QuickBooks Revisited, End of Year Tasks
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Hi, I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal and your host for another in our weekly series of QuickBooks and Bookkeeping Podcasts.
My company, Custom Business Solutions, is a consulting firm in Reno, NV that specializes in providing bookkeeping and software support. In addition, we now have an onsite classroom where we provide classes and hands-on training. Please visit our website, www.quickbooksgal.com, for information and schedules.
Today, I want to revisit some recent issues related to QuickBooks 2007 and end of year tasks. We can become consumed with end of year tasks and lose track of some of the “go forward” priorities. With that in mind, I think it is a good idea to revisit topics from earlier podcasts.
In this edition, I’d like to recap topics of importance as we wrap up 2006 and get ready for 2007.
1) January is the time when we have to process and mail out W-2’s and 1099’s. Remember that you must mail documents to employees and non incorporated service providers no later than Jan 31, 2007 and submit copies to the Social Security Administration (W-2) or IRS (1099) no later than Feb 28. 2007. I always wait until Feb 20th or later to submit the federal copies because I would prefer to wait until a time closer to the submission date just in case someone calls to say they didn’t get their document because they have moved. I would prefer not to submit a revised return….I wait a little longer to assure the highest likelihood that the information I am sending to the federal agencies is accurate.
2) Quarterly and Annual reports are due the end of this month, too. Make sure to use the Pay Payroll Liabilities function in QuickBooks before you process these forms; you want QuickBooks to recognize that all liabilities have been either paid or scheduled to pay. Don’t forget to pay State, Local, & FUTA liabilities. The Quarterly 941 report, which recaps the liabilities for the quarter, is easy to process in QuickBooks. If you have Enhanced Payroll, you can also very easily process many state reports….I absolutely love this service! The Annual 940 report is improved. This is similar to the 941 in purpose; recaps the year’s liabilities vs. what you have deposited.
3) I know this seems obvious, but be sure to keep file copies of all reports, returns, W-2’s and 1099’s. We as employers are required to maintain copies of all payroll information indefinitely, so plan for storage now. I also date stamp my copies so I know when they were mailed.
4) Don’t forget to download (www.irs.gov) a 2007 W-4 form for all of your employees to complete. I use this as tool to obtain updated address and withholding information. Many folks forget to notify payroll department when they move or adjust dependent info when they marry, divorce or increase their family through births or adoption. I just make it a policy that all employees submit those to my by the 15th of February so I can update the current year’s employee information in QuickBooks.
5) Evaluate your software. If you are using QuickBooks 2004 or earlier and processing payroll yourself, you will need to upgrade to QuickBooks 2007 soon. Intuit will not support Payroll Tax Tables after April, so get this done soon. Send me an email for a coupon code to save $20 on a single user version at www.amazon.com. I also suggest that you check out the enhanced payroll that Intuit offers. It is a little more expensive, but worth it.
6) Along with software evaluation and upgrades, keep in mind that the newer version of QuickBooks 2007 is built on a new database and requires a little more from your computer, so if you have an older computer, you may have to consider upgrading it as well.
7) One final issue to revisit is Internet Explorer 7.0. Intuit has addressed conflict issues in recent updates, so be sure to install QuickBooks updates before or immediately after you upgrade to IE 7. You can check out my earlier podcast about Internet Explorer 7 and QuickBooks issues if you want more details.
Well, that’s it for this week. I appreciate your time and hope you will join us again next week. Don’t forget to visit our websites, www.quickbooksgal.com for more information about me and our services. You can send me an email at jayne@quickbooksgal.com if you have questions or would like to enroll in our weekly QuickBooks classes. We’ll be expanding our schedule and the classes offered in the Spring, so be sure to check our site often.
I’m Jayne Miller, the QuickBooks Gal. Thanks for listening!
Labels: end of year, quickbooks
posted by BlogGal @ 3:33 PM
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