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QuickBooks Online (QBO) Bill Pay timing

September 6, 2018 • Jeff Cecchini • Comments Off on QuickBooks Online (QBO) Bill Pay timing

First Time Paying Bills

When first starting with the Bill Pay service, allow 4 banking days for both bank transfers and mailed checks. After 5 completed payments, payment timing will accelerate (for example, bank transfers under $5,000 will arrive in 2 banking days).

 

Paying a Bill

  • Enter details on the bill and schedule a payment (Schedule a payment by 6 pm PT, and we’ll start working on it the next banking day).
  • We show you an expected arrival date for each payment.
  • Allow 4 banking days for the payment to be received by the vendor (faster after your first 5 completed payments).
  • Check payments may take longer than 4 banking days to reach the vendor.
  • Banking days are Monday through Friday (excluding bank holidays).
  • The Pay Bills Online page will always show an “Arrives by” date for Bank Transfers, and “Est. arrival” date for paper checks.
    • NOTE: Check arrival dates for non-expedited payments are always shown as estimates, since we cannot guarantee USPS delivery times.

 

Things to Know

  • When scheduling a payment via Bill Pay, the earliest process date you can select is the next banking day (you cannot select the current date). Weekends and holidays don’t count in the banking world; if the day you select is a bank holiday or weekend day, we will automatically push the process date to the next available banking day.
    • Example: If you attempt to schedule a payment on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday), we will automatically make the process day Friday, which is not a bank holiday.
    • If a weekend or bank holiday falls within the regular processing time for a payment, the payment will be delayed, since banks do not operate on those days. That delay will be reflected in the “Arrives By” Date.
  • There is no “daily limit” on the amount you are able to pay to your vendor. (Please be aware that your financial institution may have a daily spending limit).
    • There is a per payment threshold that is activated for payments over $5,000, which will initiate a slower payment timing. This allows Bill.com to ensure the funds are available prior to sending the payment to the vendor. Please see example payment schedules below.

Examples:

Smaller Amounts

Bank Transfer (Smaller Amounts)
User-added imagePaper Check (Smaller Amounts)
User-added image

Larger Amounts

Bank Transfer (Larger Amounts)
User-added imagePaper Check (Larger Amounts)
User-added image
In Cash Flow Management, QBO-QuickBooks Online, Software • Tagged

QuickBooks Online and Wells Fargo Bank feed problems

September 5, 2018 • Jeff Cecchini • Comments Off on QuickBooks Online and Wells Fargo Bank feed problems

Wells Fargo transactions are reversed or I’m getting Error 105 when trying to refresh

What is wrong with the Wells Fargo connection? 
Currently transactions downloaded from Wells Fargo have the possibility to reverse money spent and received. This means these transactions should not be accepted into QuickBooks Online because it will result in them negatively impacting your books. This is impacting both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Self-Employed.

What is being done to resolve this issue? 
Intuit and Wells Fargo are working together to resolve the issue.

When will this issue with my Wells Fargo connection be resolved? 
Currently we do not have an exact timeline. We are working very closely with Wells Fargo to get this restored as quickly as possible. (this article was last updated on Wednesday September 5th)

Why am I now getting Error 105 when trying to refresh my Wells Fargo account? 
In an effort, to reduce the negative impact because of the reversed transactions, we have turned off aggregation for the impacted accounts. As soon as we are able to restore normal functionality, the accounts will no longer display Error 105 and transactions should appear normally.

What will I need to do once it’s resolved? 
Once the transactions are downloading normally again, there is a possibility we will need to exclude the transactions that were reversed. For these few days while this issue has persisted, the transactions will need to be manually created in QuickBooks Online.

Source: https://community.intuit.com/articles/1749102
In QBO-QuickBooks Online, Software

Revised 2018 HSA contribution limit for individuals with family HDHP coverage

August 30, 2018 • Jeff Cecchini • Comments Off on Revised 2018 HSA contribution limit for individuals with family HDHP coverage

After the 2017 Publication 969 was released, the 2018 inflation-adjusted amounts for HSAs were published in Revenue Procedure 2018-18, and subsequently in Revenue Procedure 2018-27. If you viewed or downloaded the publication, please note the following for the first “Tip” on page 5. Revenue Procedure 2018-18 (dated March 5, 2018) lowered the HSA contribution limit for individuals with family HDHP coverage to $6,850. Revenue Procedure 2018-27 (dated April 26, 2018) raised that limit back to $6,900. The limit stated in the publication is correct. For 2018, if you have family HDHP coverage, you can contribute up to $6,900. The contribution limit for self-only HDHP coverage remains at $3,450.

Source: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/2018-hsa-contribution-limit-for-individuals-with-family-hdhp-coverage

In CA Payroll Taxes, Human Resources, Payroll, Payroll Taxes, SD Payroll Taxes

Why significantly increasing minimum wage will hurt employees and businesses

May 30, 2018 • Jeff Cecchini • Comments Off on Why significantly increasing minimum wage will hurt employees and businesses

Short answer: Micky D’s can only charge so much for a burger and people still be able to afford to buy it.

More detailed answer: Since small business margins are very tight, an increase in costs cannot be absorbed without prices being increased.

A jump to $15/hr from the federal minimum wage of $7.25 is an 107% labor cost increase! Even in some states that already have a higher minumim wage of $10/hr, that’s still a 50% increase.

But even a 50% increase in labor expense results in a higher overall cost to the business because there are costs that employers pay that are based on a percentage of labor expense. Considering just the basic employer-paid payroll tax and workers’ compensation insurance cost (that are based on labor expense), a 50% increase in labor costs creates an overall cost increase to the business of at least 60%.

Prices must increase proportinately to cover the increase cost. Products and services performed at minimum wage have the most price sensativity in the market. Price increases on such often results in fewer purchases. To compensate, businesses sometimes have to cut back on staffing, import cheaper product, gain efficencies through automation to reduce human labor, or go out of business.

If a higher standard of living is the goal, a significant wage increase for unskilled labor will have the opposite effect, since they will be out of a job, and so will the other employees and business owner if the business has to close down.

The issue is that mimium wage jobs are not designed to support a family. These jobs are appropriate for entry level employment. Lots of people can perform the lowest skill jobs, therefore their economic value is lowest to an organization, and consquently their earnings potential at that level.

As one gains more experience and invests in learning higher level skills, their economic value to an organization increases. Since fewer can perform higher skilled duties, a somewhat shorter supply exists, creating a somewhat higher demand, and this translates into a higher wage.

The market continues to adjust upward for higher compensation to those that provide greater economic benefit to the organization.

In Business Management, Human Resources, Payroll

Security upgrade needed for uninterrupted QuickBooks (desktop) services

May 24, 2018 • Jeff Cecchini • Comments Off on Security upgrade needed for uninterrupted QuickBooks (desktop) services
Action required: Security upgrade needed for uninterrupted QuickBooks services
Effective June 1, 2018, all services within QuickBooks Desktop will need to meet updated system requirements. These industry standard security requirements will provide greater security and stability with TLS 1.2, an internet security protocol. To learn more about TLS 1.2, click here.

How does this impact you?
If these requirements are not met, services impacted include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Connected services such as Payroll, Payments, Online Banking, etc.
  • QuickBooks Desktop activation on a new computer
  • Password reset tool
  • Services that require Intuit account credentials such as My apps, secure webmail, contributed reports, etc.
  • Intuit Data Protect (IDP)
  • Ordering checks and supplies

What do you need to do?
Please take the following steps by May 31, 2018 to ensure uninterrupted QuickBooks services:

  1. Make sure the QuickBooks Desktop version you are using is updated to the latest release.
  2. Run the TLS 1.2 Readiness tool from this QuickBooks article on the computer where QuickBooks is installed to confirm your system readiness for TLS 1.2.
  3. If the TLS 1.2 Readiness tool indicates failure, you should review the details here to take the necessary steps.

For additional information, please see this QuickBooks article.

Thank you for being a valued QuickBooks Desktop customer.

Sincerely,

The QuickBooks Desktop Team
In QuickBooks Tips & How-to's, Software

Small Business Marketing Articles

May 21, 2018 • Jeff Cecchini • Comments Off on Small Business Marketing Articles

Small Business Marketing Articles https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/feature/small-business-marketing/2017

In Business Management, Marketing, Social Media & Networking

State-by-State Rules on Payroll Debit Cards, aka Paycards

May 3, 2018 • Jeff Cecchini • Comments Off on State-by-State Rules on Payroll Debit Cards, aka Paycards

There has been much talk and a lot of reports on the use of paycards. Every day, more workers insist on using paycards to receive their wages. I’m often asked if paycards are legal to use in various states. The simple answer is… read more http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/news/12410881/state-by-state-rules-on-payroll-debit-cards-aka-paycards

In CA Wage & Hour, Human Resources, Payroll, SD Wage & Hour, Wage & Hour Rules

Gig Economy Business Model Dealt a Blow in California Ruling – Independent Contractor v. Employee

May 3, 2018 • Jeff Cecchini • Comments Off on Gig Economy Business Model Dealt a Blow in California Ruling – Independent Contractor v. Employee

In a ruling with potentially sweeping consequences for the so-called gig economy, the California Supreme Court on Monday made it much more difficult for companies to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Read more… https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/business/economy/gig-economy-ruling.html?emc=edit_dk_20180501&nl=dealbook&nlid=3078819520180501&te=1

In CA Payroll Taxes, CA Wage & Hour, CA Workers Comp, Human Resources, Payroll, Payroll Taxes, Wage & Hour Rules

IRS Addresses ‘Tip Boxes’

May 2, 2018 • Jeff Cecchini • Comments Off on IRS Addresses ‘Tip Boxes’

At the end of each shift, then, the individuals decided how to allocate the tip box.  Here, the there was no evidence that the Taxpayer knew the actual amounts received, nor did it issue Forms W-2 or include those amounts on Forms 941.

During an audit, the IRS determined that the volunteers should be treated as employees for FICA tax purposes; consequently, the IRS issued a Letter 3523 to the taxpayer.
In Business Management, CA Payroll Taxes, IRS Tax Info, Payroll, Payroll Taxes, SD Payroll Taxes

Add the weather to new Google Calendar (2018)

April 24, 2018 • Jeff Cecchini • Comments Off on Add the weather to new Google Calendar (2018)

If you miss having the weather forecast showing on Google Calendar since the new redesign, you are not alone. There are many complaining on the Google Product Forums. Here’s a work around we found that a commenter posted to add a 10-day weather forecast to the web browser version of Google Calendar.

  1. Replace 57702 in the link with so your 5-digit zip code. https://ical.wunderground.com/auto/ical/57702.ics
  2. On the left-hand side of the Google Calendar, click the + symbol to the right of Add a coworker’s calendar.
  3. Select From URL.
  4. Enter the link modified with your zip code. Click Add Calendar.
  5. The new calendar will appear in the Other calendars section. Make sure the checkbox next to it is checked so that it appears below the day of the week of the calendar.

Source: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/calendar/XwYsKMU6SPc

In Cloud