade" - but the IRS thinks differently! Construction is by nature a tool driven industry.  Buying and providing them can get expensive.  But how do you know when you can expense a tool and when you should capitalize a tool and depreciate (expense) it over time?  Here are a few tips. First off, let’s define expenses from the tax perspective.  Any business expense that is considered to be ordinary and necessary is deductible.  An “ordinary” expense is considered to be something that is common and accepted in your industry – in this case, the construction industry.   To be considered “necessary”,…
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20Mar 2012 by Nancy Smyth

How To Setup a Scheduled Payment for a Payroll Liability

Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Payroll Tips, Questions from our readers
  Setting up Scheduled payments allows you to see all payroll related liability amounts that you owe for payroll taxes, health insurance, child support garnishments, etc. in the QuickBooks Payroll Center so that you can easily review the amounts and generate the payment.  Finding where you setup the payment schedule can be confusing, if you are new to QuickBooks - see this question from a reader. I have created a Garnishment deduction item, following your instructions step by step, but I did not generate the check to send to the Agency that is collecting the money.  Is there something else that I need to do to get this payroll Liability in the "Pay Schedule Liabilities" or "Custom Liability" box?  Thanks, Luz Hi Luz Usually as soon as you finish creating…
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27Feb 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Payroll Tip: Union Benefits Calculated Against Hours NOT Wages

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, Payroll Tips, Questions from our readers
  Union fringe benefits can be calculated in a number of ways; some are based on a percentage of gross wages while others are a fixed dollar amount per hours worked.  Either way you look at it, it can become pretty complex.  Take this question from a blog reader for example. I have union benefits that are calculated against the employee's hours, not gross wages.  How do I do that in QuickBooks? A.  In QuickBooks you want to set up your union benefits as Company Contribution Payroll Item types. I find it to be faster if you go to the Lists menu -> Payroll Item List -> click the Payroll Item button at the lower left -. choose New -> and Custom Setup -> and Company Contribution. When setting up…
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24Jan 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Bookkeeping/Accounting Tasks and Employee New Hire Packet

Be A Better Bookkeeper, Payroll Tips
Keeping track of bookkeeping/accounting tasks and the information that is required when you hire a new employee can be pretty overwhelming for a business owner or bookkeeper.  In the normal rush of day-to-day activities; sometimes important items can get overlooked and come back to bite you later. Welcome to Tuesday Training! Tuesday Training is a new feature here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog.  While everyday focuses on training of one sort or another, Tuesday’s are dedicated to more in-depth training. We’ll teach you the things you need to know about using QuickBooks, that you won’t find in the QuickBooks Help file, in order to successfully run your construction business and obtain accurate job costing reports; from eBooks, live webinars, and recorded training sessions. You’ll find high-quality (budget friendly) training…
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23Jan 2012 by Nancy Smyth

Working With Taxable & Non-taxable Items and Customers

Customers & Accounts Receivable, Free & Fee-Based QuickBooks eBooks, Questions from our readers, QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup, Webinars & Training
Working with taxable and non-taxable items and customers in QuickBooks sometimes just freaks people out and causes them to over think the entire situation.  I'm frequently asked how to do this by people who are setting up our AIA billing program - here's a question that I received recently. I am getting ready to set the AIA billing program {Construction Application for Payment Solution} up tomorrow and just have a few questions. Should the income items each be posted to an income general ledger account?  Or will I use the subtotal line to point to an income account?  If I have to post each income item to an income account - I will have to do 2 sets of them, one for wholesale (no tax) and one for retail (taxable)…
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07Dec 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Payroll Tip-Worker’s Comp Tracking on Vacation, Holiday & Overtime Pay

Payroll Tips, Questions from our readers
Payroll can be one of the most complex duties of any bookkeeper's job - especially when you need to OR want to track your Worker's Compensation costs for job costing purposes and pay your employees Vacation, Holiday and Overtime wages.  Just take a look at this question, submitted by one of our blog subscribers! I have set up the Workers Compensation tracking in QuickBooks for a construction company with no problem, it seems to be working fine.  My question is - how do you keep track of Holiday, Vacation, and Overtime pay?  Do I set up each payroll item with the Workers Comp {WC} rate for each class?  For example Carpenter-Holiday and Carpenter-Vacation?  Thanks, Kathleen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: Hi Kathleen; That's an excellent question! One of the first things that you…
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25Oct 2011 by Nancy Smyth

QuickBooks Tip – Easy Access to Employee Payroll Forms

Payroll Tips
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. [caption id="attachment_2728" align="aligncenter" width="283" caption="Right click on…
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27Sep 2011 by Nancy Smyth

Payroll Tip – Be Prepared for Wage & Hour and IRS Audits

Payroll Tips
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…
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09Jun 2011 by Jo Ellen Peters

Payroll Tip – The IRS May Hold You Liable For 941 Payments

From Our Guest Bloggers, IRS Information, Payroll Tips
A payroll tip about who the IRS may hold liable for 941 tax payments. Are you the bookkeeper or accountant for your company? Are you a signer on any of the company bank accounts? What about your client’s accounts? Do you sign on any of them? If so, you may be held responsible by the IRS for underpaid 941 liabilities. Sounds scary, but it can be true. How is it possible that can be true? The IRS says the federal income tax and the employee’s portion of social security and medicare taxes withheld is a trust fund. It is to be deposited according to the schedule they have determined for your company. The IRS cannot collect this tax from the employee, even if the employer does not pay the tax…
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25May 2011 by Nancy Smyth

The Benefits of Paying Prevailing Wage Fringes to a Bona-fide Plan

Certified Payroll/Prevailing Wage, Construction News, Payroll Tips
The benefits of paying the Prevailing Wage Fringe Benefit portion to bona-fide plan is often misunderstood by employers and employees alike. Prevailing wage jobs, those jobs that are subject to the Davis-Bacon Act and/or State Prevailing Wage Laws, require that all laborers and mechanics {including tradesmen such as carpenters, equipment operators, painters, pipefitters, plumbers, etc.) who perform work on the jobsite are to be paid a set base rate of pay PLUS an hourly fringe benefit rate. Union contractors automatically pay the total hourly fringe benefit rate to the union hall on behalf of the employee, usually splitting the full hourly rate into specific "funds" - Health & Welfare, Pension, Vacation, etc. When this happens the Union contractor doesn't pay payroll taxes, worker's compensation, or general liability insurance on this…
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