Skip to main content

#payroll

Payroll

Payroll management, processing, and compliance for businesses of all sizes

551 postsView all tagsBack to All Posts
14 min read

Circular E in Plain English: What Publication 15 Tells Small Employers About Withholding, Deposits, and Forms 941 and W-2

IRS Publication 15 (Circular E) sets the rules small employers must follow on every paycheck — federal income tax withholding via the wage-bracket or percentage method, 6.2% Social Security to the annual wage base, 1.45% Medicare plus 0.9% above $200,000, EFTPS deposits on a monthly or semiweekly schedule set by the $50,000 lookback test, and Forms 941, 940, W-2 and W-3. This guide translates each rule into what to do, when it is due, and which ledger account to book it in — including the failure-to-deposit penalty ladder of 2%, 5%, 10% and 15%.

Mike Thrift

payrolltax-compliancesmall-business
17 min read

USCIS Form I-9 Deadline July 31, 2026: What Every Employer Must Update Before the New Edition Takes Over

Employers using electronic Form I-9 systems must update to the 05/31/2027 expiration date by July 31, 2026. This guide covers which editions stay valid, what changed in the 01/20/25 revision, the three-years-after-hire-or-one-year-after-termination retention rule, and which paperwork errors ICE now treats as substantive rather than technical.

Mike Thrift

compliancepayrollsmall-business
16 min read

How Long Should You Keep Business Records? The IRS 3-4-6-7 Year Rules

The IRS has no single seven-year rule. Income tax records run 3 years, employment tax records 4, substantial income omissions 6, bad-debt and worthless-security losses 7, and unfiled or fraudulent returns never expire — while property records run until the limitations period closes on the year you sell. This guide maps each clock to the documents it governs and gives a retention schedule small business owners can follow.

Mike Thrift

recordkeepingtax-compliancesmall-business
11 min read

Minimum Wage Rose in 20+ Jurisdictions on July 1, 2026: A Multi-State Payroll Update Checklist

More than 20 state and local jurisdictions raised their minimum wage on July 1, 2026 — Alaska to $14.00, Oregon and D.C. on their annual schedules, plus 17 city and county increases across California, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota and Oregon — lifting pay for over 360,000 workers by roughly $221 million a year. A seven-step checklist for employers who owe the highest rate where work is performed, including how to split a straddling pay period by work date rather than pay date.

Mike Thrift

payrollcompliancesmall-business
17 min read

QuickBooks Desktop 2023 Support Ended May 31, 2026: Your Migration Checklist

QuickBooks Desktop 2023 hit end of support on May 31, 2026 — payroll tax tables stopped updating, bank feeds, Desktop Payments, direct deposit, e-filing, Workforce, online backup and security patches all shut off on June 1, while local company files still open normally. A pre-migration cleanup checklist, the three viable paths (QuickBooks Online, Enterprise, or a different platform), the Desktop-to-Online export steps, and the post-migration reconciliation that proves the ledger moved intact.

Mike Thrift

quickbooksmigrationpayroll
12 min read

Is a Remote Work Stipend Taxable? Accountable Plans, Substantiation, and What Lands on the W-2

A $75-a-month internet stipend paid without documentation is supplemental wages — reportable in W-2 Box 1 and costing the employer roughly 7.65% in matching payroll tax on top. The same $75 is tax-free and off the W-2 under a written accountable plan meeting all three tests in Treasury Regulation 1.62-2 — business connection, substantiation within 60 days, and return of excess within 120 days. This guide covers the two IRS paths, the five mistakes that flip a plan to taxable, the separate GL accounts and payroll pay types that keep the treatment straight, and the state statutes that require reimbursement regardless of federal tax treatment.

Mike Thrift

remote-workaccountable-planpayroll
14 min read

Is an 18% Service Charge a Tip? The IRS Four-Factor Test and What It Costs Your Restaurant Payroll

A mandatory service charge fails the IRS four-factor tip test, so it is wages rather than tip income — you owe both FICA shares on it, lose the Section 45B credit on Form 8846, and it is excluded from the new OBBBA qualified-tip deduction. Covers the four-factor test, the journal entries that keep Service Charge Revenue separate from Tips Payable, and the payroll, tip-credit, sales tax, and fee-disclosure changes a restaurant hits the day it switches.

Mike Thrift

restaurantpayrolltax-compliance
13 min read

Vermont Saves and New York Secure Choice: The 2026 Auto-IRA Rules for Small Employers

Vermont Saves reached employers with five or more workers on July 1, 2026, and New York Secure Choice finished its three-wave rollout on July 15, 2026. What each program requires, the penalties ($20 rising to $75 per employee in Vermont, $250 per employee per year in New York), and how to book the withholding as a payroll liability rather than an expense.

Mike Thrift

payrollretirement-planscompliance
14 min read

Virginia's New 5-Employee Discrimination Threshold: An SB 637 Compliance Guide

Effective July 1, 2026, Virginia's SB 637 drops the Virginia Human Rights Act employer threshold from 15 employees to 5 and extends the filing window from 300 days to two years. Any business with five or more employees for each working day in 20 or more calendar weeks is now covered for every prohibited practice — not just discharge. Here is the 20-week counting rule, a seven-step compliance checklist, and the payroll and retention records an investigator asks for first.

Mike Thrift

compliancesmall-businesslegal
14 min read

Your Workers' Comp Premium Audit Is Coming: How to Pass Without a Surprise Bill

A workers' comp premium is payroll ÷ 100 × class rate × experience mod, so the year-end audit re-tests both variables against your actual records. This guide covers the three audit types and what triggers each, the documents auditors request, why overtime premium is only excludable when recorded separately by employee and week under NCCI Rule 2-B-2, the 2026 NCCI officer caps of $3,400 weekly maximum and $1,700 minimum, and why payments to a subcontractor without a current certificate of insurance get charged to you as payroll.

Mike Thrift

payrollinsuranceaudit
13 min read

New Jersey's New ABC Test Regulations Take Effect October 1, 2026: What Businesses Hiring Contractors Must Prove

New Jersey's ABC test regulations become operative October 1, 2026, clarifying that every worker is an employee unless you prove freedom from control, work outside your usual course or places of business, and an independently established trade — learn the three prongs, five common mistakes, and a pre-deadline audit checklist.

Mike Thrift

small-businesspayrollcompliance
Start Free→Documentation