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Payroll
Payroll management, processing, and compliance for businesses of all sizes
IRS Dirty Dozen 2026: How Payroll Phishing and Direct-Deposit Scams Target Small Businesses
The IRS's 2026 Dirty Dozen list flags a payroll-specific phishing wave: fake HR portal emails and direct-deposit change requests that reroute paychecks to scammers. The FBI's IC3 logged 24,768 business email compromise complaints totaling roughly $3.05 billion in 2025, with 86% of losses moving by wire or ACH — the same rails payroll runs on. Here are the three warning signs (urgency, unusual requests, process changes), five process controls that close the email-only loophole, and the first-72-hours response if a paycheck has already been diverted.
Massachusetts Secure Choice: What the Mandatory Retirement Savings Bill Means for Small Businesses
Massachusetts's House passed the Secure Choice Savings Program 148-2 on July 8, 2026, mandating auto-enrollment Roth IRAs for employers with 25+ workers — 6% default contributions, $250-per-employee penalties, and a qualifying-plan exemption small businesses can use to opt out entirely.
NLRB Independent Contractor Rulemaking Petition: What the SuperShuttle Fight Means for Small Businesses
On February 11, 2026, fourteen trade groups — including the American Trucking Associations and the National Retail Federation — petitioned the NLRB to lock in a stable independent contractor standard after three different tests in roughly a decade. Here's how the NLRB test differs from the IRS and DOL frameworks, and what contractor-reliant businesses should do while the petition plays out.
Renaissance Faire and Festival Operator Bookkeeping: Vendor Booth Fees, Weekend-Concentrated Revenue, and 1099 vs. W-2 Cast
How renaissance faire and festival operators should handle books when a year's revenue lands in eight weekends — booking vendor booth deposits as deferred revenue, forecasting twelve months of cash flow, classifying cast under the ABC test with the 2026 $2,000 1099-NEC threshold, and remitting event sales tax within compressed 10-30 day deadlines.
DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-5: Can an Exempt Employee Work a Second, Hourly Non-Exempt Role?
DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-5 (May 28, 2026) confirms an exempt, salaried employee can pick up hourly shifts in a separate non-exempt role without losing exempt status — if the base salary stays untouched, the exempt role remains the primary duty, and the two jobs stay genuinely distinct. Here's how to structure and track dual-role pay.
DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-8: What Pre-Shift Work, De Minimis Time, and Clock Rounding Rules Mean for Hourly Employers
DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-8 holds that integral pre-shift work like patient handoffs is compensable, narrows the de minimis defense when timekeeping systems record punches to the minute, and requires rounding policies to be genuinely neutral — a compliance guide for any employer with hourly workers.
Dougherty Electric v. United States: How the Variance Doctrine Killed Half of a $1.5 Million Tax Refund Claim
On July 15, 2026, the Federal Circuit ruled in Dougherty Electric v. United States that one refund theory survived and one died — not on the merits, but on whether each was raised in the company's 2017 administrative claim. A guide to the variance doctrine, restitution-based assessments under IRC 6201(a)(4), and why every refund claim should list every legal theory before the IRC 6511 deadline.
Is Unpaid 'Gap Time' Legal? The Third Circuit's FLSA Ruling and What It Means for Small-Business Payroll
On June 3, 2026, the Third Circuit ruled in Secretary of Labor v. Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services that the FLSA provides no federal remedy for "overtime gap time" — hours worked but paid at neither straight time nor the overtime premium — aligning with the Second Circuit and deepening a split with the Fourth. Here's what gap time is, why state wage laws still create exposure, and five payroll checks every small employer with hourly staff should run.
Indiana Repealed Its Youth Employment System: What HB 1302 Means for Employers Who Hire Teens
On July 1, 2026, Indiana's HB 1302 decommissioned the Youth Employment System (YES) database, ending registration and self-reporting for employers with five or more minor employees — but hour caps for 14- and 15-year-olds, hazardous occupation bans, federal FLSA rules, and escalating state penalties all remain in force, making internal recordkeeping the employer's sole audit trail.
QuickBooks Just Made Payroll Tax Withdrawals Automatic — Here's What It Does to Your Cash Flow
As of July 1, 2026, QuickBooks Online Payroll withdraws payroll tax funds the moment you run payroll — not on the IRS due date — with no opt-out. Here's who the change hits hardest, why the lost float matters, and five concrete steps to protect your cash flow.
Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans in 2026: How Small Businesses Skip Nondiscrimination Testing
A safe harbor 401(k) automatically passes IRS ADP/ACP nondiscrimination testing in exchange for a fixed employer contribution — a 3% nonelective or a match of up to 4%. Here's how the three formulas compare in cost, the December 1 retroactive adoption deadline, and the 2026 limits ($24,500 deferral, $72,000 total additions, mandatory Roth catch-ups for high earners).
Virginia's SB 170: No Severance, No Noncompete — What Employers Must Do Before July 1, 2026
Virginia's SB 170, signed April 13, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, makes noncompetes unenforceable when an employee is terminated without cause and receives no severance — for every income level, with penalties up to $10,000 per violation. Here's what employers must change in agreements, budgets, and books.