Don’t you think they should? They do your books and are responsible for Federal, State, and local use and sales taxes the last time you checked. If they screwed up on any of these, don’t you make them pay?
So, why not make them responsible for quarterly reports for workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, independent contractors, and benefit funds? They have a tendency to shy away from these because they are not schooled anywhere on regulatory compliance for Employers. Lots of stuff on HR compliance for Employees.
The reason they avoid this fiduciary responsibility is they might get sued. Yes, I said it: sued. There are no programs from Intuit type accounting programs or CompuPay type payroll companies. They just process what you give them. Not very reassuring.
When I was a small general contractor, I had my records looked at once a year by a CPA to remain in compliance with all federal and state laws. When I got audited by the State Department of Labor, it found one subcontractor who did not renew his contractor’s license during one year when he worked for me.
At the beginning of every year I requested every subcontractor to provide copies of their bond, insurance, and license per the CPA’s advice. I did not know I had to check quarterly. That little misinformation cost me $5000 in 1988 money. I asked the CPA why he should not pay. Answer: not his job.
The accounting industry should provide Employer Compliance advice and treat workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance taxes as a profit center. By ensuring their Employers’ compliance while charging for this service, it proves to be a lot cheaper than handling an audit. Happier customers, too.
TIME Integrator EMPC Employee Compliance Calculator Lesson (con’t.)
I mentioned last week about combining employees, rates of pay, and classifications. The purpose was to make sure this information goes to the Timesheets to prevent any compliance, transcription, and accounting errors.
When I said all a company has to do is ADD HOURs, I meant it. There is no way anyone can screw up entering hours using dropdown menus. Another reason adding hours to Timesheets printed by the EMPC program is to see they are date stamped for a specific employment period. So many timecards are missing the regulatory requirements to be accepted in an audit.
To keep the HR folks happy, there is a comment field to tell the employee anything you need, like getting a drug test or describing the work for the week. Documentation really helps prevent any disputes.
Also, we developed a Work Order timesheet to be used for Piecework such as roofing, siding, framing, glazing, and even manufacturing units produced. These Timesheets convert units into Rates of Pay per compliance reporting regulations. Hours, units, and rates of pay have to be documented to satisfy reporting requirements.
Small Independent Business Reporting 