Payroll Changes Update

There is additional important information to pass along re Payroll 2011.

•  Intuit has released Payroll Update 21102, which includes the federal withholding tables for 2011 and reflects the Tax Relief Act of 2010.  If you have automatic updates turned on, you should receive this update automatically.  You can download it at any time, even if you have more payroll to process for 2010 - it will select the correct table according to your paycheck date.  It is important to be sure you have this release before processing 2011 payroll, as it contains the changes to the social security rate for employees deductions.
• Because of this change in social security rate for Employee's deductions to 4.2%, the Employer/Employee rates are no longer a 'Match' as they always have been since the Employer portion remains at 6.2%.  If you have any formulas or procedures that calculate your payroll tax liability by doubling either of these figures, they will no longer be correct. 

Please feel free to give me a call if you have any questions.  I am watching for releases of news, forms, and publications and will post again as I come across items of interest.
  

Tax Information - As It Is Confirmed

As IRS makes announcements re 2011, I will post the ones I believe to be of interest here. I expect it to be a bit hectic with the late tax decisions.

IRS Announces 2011 Standard Mileage Rates, used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2011, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 51 cents per mile for business miles driven
• 19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

Re 'Preparing For New 1099 Reporting' - I previously reported the new requirements to provide 1099's to all vendors beginning with 2011 payments. One source has corrected that information to 2012 payments to be reported in 2013. As soon as I can confirm the effective date of the change, I will pass the information along.

Information for Year-end and New Year

Season's Greetings!
As the end of one year and the beginning of another rapidly approaches, there are a few things I would like to mention.

• If you have employees, it is a good time to ask them to be sure their address is current and their name and social security number is correct. A new W4 is not required each year, but if you need or want new 2011 W4 forms they are usually available by Jan 1st at www.irs.gov.
  

• I am recommending that you begin collecting W9's from everyone you make payments to (except employees) beginning Jan 1st 2011. As it stands, you will be required to provide payees and the IRS with 1099 forms for payments made during 2011, so it is important that this information be collected up front before making payments. The W9 forms are also available at www.irs.gov.

• If there are any changes or improvements you would like to see in the services I provide to you, please let me know! New options have become available, and I always welcome new ideas!

• Florida State Unemployment Rates - As expected, the minimum state unemployment rate will be raised in 2011 from .0036 ($25.20 per employee on $7000) to .0103 ($72.10 per employee on $7000). The maximum rate remains at .054 ($378.00 per employee on $7000). You should be receiving a form showing your new rate soon - please send a copy for my information. In addition, there will be a Special Interest Assessment to cover the interest on the funds borrowed from the federal government to cover benefit payments. You should receive a notice by early February explaining the calculation of the special interest assessment, with a coupon for the business to pay its share of the interest on the federal advances. Please send a copy of this to me as well. If you would like more information, goto www.myflorida.com/dor and follow the link.

That is all for now. I wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

10 Things That Good Bosses Do

This was on www.bnet.com blog by Steve Tobak recently, and I thought it was worthy of sharing.

Pay people what they're worth, not what you can get away with. What you lose in expense you gain back several-fold in performance.
Take the time to share your experiences and insights. Labels like mentor and coach are overused. Let's be specific here. Employees learn from those generous enough to share their experiences and insights. They don't need a best friend or a shoulder to cry on.
Tell it to employees straight, even when it's bad news. To me, the single most important thing any boss can do is to man up and tell it to people straight. No BS, no sugarcoating, especially when it's bad news or corrective feedback.
Manage up... effectively. Good bosses keep management off employee's backs. Most people don't get this, but the most important aspect of that is giving management what they need to do their jobs. That's what keeps management away.
Take the heat and share the praise. It takes courage to take the heat and humility to share the praise. That comes naturally to great bosses; the rest of us have to pick it up as we go.
Delegate responsibility, not tasks. Every boss delegates, but the crappy ones think that means dumping tasks they hate on workers, i.e. s**t rolls downhill. Good bosses delegate responsibility and hold people accountable. That's fulfilling and fosters professional growth.
Encourage employees to hone their natural abilities and challenge them to overcome their issues. That's called getting people to perform at their best.
Build team spirit. As we learned before, great groups outperform great individuals. And great leaders build great teams.
Treat employees the way they deserve to be treated. You always hear people say they deserve respect and to be treated as equals. Well, some may not want to hear this, but a) respect must be earned, and b) most workers are not their boss's equals.
Inspire your people. All the above motivate people, but few bosses have the ability to truly inspire their employees. How? By sharing their passion for the business. By knowing just what to say and do at just the right time to take the edge off or turn a tough situation around. Genuine anecdotes help a lot. So does a good sense of humor.

While I may not agree with every word, there are some very good points worth consideration.

Phishing Emails re EFTPS

This is an alert re emails claiming to be from the IRS re EFTPS payments. The EFTPS number states that they will not contact you via email. If you do receive one of these emails, do not click on any of the links, and instead forward it to phishing@irs.gov or call 1-800-366-4484.

QuickBooks 2011 Releases!

Today is the release date for the new QuickBooks 2011 products with exciting new features, some I found are features I have been waiting for and didn't even know it!

I just watched the first of four webinars I have signed up for this week, and will try to sum up a few things here that I found most interesting and exciting.

• First, program loads/opens faster. (Bad new for those of you who have made a routine of things to do while you wait, good news for those who tend to shake their mouse and get red in the face and curse while waiting.)
• There is a new Search - nothing like the Find feature (which is still there), but you can basically run a Search on anything at all and get results.
• Customer Snapshot is new, and looks a little like the Company snapshot. It includes helpful information such as Years As Customer, Average Days to Pay, etc.
• Batch Invoicing (need to invoice more than one customer for the same thing? You can do as many as you like)
• 'On-screen' information for Create Invoice and Enter Bills screen about Customers / Vendors that you may need to see while completing the screen... saves switching back and forth.
• Collections Center for customers that saves time following up with balances.
• Intuit Payment Network is a paypal-type network that allows a customer to pay online from your invoice, at an unbeatable flat-rate of fifty-cents per transaction.
• Accountant's version allows two company files to be open at once.
• Balance Sheet can now be run by Classes.
• And one the biggest new features may be (not available until later this year) QuickBooks Connect/QuickBooks Mobile, which will allow some functions online and/or from your Iphone such as invoicing, viewing customer/inventory/pricing/vendor info and more.

So, that is a taste for now. I will be updating frequently as I learn more from the webinars and by actually using the features, but feel free to give me a call if you have questions or would like more details in the meantime.

QuickBooks Tip - Customize The QuickBooks Icon Bar

One of the great tools for getting around easily in QuickBooks is the icon bar, and it is made even better by customizing it for your needs. For instance, I like to have a button on the icon bar to take me directly to 'Print Paychecks'. Or, you may want to begin by deleting buttons you never use. Here are easy instructions to do just that.

A little tip from me here. This doesn't have to be a big chore (those that seem to get put off) - I recommend doing this when you realize you are repeating a task often enough that it really should be handier, and add just that one item. This way, it won't take up a lot of your time, and it will give you more practice by doing it more often. Once you have gone through the steps a time or two, you will always remember how it is done.

• To begin, right-click on the icon bar (in a blank spot) and then left-click on Customize Icon Bar. You'll see a window listing the current content.
• Scroll to see the current configuration. Then, as an example, to add an icon below Company Snapshot, click on Company Snapshot to highlight it and then click Add. A new window displays your options. Select the icon you want and then click OK.
• To change the label or description of an icon, highlight it in the main list and click Edit. Similarly, you can delete an icon. You can also change an icon's position by dragging and dropping it.
• Your toolbar will change to reflect your choices. If there are too many icons, clicking on the >> symbol will display the remaining ones.
• QuickBooks uses vertical bars to divide the toolbar icons into related groups. You can add and delete these by clicking on the icon name above the desired position, then clicking Add Separator. Finally, buttons at the window's bottom let you display icons only or icons and text.
• Additional tip: Some QuickBooks windows not listed can still be added; try clicking the View menu when you're on an unsupported page and look for an option like Add "Build Assemblies" to Icon Bar.

I think this is a great skill to add to your QuickBooks knowledge. I would enjoy hearing whether or not you find this useful, and ways you may have used the information. I really enjoy hearing stories, because I continue to learn from fellow QuickBooks users.

Looking ahead...

I am passing along this bit of general information, because I believe it may be helpful to know in advance.

Beginning next year, the IRS will compare your firm's reported annual gross receipts to a separate report from your credit-card processor reporting your firm's total annual credit-card transactions.

Also, another law was passed requiring that starting in 2013, you must file 1099s for payments made to corporations in excess of $600.

The IRS will not need 1099s for payments to corporations over $600 made by credit card, however, because of the new credit card transaction reports.

I don't expect the credit card transaction reporting will be an issue requiring any considerations, but the 1099 changes will require a few changes... we have a couple of years, so will keep you advised in the future. In the meantime, I believe it is good practice to require W9's from all 1099 payees, whatever their entity type.


Now, I am going to take this opportunity to highly recommend The American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB) to all fellow bookkeepers. The information shared here today is just a very small example of what you might find in their monthly newsletter, which in turn is just a very small example of the benefits that membership provides. I would go on, but will end with saying I value my membership very highly, and recommend you visit www.aipb.org and check it out for yourself.

In the words of F Gump, That's all I have to say about that.

Repost...

As a second post, I am cheating a little. I had written this for my website about QuickBooks 2010 release, and thought it would be nice to have it preserved in my blog for future reference. So, slightly altered, here it is:

Also new is QuickBooks 2010 version. As always, Intuit has included some pretty neat features, some of which I am still discovering. A few that fall into my 'that is really neat' category are:

• An option to have your signature print on your checks as you print them. I really like this one. You can choose whether or not to include it each time you print checks, and I have found it very convenient. I have been using it mostly for 'routine' payments, such as checks for utilities, rents, and have continued to hand-sign any checks for large amounts or one-time payees. I advise a bit of caution and controls if you use this feature.
• I don't know about you, but designing forms has always been sort of a drag for me. Well, that particular chore has been made much simpler. You can now choose a 'style', and not only apply it to, let's say, your invoice, but you can also apply it to any other forms you choose, giving you a coordinated set of forms. When you set it up, you also choose a font, and all of the form is consistent. I have really been pleased so far with this feature, and my invoices no longer have that QuickBooks standard look.
• This version includes Document Management, that will allow you to scan a document, and 'attach' it to certain items in QuickBooks. For example, you could scan in a Bill, and attach it to the Bill you entered in QuickBooks, so you could review it before paying the bill. Or, scan in a contract and attach it to the vendor, so you could review it when reviewing transactions or billings. The jury is still out on this one. I think it is has great potential, and am trying it on a limited basis, but am not sure I like the fact that the document is uploaded to their storage, and that a limited amount of storage is included free, with additional space available for a fee.

One falls into the 'Really Great' category - Lists. Some lists can now be worked with in a spreadsheet mode. I don't know if you have ever had to change a particular piece of information that is contained in each and every item in a particular list, but I can attest to the fact that it can be mind and finger numbing, not to mention time-consuming. Now, using the new feature, if you had to change, let's say the area code field for every single vendor from 407 to 321, you can accomplish it in a few key strokes and minutes. This one is the 'prize' in this year's crackerjack box for me. Thank you Intuit.

So, that is all for new. If you have suggestions for improvements to this website you would like to see, please go to contacts and email me from there. Bye for now, and thank you for visiting.

So, that was it. I will be following up in the next couple of days with a 'fresh' post.

A new beginning...

A new beginning...

Welcome to what I hope you will find to be a source of helpful, timely information and tips for business owners and bookkeepers alike. I plan to post as often as what I consider useful, interesting, or sometimes fun information comes to my attention, especially with regards to QuickBooks, IRS, Florida, Bookkeeping, etc.

This is my first experience with blogging, so I invite your feedback on content. Also, please feel free to add comments on topics of which you may have additional knowledge to share.

So, first post is complete. I do love new beginnings.