Featured City:  San Diego, California
Home to Pink Payroll Headquarters

San Diego has been inhabited for over 10,000 years by the Kumeyaay Indians.  In 1542, the first European to land at the bay was Portuguese-born explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who named the area San Miguel.  San Diego hosted the world’s fairs in 1915 and 1935, resulting in the Spanish style buildings in beautiful Balboa Park.  Within 40 miles we have beautiful Pacific ocean beaches and nearly 6000 ft peaks with pine trees and snow.   San Diego is home to the beautiful Hotel del Coronado and the picturesque Coronado Bay Bridge.  The downtown historic Gaslamp District  has seen a great revival and hosts a thriving nightlife, while urban areas from Hillcrest to Kensington provide culture, style and great food.  The beach communities from the Mexico border up Pacific Coast Highway – La Jolla, Del Mar, Encinitas, etc. — each have a unique character with unlimited sun and surf.

You must give the garnishment order you received in the mail immediately to your payroll department. It’s imperative that attention is given to the garnishment order immediately, as most garnishments are time sensitive. Once you the business owner have received the garnishment order, the responsibility is on you as well as the employee. If you do not process the garnishment in a timely manner penalties can occur for your company.

Once a garnishment is received by the payroll department this order must be examined, set up in the payroll system, and processed. You should already have specific steps in place to take when receiving a garnishment in order to make sure nothing is missed. Your payroll department should never try to process a garnishment from memory, no matter how much experience they might have mistakes can still be made.

One of the first steps the payroll department should take is verifying that the employee the garnishment was received for is even still a current employee. Your payroll department must verify the social security and name for the employee shown on the garnishment order. If either the name or the social security number doesn’t match, this doesn’t necessarily mean the garnishment is invalid. Your payroll company should immediately contact the party issuing the garnishment and ensure the garnishment was not sent in error. Once the garnishment order has indeed been validated, you must inform your employee. The employee must be notified in a timely fashion or you can be held accountable.

The payroll department must then handle the payment of the garnishment to the party the garnishment was sent from. Every garnishment is different, so you must find out payment due dates to ensure you pay the payments on time. To make sure all garnishments are paid on time your payroll department should have specific guidelines in place, something like paying all garnishments on the same day each payroll can really help.

Completing processing of wage garnishments is challenging and very time consuming for most companies. Make sure you are keeping your company in compliance with wage garnishment requirements. The first step is taking the time to put specific guidelines in place are a must to ensure wage garnishments are completed timely and correctly.

If you have more questions about handling a garnishment, please contact Pink Payroll. We are experienced at handling wage garnishments for the hundreds of clients we have. We can give you some tips, and you might even find that the cost to outsource your payroll is much more affordable than dealing with these headaches and hassles yourself.

You must give the garnishment order you received in the mail immediately to your payroll department. It’s imperative that attention is given to the garnishment order immediately, as most garnishments are time sensitive. Once you the business owner have received the garnishment order, the responsibility is on you as well as the employee. If you do not process the garnishment in a timely manner penalties can occur for your company.

Once a garnishment is received by the payroll department this order must be examined, set up in the payroll system, and processed. You should already have specific steps in place to take when receiving a garnishment in order to make sure nothing is missed. Your payroll department should never try to process a garnishment from memory, no matter how much experience they might have mistakes can still be made.

One of the first steps the payroll department should take is verifying that the employee the garnishment was received for is even still a current employee. Your payroll department must verify the social security and name for the employee shown on the garnishment order. If either the name or the social security number doesn’t match, this doesn’t necessarily mean the garnishment is invalid. Your payroll company should immediately contact the party issuing the garnishment and ensure the garnishment was not sent in error. Once the garnishment order has indeed been validated, you must inform your employee. The employee must be notified in a timely fashion or you can be held accountable.

The payroll department must then handle the payment of the garnishment to the party the garnishment was sent from. Every garnishment is different, so you must find out payment due dates to ensure you pay the payments on time. To make sure all garnishments are paid on time your payroll department should have specific guidelines in place, something like paying all garnishments on the same day each payroll can really help.

Completing processing of wage garnishments is challenging and very time consuming for most companies. Make sure you are keeping your company in compliance with wage garnishment requirements. The first step is taking the time to put specific guidelines in place are a must to ensure wage garnishments are completed timely and correctly.

If you have more questions about handling a garnishment, please contact Pink Payroll. We are experienced at handling wage garnishments for the hundreds of clients we have. We can give you some tips, and you might even find that the cost to outsource your payroll is much more affordable than dealing with these headaches and hassles yourself.

Tags: california payroll service, payroll outsourcing, payroll service, small business payroll, wage garnishment
Posted in Payroll Processing Learning Center | Edit | No Comments »
What do you know about 401K in your Small Business?
September 16th, 2009

Every small business owner should take a few minutes and think about what lays in their future. Are you prepared for retirement after you no longer want to work? Are you wondering what your options are as small business owner for retirement? One of the more popular options for small business owners is having a 401K. With the ever escalating concerns with the economy, small business owners must recognize the importance of having a solid retirement plan in place for their futures. You must take the steps now to set yourself up for the future.

As a small business owner we know you wear a lot of hats and are constantly putting out fires and trying to do 5 things at once. Most small business owners are more focused on making their business better and more profitable and never think about what happens after you want to retire from the business. Every successful business owner needs to look to the future to ensure they have everything in order to retire comfortably.

A 401K is defined as a plan which allows workers and business owners to save for retirement and have savings invested while not paying taxes on the saved money and earnings until withdrawal. Did you know that most small businesses owners that had fewer than 40 employees don’t even offer a 401K in their company. Most small businesses owners say they never felt the need to have a plan in place because they had so few employees. What most small business owners don’t think about is how much having a 401k in place can help them in their retirement.

There are some great benefits of having a 401K, here are just a few. As a small business owner you can contribute up to around $15000 of your own income as well as 25% of your business profits. If you are under the age of 50 you can invest up to $46000 and if you’re over the age of 51 you can invest up to $51000. I bet you’re pretty interested now, aren’t you, there are several different options out there so please contact a retirement planning specialist to find out what best for you.

You don’t have to have a huge company or lots of employees to get a 401K. There are 401K plans designed specifically for small business. A 401K plan can be a great tool in promoting financial security in retirement. These plans can keep you going in the right direction of planning your future. Also offering a 401K to your employees is a great benefit and can potentially get you better employees.

Pink Payroll handles the administrative side of your 401K. What that means, is that you find a good benefits provider, and then choose your 401K. We know how to have the benefits (deductions and payments) calculate at each payroll run and show on the paystub for you and your employees. What is the cost to you? There is no cost for our payroll clients. We have benefits advisors to refer to you that our other clients have been satisfied with, or you may choose one of the large national ones like the Hartford. Either way, we have got you covered.

Call Erica Phillips and Pink Payroll today, and we will be happy to go over the 401K options with you. You may reach her at (800) 995-0308, or go to www.pinkpayroll.com to send us an online message. We handle all 50 US states and look forward to your call.

There are several ways you can greatly reduce your small business carbon footprint. A great way to greatly increase your carbon footprint is buying office equipment that is energy efficient. Small office equipment such as printers can put a huge carbon footprint on the environment, having a printer that is energy efficient can reduce your carbon footprint by as much as 20% depending on amount of usage.

Only buying products that have been recycled is a great way to go green. More and more companies are coming out with product made of totally recycled materials, choose these products over others. Today you can find just about anything made from completely recycled material.

Allowing some of your employees to work from home is another great way to go green. Think about the amount of emissions from the cars your employees are driving back and forth from work can be saved by letting them work from. Even if you don’t feel comfortable with letting them work from home every day, even allowing them to work from home one day a week’s can greatly have a positive impact on the environment.

Stop using so much paper, really with the technology advances we have of today why must you print out everything. Only printing out one company newsletter for the entire company and passing it around is a great way to help, better yet don’t print it out at all email it. Stop printing out all those emails, save them on your computer so you will always have access to them. Don’t print out things without making sure you haven’t made any mistakes. You would be surprised at the amount of paper used for people not checking their work and having to print things out over and over.

You should recycle everything you use on your everyday business activities. Things like plastic water bottles and old newspapers can greatly help your impact on the environment. Magazines laying around the office, get rid of those no need for clutter around the office. Recycling is a huge part of going green.

When buying cleaning supplies for your office try to look at the labels and choose the most eco friendly option possible. Certain hand soaps can be very hazardous to the environment, look for brands that say all natural. Knowing the best eco friendly products is a must when you make the choice to go green.

Small business owners around the nation should take the time to get a Twitter account and start tweeting. Twitter can give you access to many potential clients that would have never been possible simply using traditional marketing methods. In this ever changing economy you have to as business owners exploit every advantage you can to keep afloat. Twitter is one of the best advantages you can have. Twitter can be very time consuming and quite addictive for some, but the benefits you could reap from having it greatly out way not having it. I mean really in this day and age, getting rich quick just doesn’t happen; an investment of time is a small price to pay for success.

Connecting with other businesses in your area using the Twitter Map or Twitter Local websites, can be a great way to get more clients. You and your local businesses feed off each other and generate a lot of income off of each other’s contacts. Using Twitter to find employees is also a great use for Twitter. Send out a tweet telling fellow twitters what you’re looking for and you would be surprised at what great suggestions and employees you can find. If your having a great sale on one of your products tweet about it and just watch the money poor in. Make good contacts and find people that already have the experience and can help you get where you want to be.

You might ask yourself well how do I stand out from everyone else already on Twitter. The answer is making yourself valuable. Add funny little saying to your tweets, everyone needs a little humor in their life why not give it to them. Having funny tweets can generate much attention. Make your Twitter page personal yet professional, most users want to know about who you are as well as your business. Opening up to people can be a great way to get more followers, people want to follow tweets they can relate to.

Twitter can be your lifelong partner in your marketing strategy. Millions of small business owners around the world have tried it and have had great success. On average most business that have Twitter accounts have increased their customer base by 15%. If you chose to get a Twitter account make sure you make the commitment to spend at least a hour a day to really make your tweets stand out. Tweeting isn’t for every business, but if you are looking for a new way to get new customers, Twitter can be a valuable tool. Open a Twitter account today for your small business and find out what all the buzz is about.

1. What type of style do you use to run your business? If you are very controlling you probably don’t want to hire someone who wants to work independently. They might see you as overbearing and their work may suffer in result.

2. What are the basics of the job the employee will actually be performing? Is the candidate capable of achieving all tasks?

3. Make your expectations for your potential employee clear to them to ensure they actually know what they are getting their self into.

4. Never settle on a employee just because you haven’t had a lot of people apply for the position. Hiring someone you’re not completely sold on is never a good idea.

5. Make sure you give the employee a background of your company and let them know the benefits of working in a company such as yours.

6. Don’t put unrealistic deadlines on yourself by needing to hire someone by September 15th and only starting to do interviews September 13th. You must give yourself ample time to make the right decision.

7. Make sure you have policies already set in place regarding paid time off, vacation, and holidays.

8. Do a background check on your potential employees.

9. Require drug testing before hiring.

10. Call references and see what old employers had to say about the employee.

11. Conduct more than one interview with the potential employee.

12. Ask some of your trusted current employee’s for suggestions on people to hire, in most cases someone already in your office knows someone who would be great for your business.

13. Look for candidates that have had success in past jobs.

14. Look for potential employees at business you visit, you would be surprised how many companies find their best employees from other businesses.

We all know that we as the business owner are our best employees, and can do every aspect of the business far better and more efficiently than any employee we have on staff. The question is, do you really want to spend every waking moment at work. Part of the fun of having your own business is making your own rules and hours, and having the freedom of taking a vacation. That’s why we need employees that can do the job successfully and make us leave the worries all behind. You can’t hire someone exactly like you so do your best to find the person that best fits your business.

1. Satisfied Customer: If you have a satisfied customer you can use this as way to get your name out there. You can casual bring up one of your satisfied customers in a conversation with your peers and you would be surprised of how many new clients you can get without having to spend a dime on advertising.

2. Advertising on Invoices: You can include advertising along with current client invoices, and you would be surprised how often your client will give your flyer to another business owner without you having to do anything. That’s saving on the envelope and stamp it would cost you to mail out flyers to individuals.

3. Split Advertising with others: Splitting advertising with other business owners can be a valuable tool to get your name out in the community. You can also share mailing lists and sometimes double your client base by getting business from some of your neighboring business already established clients.

4. Give Advice: Volunteering at your local community center is a great way to make new business contacts. Give a free class on a certain industry that involves your business and you will have a hard time counting all the new clients you will get.

5. Go Green: Buying recycled printer cartridges at a fraction of the cost.

6. Free Forms: Instead of buying forms you can find millions of free forms online.

7. Free Software: There are several websites that offer free software that can help you run your business.

8. Reuse Printer Paper: Printing on both sides of paper can greatly reduce you paper costs.

9. Supplier Self Pickup: If you frequently are ordering supplies from a supplier that is close to your business go pick the supplies up and save on the delivery costs.

10. Checks in the Mail: Ordering your business checks online is much cheaper than buying them from your bank.

11. Don’t Give Credit: Make sure your customers are either paying on time or before services are preformed.

12. Join a Group: Joining a group can give you valuable business contacts and in most cases you can get discounts on services different members in your group offer.

13. Negotiate: Giving your service in trade of someone else’s service is a great tool to save money. Say you have a plumber as one of your clients, and your office sink is backed up. Offer your services to the plumber for free in exchange for his plumbing services.

14. Commission: Hire sales people who only work on commission, if they are getting you clients you aren’t paying them.

15. 1099: Don’t hire employees hire 1099 contractors, that way you don’t have to pay employee taxes.

Just recently the federal government’s Department of Labor has changed some of its requirements on Certified Payroll Reporting. Contractors and subcontractors who perform work on federally financed construction projects are no longer required by the Department of Labor to list home addresses, and social security numbers of employees working on the projects.

However the Certified Payroll Reports must still contain all of the following, name of worker, hourly wage or rate paid, and classification. The social security number and home address must be replaced by a individual identification number of your choosing. The Certified Payroll Report shows wages and benefits paid to each employee. You must complete the Form WH-347 to complete Certified Payroll. The form also shows a breakdown of each payment made to each employee. You should check with your local government official to ensure you have all the requirements met for your certified payroll. Certain states have different requirements as well so please contact your state representative.

There are several option out there to ensure that you are completing your Certified Payroll correctly. You could do it by hand, but you must make sure you keep very accurate records. Processing Certified Payroll by hand is generally not the best option. Another option is getting a payroll software that calculates certified payroll and forms automatically for you. Certified Payroll Software is a good solution if you get a good software. Some softwares are better than others and you must make the right choice or you will have problems. The last but not the least Certified Payroll option is outsourcing your payroll to a certified payroll specialist. This option is generally the most popular, easy and accurate.

Any employer currently processing payroll knows how difficult the payroll process can be, just keeping records accurate is very time consuming. As an employer you should be trying to figure out what works best for you in the payroll process and how you can spend less time doing payroll and more time running your business. Automation of your processes are the key to your success.

Taking the right steps in setting your Certified Payroll processes can be a key part of your business. Having good steps in place can greatly save you time and headache come payroll time. In most cases companies that have to report Certified Payroll are going with outsourcing their payroll. Having a Certified Payroll Specialist in place to take care of all your payroll needs can be a great saving.

There are specific limits set on SEP IRA in 2009 the contribution limit is $49000 up from the 2008 limit of $46000. The contributions are generally 25% of the each employee paycheck. Contributions to your SEP IRA are completely tax deductible, however if you make any withdrawals before the age of 59 you will incur a 10% penalty and be subject to paying income tax on the amount withdrawn. If you wait and make withdrawals after the age of 59 then there is no penality and the amount is taxed as normal income.

You must open a SEP IRA by April 15th of the tax year. There is no annual contribution required. There are some key advantages to opening a SEP IRA such as no annual reports to file with the IRS, no complicated forms to fill out, and a added benefit to your employees. Offer a SEP IRA usually makes you more likely to be able to retain your employees, because they feel like you are investing in their future.

To establish a SEP IRA you should contact a retirement specialist to ensure you are getting the right plan for you and your company. You must complete and sign a Form 5305-SEP, you do not mail this to the IRS you keep this a legal representation of benefits. Also you must give a copy to each employee and ensure that they understand the guidelines of the SEP IRA.

The SEP IRA has became one of the most popular choices of small business owners and the self employed. This is generally the ideal retirement plan for small business owners. In the past 2 years the number of new SEP IRA’s has went up from 20% of small business owners to nearly 45%. With the economy being so unreliable, people are taking steps to ensure they will have the money in place when they retire.

Every small business owner and self employed person today should take a few minutes and think about what steps they have in place for retirement. Don’t wait until its to late to start thinking about retirement plans. Contact a SEP IRA specialist today and take the right steps to ensure you have a great retirement.

Well the answer is 4 years can you believe that? The IRS requires you to keep any and all payroll records for current and previous employees for at least 4 years. Now you might have the complaint well I just don’t have the office space to keep all of these records for 4 years, but there is a answer. Don’t keep paper copies of records over 2 year old, scan them into your computer and save them electronically. You should make sure you keep originals of the tax forms filed, and the employee W-4. Make sure you save them on a external disk such as a USB drive so you won’t take up extra space on your computer.

The two agencies that regulate these wonderful rules are the IRS and the Department of Labor. The IRS is
responsible for keeping Internal Revenue Code, and the Department of Labore is responsible for enforcement of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, wages paid by the federal government contractors, among others. What makes this requirement more difficult to keep up with is that both of these agencies require different documentation being kept.

The IRS requires that you keep the following records for 4 year, name of employee, address of employee, position employee held in your company, and social security number of the employee. The IRS also requires you to keep the employees W-4 on file. You must be able to show the pay periods each employee was paid and the dates the employee was employed for. The business owner must show amounts and dates of tax deposits, adjustments of taxes if any. You must be able to show the SUTA and FUTA contributions made for each employee. You must be able to explain why certain pay types were taxable and others not taxable. Copies of 940, 941, W-2’s tax forms must also be kept.

The Department of Labor mandates that you keep the following records for 3 years, name of employee, address of employee, employee birth date, sex and position held by the employee. You must keep track of the beginning of the employee work week, and any overtime worked. How many hours each employee worked each work day within a work week must be kept. You must keep the date each employee was paid and the pay period the payment covered. You must be able to show all overtime worked by each employee. The Department of Labor also keeps track of FMLA which is also know as the Family Medical Leave Act.

To be a successful business owner and keep your business out of hot water you must be able to keep these records accurate and up to date. By not having the proper employee documentation on file you are risking your business a lot of hardship. Some business have even been forced out of business due to fines and penalties, is that what you want to happen to your business. Check your record today and make sure you have all your employee payroll records for the past 4 years and in the green.