Do you run a small business? Have you hired bookkeepers to manage your accounting and payroll processes? The payroll process might seem like something you can manage manually. However, calculating wages, reporting taxes and paying attention to other payroll deductions are very time-consuming responsibilities. That’s why integrating payroll with the accounting department can simplify the entire payroll process for your business. How can you eliminate challenges to payroll processing? Let’s take a closer look at the ways you can make payroll easier for you and your business. Pay attention to up ..read more

Parents paying for school-age children’s day camp this summer may be eligible for the federal child and dependent care tax credit (CDCC). Note that it’s available only for the expense of day camp, not overnight camp. But there is more to it. WHO QUALIFIES? The CDCC generally helps parents or caregivers cover the cost of qualified care expenses for a child under age 13 or a spouse or other dependent (a parent, for example) who is mentally or physically unable to care for themselves and will have lived with you more than half of 2024. HOW MUCH? You may deduct only a percentage (20% to 35%) of ..read more

Question: Are there questions or topics we should avoid during the hiring process? How can we be sure we don’t accidentally get into one of those topics? Answered by the HR Experts: You should avoid asking questions that could be viewed as discriminatory or that infringe on a candidate’s privacy. Essentially, you want to avoid any questions that are not directly related to the candidate’s ability to perform the job. These would include questions about race, national origin, citizenship status, religious affiliation, disabilities, pregnancy (or desire to become pregnant in the future), sexual ..read more

Yes, you can allow staff to choose their own schedule, including what their day off will be as long as you include this in the time off policy in your Staff Handbook. Staff that chose their own days off throughout the week often run into the following problems, though: Employees feeling pressure to work when a coworker is firing off emails or needing an answer on their chosen day off Employees failing to consistently take their day off leading to burnout and unhealthy work culture An understaffed office when too many staff members choose to take the same day off Several churches we work with ..read more

During the pandemic, companies experimented with options to ease the trauma. They quickly adapted to compromises such as no-layoff pledges, furloughs, grants of extra personal time off and trimming executives’ salaries first. Their pitch was that they cared sincerely about employees’ welfare. That said, more recent rounds of staff reductions may make that message ring hollow. The pain of layoffs On a personal level, being laid off can be as stressful as divorce or the death of a close friend. On average, it takes a couple of years to fully recover from the psychological blow. In the meantime ..read more

What is on-demand pay? How can it boost your company’s bottom line? Through on-demand pay apps, you can provide workers with additional benefits and improve your employee turnover rate. Many of these apps can be integrated into your payroll system, so you don’t have to do any extra work to incorporate them into your workplace. What Is On-Demand Pay? On-demand pay is when your employees are able to access their wages as they earn them. This is typically set up through your payroll provider or on-demand pay apps. Basically, on-demand pay allows your workers to access their paychecks as soon as ..read more

Once people complete and file their tax return, many of them eagerly await any refund they may be owed. Knowing fact from fiction can help manage expectations as they wait for their money. Myth: Calling the IRS, a tax software provider or a tax professional will provide a more accurate refund date. Fact: The best way to check the status of a refund is through the Where’s My Refund? tool or the IRS2Go app. Taxpayers can also call the automated refund hotline at 800-829-1954 to get their refund status. This hotline has the same information about current tax year refunds ..read more

LAW UPDATE The Department of Labor (DOL) has updated regulations issued under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that impact pay rates, employee classification, and overtime eligibility within the next two months. THINK FAST! For non-pastoral*, salaried church employees, pay may have just gotten more complicated. You may need to make plans now to change your church staff’s compensation to comply with the new requirements. What does this mean? An increase in the federal minimum salary level (Currently $684/week and $35,568 per year. This minimum ends June 30, 2024.) An increase in the ..read more

According to a Department of Labor release, a newly issued rule increases the salary threshold required to exempt a salaried bona fide executive, administrative or professional employee from federal overtime pay requirements. The release states, “Effective July 1, 2024, the salary threshold will increase to the equivalent of an annual salary of $43,888 and increase to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025.” The present annual salary threshold is $35,568. “Starting July 1, 2027, salary thresholds will update every three years by applying up-to-date wage data to determine new salary levels,” the rel ..read more

WASHINGTON The IRS encourages taxpayers to use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator to ensure they’re withholding the correct amount of tax from their pay in 2024. This digital tool provides workers, self-employed individuals and retirees with wage income a user-friendly resource to effectively adjust the amount of income tax withheld from their wages. The Tax Withholding Estimator will help taxpayers avoid unwanted results in 2024 if the refund for their 2023 return was too large, too small or if they received a surprise tax amount due. Benefits of using the Estimator For employed individu ..read more