Medlin Software, Dennis

CR will get you an adult beverage, RC will get you a cola beverage... JD for me!

Specifically, it is the difference between rounding/calculating on a per paycheck basis and rounding/calculating as a group of checks (by month, quarter, year).

Good old "cash for keys"... I believe you are correct on how to report, and there should have been a 1099.

One other item to consider, if it makes sense to ask, if there is payment to the family for fostering, then the foster parents might be better off not claimind dependent even if they meet the financial test. Many states not only provide a small foster care payment, they provide medical coverage as well, even in "family" fosters. Medical and money can be provided separately as well. Such payments are considered support provided by someone else...

Have you confirmed you don't have webmail available? Not used does not equal not available. Have you checked with your mail provider on their backup/retention policy? I know mine has backup so if something goes in the dumper, it can be restored and resent. While my mail is open (pop account in this case), I am only popping in every few minutes. For those in between times, the messages are on the mail server, and subject to someone making a copy (allowed or not), and is sitting there for webmail or imap access. I doubt any mail provider would allow you to constantly pop in, and you probably don't have your mail program running 24/7, so at least some if the time your mail is on a server. Mail on a server can be read by anyone with permission to access the server, or someone who has the password and login for the server.

Many mail providers offer web based messaging, even if you are not using it, which makes it easy for someone who has ever received a message from you to know where to try to look. Many lost password questions are easily guessed. If you use IMAP to access mail, then your messages reside on the mail server (although secured, not impossible to get at) unless you delete them. You also have to empty the trash or the messages stay in the deleted folder. Your mail provider may be keeping messages on their own, one good reason is to restore from a backup should there be a failure. This also subjects those messages to subpoena... Check with your provider for their retention policy. Email security is no different than the security of your checking account. Once you send a message, and once you send a check, the message and the check can be used to gain access to your account. While it is tougher to crack an email account than to forge a check, it is not impossible. Use non dictionary passwords, passwords with special characters (have to press and hold the alt key then a number sequence) and come up with a nonsensical set of answers to your lost password questions and you are safe enough. It is the password reset that is the easiest to crack, other than using packet filters. Mother's maiden name? I use my first car's license plate number. Father's middle name? I use the firing order of a V8 Chevrolet engine. Things like that prevent most problems with that area of weakness. Was it not Ms. Palin who has her gmail/yahoo/whatever accessed via someone guessing her lost password responses? IIRC, the person was criminally convicted as well. That is "one" very public case not only admitted, but proved in a court of law.

"or long" The calendar gets shorter for me... or as my kids say, I am getting older :)

For android, I am using Wifi Analyzer. It actually is useful for figuring out which channel to set your router for, to avoid the others close by. Shows signal strength, and can be used as sort of a "router finder" based on the signal strength. Helpful if you want to see how your router placement affects signal strength/coverage.

From time time I also make the "life is too short" decision. My avocation (see image) has the same issue as well. I would be comfortable saying customers (as well as coaches and players) fire (eject) themselves, I just make it official. May be a wishful hunch, but it sure seems like I get several orders shortly after a refund, but it is an absolute fact after an ejection, the game is much more fun for all concerned. There is an old saying amongst umpires that the only ejection you regret is one you did not make (I also include those not made soon enough) - same can apply to ending a client relationship. Might not work for you, but I have a few customers who were close to being fired, but agreed never to write, call, email, fax, or do anything but order each year. I use a similar tactic on the ball field, restricting a coach to the dugout, never to be seen or heard the rest of the game.

I live across the street from a rest home. When my kids were little, one of the residents at the rest home had a portable phone which broadcast very well to our baby monitor... - If you have a cell phone with wireless data, you can download a free app to scan wireless connections nearby. Very enlightening. I use it to make sure my own wireless is on the best channel I can select, that the security settings are actually set correctly, and to see what may be available when not at home. I do not let my phone connect automatically.

I get requests, often, to ask how to add company information to a pay stub. It is invariably for loan documentation, usually by someone self employed, who is trying to create/recreate something they don't have. If a loan company thinks a pay stub is actual documentation, they are nuts, or at best, shady. Anyone can print something similar to a pay stub, and there is no way to verify it. As I remember my mortgage process, I had to provide bank statements and tax returns. I had to sign a form allowing the loan company to get tax returns (signed by me under penalty of perjury) directly from the IRS. I doubt they got the tax forms before closing, but if the copies I gave did not match, I am sure the loan could have been voided as fraud.

The actual mail message is fairly safe. The security issues come in when someone can access your computer and/or network. A packet sniffer is easy to use and can lead to password theft, assuming there is a password. Many wireless routers/computers are using "security" that can be hacked in minutes (or less), which opens the computer up as well. Once access is gained, it is not hard to read email and run the computer in question. Passwords will only keep out those not wanting to get in - if you think that way you are much safer. Access is the critical issue. If I wished, I can access a nearby unsecured router, which is likely connected to an unsecured computer. Would take maybe 10 seconds to figure out what email program they use, their server settings, and be able to read their messages in any manner I wish, and also send as them. Could do anything with their computer as well. Then there is the slight delay of accessing the many routers which use the default login and password. They are also likely connected to an unsecured or under secured machine, easy to tap into.

Can't comment on their quality, but my spouse has some of their items, and a pies missing from a package was promptly replaced, and a wooden spoon which did not last long was replaced, fairly easily. I cannot even comment on their value as I don't ask what they cost...

SSA has allowed (what is now called) black and white Copy A forms (preapproval required, usually handled by the software maker) since TY 2001.

Not to my knowledge, but IIRC, the fee can be $50 per form for non-compliance. Since the instructions are anal enough to require the employee copies to be separated or perforated (explicitly not allowed to have the employees just cut the forms), I have not tried folding.

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_paydays.htm Caution, the actual lax code should be referenced, relying only on the information in the link could cause trouble.

Using the original post - with no research: If the under 200% turns off exempt status, and any of the employees (such as the custodian) fail to meet any of the other pay frequency exceptions for CA, the employer is not in compliance. CA employees, with some exceptions, have to be paid at least twice a month. Unless a government worker, it is safest to pay at least twice a month in CA. No need to set up something which could be open to random investigation, or investigation if some issue arises. One investigation, even if decided in the employer's favor, will probably cost more than the extra 12 payroll runs per year.

Good topic to remind all of us to be prepared for computer changes, voluntary or involuntary. It should be something you have planned, documented, and most importantly, tested, retested, and tested again. It is now nearly every day I have a customer who has a computer change of some sort and asks how (after the fact) to get the information from our web site (nope, we do not store data for our customers), from a "backup" someone made for them (geek squad type, how would I have any idea what the person did for them?), or from a hard drive they have in their hand that someone at the "computer place" gave them.

(Based only on your description) Demand a refund from the person masquerading as a computer tech. If they do not oblige, and you paid by charge card (always pay by charge card), dispute the charge. Wiping a drive is lazy (and fraudulent in my opinion) unless you asked for or approved the drive to be wiped. Blindly wiping a drive is comparable to solving every auto engine issue with a new engine... And when I do the rare fix it job for someone, I harken back to the work approval process, and removed part saving process of my younger days.

Have not had to restore from Carbonite (thankfully). I believe you can ask them to send you CD/DVD's of whatever data they have from you, if you are having trouble restoring using their software. For the future, do not rely on any single or even two methods. Have a copy you make yourself, a copy on a couple of online services, copies you mailed to a second secure location, etc. Paper records still come in handy as well.

EDITED to add: Please don't say "matching" (smile). Since FICA was split into separate calculations, EE and ER have had separate calculations, which may or may not be the same. For 2011, SS calculations for EE and ER are different, with many employers not realizing they cannot "double" or "match" the EE contribution to get the proper ER contribution. --- Be careful of any flat percentage amount to add to the gross to cover employer liabilities. 12% sounds a little low to me. 6.2% for SS, 1.45% for Medicare lowers the rest of the reserve to 4.65%. Could work over the long haul if a low WC rate class for all employees, but Q1 could be tough with SUI and FUTA, depending on when WC payments are made. If one sets up a separate account, it should take no effort to print a report showing actual liabilities instead of a percentage of gross estimate. CA example: SUI 6.2% (first 7k) ETT .1% (first 7k) FUI .8% (first 7k) SS 6.2% Medi 1.45% WC 8.0% (average over classes of employees and earnings for this particular employer) ---------- 22.75%, with at least 15.65% on most wages. WC rates vary widely, office work is under 2%, roofing work is over 50%.

It is brutal when you don't own a business, but "own" a "job" that is not paying you because you are working so others can get paid.

To add to Catherine's reply, I like it when the actual deposits are done every payday, even if not "required". If you cannot afford to pay the complete payroll every payday... you cannot afford to have the employee(s). If you can afford the employees, and want to spend time trying to make use of float (hard to see how it can be profitable on a per business scale these days), that is different.

If someone is to sign checks for some things, and not others, then additional accounts may be needed. If the same people can sign for any item, then one account is perfectly fine. A separate account does nothing to ensure payment, unless a separate line of credit is available for the payroll account. Many times a deposit/transfer has not taken place before payroll was processed. Any "security" reason is a waste of time at best. Checking accounts are not secure and can't reasonably be made any more secure than cash. A separate account does zip to keep someone from accessing company funds improperly. Some might say every additional account adds a level of complexity and less security than a single account. --- Like for home use, I think a business should have at least two accounts (at two different banks). If something happens to one account, having a second, with enough funds in it to get by for several business days, keeps things rolling until the mess is fixed.

I'll bite. Why is the corp using separate accounts? What are they trying to accomplish?