S-Corp Owners Health Insurance Reportable on W-2 – From the IRS: “Heath and accident insurance premiums paid on behalf of the greater than two percent S corporation shareholder-employee are deductible and reportable by the S corporation as wages for income tax withholding purposes on the shareholder-employee’s Form W-2. These benefits are not subject to Social Security or Medicare (FICA) or Unemployment (FUTA) taxes. The additional compensation is included in Box 1 (Wages) of the Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, issued to the shareholder-employee, but would not be included in Boxes 3 and 5 of Form W-2.”

For more information, including information about sole shareholder/employee situations, please see: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=203100,00.html

NC County Business Property Tax Listings – “Any individual(s) or business(es) owning or possessing personal property used or connected with a business or other income producing purpose must file a county business property listing by January 31, 2012 unless an extension is filed.” For more information on registering for an account and to obtain forms for filing, please visit the following county Triangle, NC County websites as they apply to you.

Wake County – http://www.wakegov.com/tax/forms.htm
Durham County – http://www.co.durham.nc.us/departments/txad/Business_Personal_Property_Taxation.html
Orange County – http://www.co.orange.nc.us/assessor/BusinessPersonalProperty.asp

NC Employment Security Commission Notices – NC ESC will be sending out notices through the end of the year to address any changes in your unemployment insurance rate for 2012. Be sure to provide these to your payroll service provider to update their systems.

1099 Forms Due 01/31/12 – If you have paid or will pay subcontracted vendors more than $600 in non-employee compensation in tax year 2011, you will need to have a W-9 form on file for each of them in order to issue their 1099 form. The W-9 form will allow you to obtain the information needed to determine 1099 eligibility, their taxpayer ID number, and a current address for mailing. The deadline to submit 1099 forms to the taxpayer is January 31st and the deadline to submit to the IRS their copy is February 28th. Failure to file on time can result in penalties.

The W-9 form can be downloaded here: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf.

Please also see the following IRS Publication http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099msc.pdf.

IRS Virtual Tax Workshop – If you would to obtain more information about your tax requirements, the IRS offers a free virtual workshop for small business owners and self-employed individuals at http://www.irsvideos.gov/virtualworkshop/

Outsourcing payroll duties to third-party service providers can streamline business operations, but the IRS reminds employers that they are ultimately responsible for paying federal tax liabilities. Recent prosecutions of individuals and companies who – acting under the guise of a payroll service provider – have stolen funds intended for payment of employment taxes makes it important that employers who outsource payroll are aware of the following three tips from the IRS:

Employer Responsibility – The employer is ultimately responsible for the deposit and payment of federal tax liabilities. Even though you forward the tax payments to the third party to make the tax deposits, you – the employer – are the responsible party.If the third party fails to make the federal tax payments, the IRS may assess penalties and interest. The employer is liable for all taxes, penalties and interest due. The IRS can also hold you personally liable for certain unpaid federal taxes.

Correspondence – If there are any issues with an account, the IRS will send correspondence to the address of record. The IRS strongly suggests you do not change the address of record to that of the payroll service provider. That could limit your ability to stay informed of tax matters involving your business.

EFTPS  - Choose a payroll service provider that uses the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. You can register on the EFTPS system to get your own PIN to verify the payments.The IRS web site – www.irs.gov has more information on the responsibilities of employers outsourcing payroll, payroll service providers and EFTPS.

via Three Tips for Employers Outsourcing Their Payroll.

for more information about online payroll services: www.netWorthPayroll.com

The New Legislation

The new law will require all North Carolina employers with twenty-five or more employees to enroll in and use E-Verify to check the eligibility of employees to work in the United States. The law applies only to new hires and does not require employers to verify the immigration status of their existing workforce through E-Verify. The law also specifically exempts seasonal temporary employees employed for ninety or fewer days during a consecutive twelve-month period.

The E-Verify requirement will be phased in gradually, depending on the size of the employer. The E-Verify requirement will become effective on October 1, 2012, for employers with 500 or more employees. Employers with 100 to 499 employees will become subject to the requirement on January 1, 2013, and employers with twenty-five to ninety-nine employees will be covered by the law on July 1, 2013.

Once the law takes effect, employers who fail to verify a new hire’s employment eligibility through E-Verify will face civil penalties from the North Carolina Department of Labor, regardless of whether that employee is indeed authorized to work in the United States. The size of potential penalties will vary based on the number of employee verifications the employer failed to make as well as whether the failure constitutes a repeat violation. For any violation, an employer will also be required to submit an affidavit stating that, after consultation with the affected employee, it has requested a verification of the employee’s work authorization through E-Verify.

Potential Legal Questions

Opponents of the North Carolina statute could potentially argue that it is preempted by federal law. Federal immigration law prohibits states from “imposing civil or criminal sanctions” upon those that employ unauthorized aliens, except through “licensing or similar laws.” Although the United States Supreme Court recently upheld Arizona’s E-Verify law in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, the Court emphasized that the Arizona law is enforced through suspension of business licenses, rather than through civil or criminal penalties.

The North Carolina law presents a substantially different question from that resolved by the Supreme Court in Whiting. On the one hand, North Carolina’s new statute arguably runs afoul of federal law because it is enforced through civil penalties. On the other hand, the North Carolina law does not directly penalize the employment of unauthorized aliens; rather, it penalizes employers for failing to use the E-Verify system, even if those employers employ no unauthorized aliens. As North Carolina’s law departs from the model of the Arizona E-Verify law that survived a Supreme Court challenge, the new law could face its own legal challenges.

Practical Implications

Employers in North Carolina that have twenty-five or more employees should prepare to enroll in and use the E-Verify system, if they are not already participating in that system. E-Verify compares information provided by a new hire on Form I-9 with information in the federal government’s databases to verify the individual’s identity and eligibility to work in the United States. Although E-Verify is a free service, participating employers will incur costs in using it as a result of the time it takes the employer’s personnel to be trained in the use of E-Verify, to enter data into the E-Verify system, and to respond to E-Verify determinations that information supplied on a new hire’s Form I-9 does not match government records.

via Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP – North Carolina to Require Employers to Use E-Verify.

First, you will need a Federal EIN, otherwise known as an Employer Identification Number. You may have already received this when you started your business but if you are a sole proprietor, you may need to apply for a new number:

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=97860,00.html

Secondly, you will need a State Withholding Tax Id Number. If you already collect and file Sales and Use Tax, the number will be the same and you just need to call the state and add withholding tax to that existing number.  To apply for a new NC withholding account number, you can apply online here:

http://www.dornc.com/electronic/registration/index.html

Third, you will need a new NC Unemployment Security Commission account number to collect and remit state unemployment insurance withholding:

https://www.ncesc1.com/business/web604/web604Main.asp

Now that the main peices for the employer portion are out of the way, let’s take a look at what forms the employees will need to provide in order to receive payroll wages. The employer must retain these documents for their records for each employee:

W-4 Form (Withholding Allowance)

I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification)

NC-4 (State Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate)

In NC, employers must also provide New Hire Information to the state. A form can be mailed or you can report your new hires online at www.NCNewHires.com.

For more information about whether a worker is an Employee or Independent Contractor, see: Employee or Independent Contractor?

Contact netWorth Bookkeeping Services for more information about our  easy, affordable, online payroll services! 

President Obama late Thursday signed into law legislation repealing the 1099 reporting provision enacted as part of the healthcare reform bill.

Several insurance industry trade groups issued statements lauding the president’s decision.

The bill is H.R. 4, the “Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011.”

The repealed provision would have required all business entities to file a 1099 form with the Internal Revenue Service for each vendor for whom they have cumulative transactions of $600 or more. It would have gone into effect in January 2012.

The legislation also repeals an additional Form 1099 reporting requirement imposed on owners of rental real estate.

The 1099 provision was expected to contribute $19 billion toward paying for healthcare reform. The repeal legislation makes up the shortfall by making consumers repay all of their insurance subsidies under the healthcare law once their income rises beyond 400 percent of the federal poverty line.

House Democrats called that a tax increase on the middle class.

In signing the bill, President Obama said he looks forward to continuing to work with Congress to improve the tax credit policy in the legislation and is “eager to work with anyone with ideas about how we can make healthcare better or more affordable.”

Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), says, “With the repeal of this provision, small businesses can now worry a little less about Washington red tape and continue to focus on creating jobs and rebuilding our economy.

He adds that NAMIC hopes Congress and the president “will continue to look for ways to improve government regulation by removing needless burdens on American businesses.”

Robert Rusbuldt, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents  Brokers of America (IIABA), says, “In a strong show of bipartisan cooperation, the president and Congress have done the right thing by standing up for small businesses and repealing the 1099 reporting mandate.

“Our thousands of small business members and their clients will breathe easier knowing this ill-advised provision will not take effect.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/03intern.html

From the Article:

“If you’re a for-profit employer or you want to pursue an internship with a for-profit employer, there aren’t going to be many circumstances where you can have an internship and not be paid and still be in compliance with the law,” said Nancy J. Leppink, the acting director of the department’s wage and hour division.

Ms. Leppink said many employers failed to pay even though their internships did not comply with the six federal legal criteria that must be satisfied for internships to be unpaid. Among those criteria are that the internship should be similar to the training given in a vocational school or academic institution, that the intern does not displace regular paid workers and that the employer “derives no immediate advantage” from the intern’s activities — in other words, it’s largely a benevolent contribution to the intern.”

The 6 Criteria:

• The training given in the internship must be similar to what would be given in an educational setting, or vocational school

• The training should be for the benefit of the trainee

• The trainee’s work not replace workers who are regularly paid

• The employer receives no immediate advantage from the trainees’ activities, and the employer’s operations may actually be impeded on occasion

• At the end of the training, the trainees are not necessarily entitled to a job

• Both the trainee and the employer understand that the trainee is not entitled to wages during the training period.

See Also: Compliance Assistance – Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

QuickBooks Tip – Undeposited Funds Default

If you have used QuickBooks, you may have noticed that when you enter customer receipts there is no option to select which bank account the money is deposited to. Not all clients know that the amounts are coded to an account called undeposited funds and sit in that account until you go into the “Banking – Make Deposits” screen and make the official deposit that will match your bank statement.

I have had a couple of clients not know this and their undeposited funds account was huge. Then, the client does not see the deposit in the bank account and enters the deposit a second time by using the Banking – Make Deposits screen thereby duplicating a customer payment. And the undeposited funds account stays large.

To avoid making this mistake, change the default setting in QuickBooks. Goto Edit – Preferences. Highlight Payments on the left part of the screen. Click the Company Preferences tab. Uncheck the box in the Receive Payments section that says Use Undeposited Funds as a default deposit to account. click the OK button.

After changing the preference, you will notice a new drop-down menu on the receive payment screen which allows you to choose your bank account or undeposited funds. When do you use undeposited funds? When you have more than one payment being deposited the same day. For example, if you received 5 checks and those 5 checks are on the same deposit slip that you take to the bank, use undeposited funds. Then click on Banking – Make Deposit, select the payments, click OK, verify the date is correct, verify that the amount on the screen matches the amount on the deposit slip, and save the transaction.

When do you select your bank account? When you only receive and deposit 1 transaction for that day. For example, you receive one check and that one check is listed on the deposit slip that you take to the bank. And in doing this, you avoid having to go to the Banking – Make Deposits screen to make the official deposit

-Our friends at EverChange, LLC are located in Durham, NC and provide expert QuickBooks and Accounting Services.  For more QuickBooks tidbits, feel free to visit their twitter account @EverChangeLLC or “like” EverChange, LLC on Facebook.

Traditionally, these services have been provided “onsite” or at the place of business which requires additional time and/or mileage to be paid to the professional. Today, there are various resources and business applications that will allow services like these and even internal functions to be provided remotely from anywhere. With the cost of fuel rising once again, let’s explore some of the ways your business can have “remote” or “offsite” workers to help you grow your business while saving you time and money.

 
• Online Banking Sign up with your bank to access your accounts, transfer funds, and pay your bills online from anywhere.  You can even link your QuickBooks accounting file to your banking account and download all of your transactions onto your ledger with the touch of a button.  Even those paper statements are becoming a thing of the past and your accountant can download them as needed to work on your books from anywhere.

These are all tools that you, your employees, and contractors can utilize to help save money, time, office space (save on rent!), paper, mileage, and our environment.  What are some ways your business uses to stay green, fast, and efficient?

How much data can your QuickBooks company file hold before it becomes “stuffed”, overflowing like a file cabinet, and SLOW?  This is a very good question that most people don’t take into consideration — well because it’s software and should hold an unlimited amount of data.

QuickBooks Pro and Premier are designed for small businesses with 20 or fewer employees and annual revenues of less than $1 million per year, according to the latest information from the ProAdvisor certification study materials.  It is intended to store at least 2 years of detailed information in a company file – this allows you to compare your current business years performance with that of a previous year.

Quickbooks Enterprise is designed for larger businesses having 20-250 employees, needing up to 30 simultaneous users, stricter user access to financial information with 115 different permission settings, want to connect multiple locations, perhaps have remote workers, need to combine financial statements from multiple company files, and have more than $1 million in annual revenue.

How fast a QuickBooks file grows varies significantly from one company to another.  there is no “average” or “typical” company file size, since every business tracks different information.

How quickly a data file grows to “overflowing” will depend on the number of transactions that are entered, the amount of information entered per transaction, and the number of “links” per transaction.

For example, a company that enters 500 1-line invoices per month might find that their data file is smaller than another company that enters 100 5-line invoices per month.  Another example would be a company who usually receives 5 separate payments per invoice would have a larger data file than a company who receives one payment per invoice.

A good way to estimate the growth of your QuickBooks company file is to take the average number of monthly transactions (keeping in mind that an invoice, a payment and a deposit represent 3 separate transactions; while a bill and a bill payment represent 2 transactions), and multiply that by 2 KB to determine approximately how much your file will grow each month.  You can then take the monthly amount and multiply it by 12 to determine an estimated yearly data file size.

According to Intuit, QuickBooks can handle a maximum or 2 billion transactions, however, they do not state which version, (Pro, Premier, or Enterprise) this figure applies to.

In addition to estimated annual file growth and a maximum number of transaction that QuickBooks can handle, business owners must also take into consideration the maximum number of List items that QuickBooks can can accommodate.

The table below indicates the maximum number of items that can be held in individual and combines lists.

List Name
Maximum Number of Items
(Simple Start, Pro, Premier)
Maximum Number of Items
(Enterprise)

Chart of Accounts
10,000
10,000

Items, including Inventory Items
Group Items can contain 20 individual items
14,500
>100,000*
(29,000 in version 6.0 & earlier)

Job Types
10,000
10,000

Vendor Types
10,000
10,000

Customer Types
10,000
10,000

Payroll Items
10,000
10,000

Payroll Items per Employee Record
25
100

Price Levels
100
100

Classes
10,000
10,000

A/R & A/P Terms – TOTAL
10,000
29,000

Payment Methods
10,000
10,000

Shipping Methods
10,000
10,000

Customer Messages
10,000
10,000

Memorized Reports
14,500
29,000

Memorized Transactions
14,500
29,000

To Do Notes
10,000
10,000

Total Names – Employees, Customers,
Vendors, Unit of Measures and Other
Names – COMBINED
14,500
100,000*
(29,000 in version 6.0 and earlier)

Sales Reps
14,500
29,000

Sales Tax Codes
10,000
10,000

Billing Rate Levels
100
100

Fixed Asset Items
10,000
10,000

Ship Via
10,000
10,000

Templates
10,000
10,000

Units of Measure
10,000
10,000

Ship To Addresses
Unlimited (?)
Unlimited (?)

What does that matter?  In the state of NC, there is a six month period that a person has to be employed in order to qualify for new unemployment benefits.  However, if a worker has an already established or open claim, and they are hired by a new company, there is no minimum time required before they are eligible to receive unemployment benefits from their “last employer” (even if it is a temp job).   That would mean that if my client were to hire this person temporarily, even for a week, when that job ended, that person could reopen their claim and it would be collected on THEIR unemployment insurance fund, not the employer they were originally collecting from before that.

Because my client is a new business, and has a small payroll that they just started, they have little money accrued in their unemployment insurance fund.  This situation would would have raised their rates and they would have had to keep paying that higher rate into the system to pay off the claim from this temporary worker for years.  Instead of being able to put an unemployed person to work, even if just for a few months, they were unable to hire this person, who is now just  still collecting benefits from their original unemployment claim.

This is a very unfortunate policy because there are millions of people that would love an opportunity to work, even a temporary job, which can lead to permanent employment in some situations.  Additionally, there is always the possibility a new employee won’t work out, even if they are hired permanently.  Employers are aware of the burden they take on when they hire someone who is currently collecting unemployment benefits and may be deterred from doing so.  The system that is designed to help unemployed workers is actually hurting their chances of being rehired by small businesses.  No wonder our state unemployment rate remains so high.

An individual who has established a claim, returned to work and become unemployed again during that one year period, may reopen an existing claim. For reopened claim purposes, the last employer is the one for whom the claimant most recently worked prior to reopening an existing claim, regardless of the duration of the job.

via ESC NC Business Services: UI Information – Claims.