Medlin Software, Dennis

Making sense... good one. I actually get grief for making sense and giving accurate information. Some only want me to give them the answer they want, which I just cannot find it within me to do. Such is life. Thank goodness my greyhounds don't care! Coincidence. One today was from an owner/employee who was asking how not to give themselves a paycheck, yet they wanted a W2. Needs a report like an employee, is an employee, needs to get a paycheck for all time worked, at least minimum wage, at least as often as required by their state, and if an owner, must be what the IRS will accept as a "reasonable" wage. I got a nasty gram back for not answering how to do what they want to do.

I might be free for one day at $2700... and I will do the best job I can, so no need to bother firing me after. If the amount was for moving expenses, it was for an employee. I can see no way to say the person was not en employee, as it makes no sense to pay an IC's moving expenses. How the company treated the employee, such as paying by "regular" check does not change the facts as presented in the OP.

Probably was not a loan for a "business reason", unless it was a documented (terms, interest, etc.) item done outside of payroll. The key, to me, is no terms and no interest, then it is taxable wages. Also in 535 "If the employee doesn't repay the loan, treat it as income to the employee." To which I say income to an employee is W2, not 1099.

I OFTEN get asked how an employer should handle an advance. I say don't. (Note, some localities do not allow an employer to deduct items, even an advance, even if the employee agrees.) Separation is one issue. Legally collecting even while employed is another. In most cases, unless there is interest and repayment terms, it is simply pay, and needs to be taxed at time of disbursement. (Tag agencies frown on money going out untaxed, caused, facilitated, or because of employment.) I would not suggest an employer 1099 it. It was because of employment, it is wages. The employer needs to pay their part of the taxes, and issue a proper W2 (and amend the quarterlies probably).

Agreed. My most trusted ones get my cell phone and can call any time, not only during testing, but year 'round.

And see if their county offers IHHS... as it is no cost to the client if approved.

Complicated for all sides. Neither the provider nor the customer (at least none I have run into) wants to pay or can afford to have enough techs to never have a busy signal or hold. Nor can the provider cannot force the customer to take advantage of the self help, which for me, is 80 to 90% of all contacts (meaning something already covered either in the program help, or something where the answer is being shown as part of the error/warning message). The fact is, those who do use self help subsidize those that do not (assuming there is no extra cost for support, or that some sort of support is free). If there is a complicated issue (meaning one for which there is no self help) then phone is less than ideal, and will likely be a negative for the provider. More often than not, the customer does not have all the needed information, or is not even at the computer. This means either waiting for the customer, or requiring a second call, neither of which the customer is happy about. If it is complicated or new, it is going to require investigation, and possibly some written information back and forth, to figure out. In my case, with the W2 due date change, my annual support rush is the last week of Dec and all January. This is made up primarily of those who did not order and install sooner (we start a new version every September 1) and need something instantly. Sometimes there is an issue with installation, 99% of the time, caused by not keeping their "security" software updated, and I promise you, is not something I have any control over... Then the last two weeks of January, with some leftover did not order earlier issues, but mostly W2 questions (still have many who do not realize you can print W2 forms on plain paper from approved software), and some who believe voluntarily efiling saves them time or money (the time taken to call is longer than it takes to print the forms on plain paper and stuff them in an envelope). I try to pre-solve these issues by sending out many emails this time of year, but some do not make it (full mailboxes, bad emails, etc.) and some think it is a sales pitch and ignore. Professional tax software is certainly a more specialized user base than my customers, so there are differences, but the principles remain the same. I hold my hand up to say I am not perfect, so software I create cannot be either. The difference is I have no problem owning that as fact, and dealing with it as fast as I can. Those who do test for me generally get their software for free, assuming they provide any feedback at all (most I never hear from). Not something I promise or advertise, as some will sign up thinking it is free software... and I do not want to repeat that fiasco again.

Could depend. For instance, CA IHHS "workers" can have tax free income, or it can be taxed. The agency (county if IIRC) issues the W2, the client does not. It is tax free (not reported as income) if the caregiver resides in the same place as the client, such as a parent caring for a child, or a child caring for a parent.

Software vendors have a vested interest in making sure their software works. For assistance, unless the vendor is careful, you could choose an install or data folder which causes the software NOT to work. (Such as trying to use one of the folders Windows protects.) Default or required install and data folders are suggested//required for a reason... you will have less trouble operating the software and getting assistance if you use the defaults. Same for backup. If you trust a vendor enough to use their software for critical data, trust them to know the best way to backup said critical data. If I had a PENNY for every customer who contacts me with an issue caused by someone (not always the customer, sometimes a computer "expert" who is helping them) thinking they made a backup of all important data, and did not actually do so... Also, ALWAYS make your own backups before letting anyone service your computer. The service folks will likely do some sort of image, then hand you a CD/DVD. They are not likely going to actually restore anything, and in many cases, will not even give much instruction on how to undo whatever they are calling a "backup".

Very few [programs can be "restored" (generally only specialized utilities distributed as a single exe file). Programs install files in more than one location, and some of those files have to go in specific locations, and be "registered" into Windows. For instance, for us, we install a font, which has to go into the Windows font folder... If you were to be wise enough to copy the program files you fins, you probably would not have thought about the font file. Good programs save your settings/configuration in a manner which can be backed up as part of the data. Programs which store settings in the windows registry may not offer that ability.

In addition to local, remote, removable, and commercial backups, I backup onto a reliable web server I control. You can get a cheap shared web server for $5 a month. Just don't use it for public hosting! My backups are compressed (with password) and encrypted (more than once). A program such as Cobian can upload backups automatically.

This place is good to balance out the crazy in life. I check it to break away from crazy and be normal, with other normal folks. KC is not gone... This morning's crazy is someone asking how to deal with an employee where they issues about 15% of their checks as negative. Low pay, plus commission, with a \large employee selected health plan contribution. My answer is there is no such thing as a negative paycheck, they need to clean up the mess they created. If they do not want to fix the old "payments", then they have caused even more "pain" as the negative amount becomes taxable "pay" to the employee, magnifying their issue. Cannot be a loan, since there is no loan documents, repayment terms, or interest... Or the one where someone has been playing charge card roulette, failing each time, and is complaining that I will not keep playing.

KISS. 1099 same name as the payments. Not your client's or your worry. Otherwise, send me a check made out to cash and put the 1099 in that person's name

What they want is to add you to potential deep pockets should the loan go bad. Sounds like a separate bank, not the one your client uses, as if it was the client's bank, they would be able to verify income, and probably expenses, by looking at records they already have.

My pet peeve: "Security" software vendors who choose not to be accurate. By not being accurate, their customers eventually have to disable their "security" software to install known good software, making the "security" (and payment for said "security") pointless. It is a no win for me. I have to tell folks to contact their "security" vendor for help, since the issue is not on our end. (not a great solution, even though the most accurate) The usual feedback is it must be our fault because the "security" vendor must not be wrong... It usually is the :security" vendor, but sometimes it is the user who does not keep their "security" software current. If I had a nickel for each time I end up providing support for the product of others...

Unless required to mask, show. It is the one annual shot the recipient has to make sure the amount is reported correctly. Same for W2 forms...

I don;t know the software you refer to. In general, it is better practice to keep HR and payroll separate. Yes, even if the HR person is the payroll person as well. Payroll does not need to know all details of employment, such as performance reviews. HR does not need to know the W4 details, garnishment details (unless the company considers garnishments beyond one as a reason for dismissal), etc. HR should direct PR to update the rate, but PR does not need to track beyond what is needed for calculation. NOTE: There should be a policy that rate changes are always at start of pay period to avoid complicating calculations more than needed. (Even for minimum wage increases in my opinion.)

There are still lenders who want pay stubs and statements from employers, although neither does anything for the employer or employee. Lenders do not really "count" stubs, statements, or phone calls from employers. They are just collecting as much as they can. If the loan goes bad, they have a larger pool to try to collect from. I suggest employers say nothing without a court order. Employees have bank statements and tax returns to prove income. If an employee begs and pleads for some statement from an employer, the employer could say the employee has been working since X, and there are no pending dismissal actions. I would not speculate about tomorrow, unless the employee is under contract. I imagine similar gets asked from tax preparers, how long have you been doing the return, do the numbers match, etc.

I go with deal only with the customer who I can charge, or who has already paid me. The one exception is a court order. Dealing with a third party will cost me money (at the least). I have many messages (when I did not ask who I am responding to) of a computer "expert" who was trying to help someone. Rarely ended well. The third party can always hang me out for the expert's cost, for the failure to fix, for the delay in fixing, etc. The most common is when an "expert" re-formats a drive, then asks me how to get data (which they failed to backup before the reformat). If I an not speaking directly with my customer, I have no way of controlling what the customer is told, and I have not seen a case where the the "expert" took responsibility.

I remember Woolworth's, and many other things my kids scoff at... Cash payroll has a fixed cost you can easily estimate. X hours to prepare, no unexpected later costs likely. Non-cash payroll can always have a "later" unexpected expense, impossible to control. Just replacing genuine lost checks costs money, let alone HDC issues, issues with a second party getting the funds, and so on. DD is probably the cleanest as you primarily have to worry about a disgruntled co account owner. There can be other issues you pay to "defend", but probably rare enough to not worry about. Enough with non-positive for me today, on to good things! My h e double hockey sticks week is 2.5 hours from being over. Monday won't be fun, but it will be easier. I may sit in the RV and work from there, just to pretend I am on the road somewhere! Business remains good, and most customers are friendly, Happy and healthy wishes to all...

It is a legal term. In my example, the check cashing place has a properly endorsed check, no hint of fraud, and you have to honor it. Stop payment, loss claim, does not matter. You have to deal with the employee, and probably, at least at first, have to pay the employee as well as the check cashing place. Your recourse is only with the person the check was made out to... The third party gets PAID no matter what, if it meets the due course rules (and in practice, even if it does not, since it is likely cheaper to pay than to fight). https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/3/3-302 Likely examples and explanations by online search. Those that work in large payroll offices are familiar with this, as given enough volume and time, they will see it. Came up for me many years ago when a payroll check was :"washed". The party who got the "washed" check could have easily claimed the check met the HiDC rules. Thankfully, was only for someone I was preparing payroll for. The employer ended up paying both the employee (who must have lost the check) as well as the recipient of the washed check. It was a business with high turnover, and the employee turned over shortly after - I have no idea why... I did get to see the washed check. it was done very well. Lost "art" now, since anyone can print checks as long as they have a valid routing and account number. No more "Catch Me if You Can". Cash is the only way to safely pay employees - safely meaning no later risk of having to pay twice assuming some sort of valid proof of receipt is collected. There are still some who choose this method, and I have not seen any locality where cash is not allowed. If I were back in the days where I was paying lower paid employees with fair turnover, with my current knowledge, it would be cash payouts for me. (Secondary reason, the local officials would likely give me a concealed carry permit again, with cash carrying being the reason).

DD can be handy, but just hope if not the sole account of the employee, there is never a dispute with the others who have access to the account. The law is somewhat grey, say if the non-employee party takes the funds, and the employee says they never got the funds. You may find yourself paying twice, and resorting to checks again. (It has and does happen). Checks can have the same issue. Employee goes to a check cashing place (for instance) which gets the holder in due course issue involved. Employee then says the check was lost. You likely have to pay both as it is the cheaper way to go. One other, of the top of my head, is when an employee wants you to act as their money manager, depositing into multiple accounts. Opens up the issue of access of other parties, and doubling the cost and trouble should the deposit go awry (it happens too). Just another cost of being an employer... As I sit in CA where another year goes by while our elected officials refuse to alter our UI system and actually fund it from normal contributions. Instead, they let the feds "garnish" surviving employers at end of year. It is all about avoiding their next election opponent being able to put out a mailer saying the incumbent raised employer taxes (since the electorate does not understand or care what actually is happening).

DD is always an interesting topic. In many (most?) cases, it is not easier or cheaper for the employer. It does keep employees from taking time during work to deposit. Had a conversation with a person from a credit union, new to our software, who could not find anyone at their own office who knew how to handle ACH. The other "rub" is many bank's/CU's have some sort of payroll product they offer, which they likely get more money (commission and probably sign up bonus). With the change in check processing, there is little, and sometimes no delay, in accessing funds by check compared to before all went electronic. Especially with deposit by phone app.

While frustrating, this one is a piece of cake. A few years back, a former customer was on trial for tax fraud. (IIIRC, was filing using inappropriate items, such as EITC, and was keeping the extra. I think they were taking advantage of folks not native to the US, with little education or experience. Was making sure they got something "back" from his pocket, but had their refund deposited in an account he controlled!) Phone subpoena from the IRS for us. (Was actually not bad, once we explained our business.) The problem was of course, this person again IIRC, was proving there is no fool like someone defending themselves in court, saw we had to make a statement, and made threats against me and my family if we cooperated. Forwarded that information up the chain. The person was convicted and will be in the care of us (via Uncle Sam) for quite some time. Had another who was running a series of filling stations. Would skip out on paying any withholding, UI, etc, then "go out of business" and start up as a new entity AT THE SAME LOCATIONS. We figured it out on our end and refused to do business with them, and after a year or so after we figured it out, the government caught up as well, deposing us along the way (to see if they could hook us into the liability chain, deep pockets lose and all that). F. Gump was a GENIUS.

Ugh. Fired has to mean fired. Quit has to mean quit Former customer who went on a rant, with profanities and threats to sue if we ever contacted them again, asked to order again. They are now livid because I am not replying, since they stated if I replied I would be sued. I am twisted enough to sort of laugh, but not twisted enough to feel sad some people act like they are. The impetus was this person was reselling their software license to others, and was caught (by one of their clients who contacted me for assistance). Our former customer had to deal with at least one unhappy client of theirs, when I refused to assist - directing them back to the person who improperly took money fro them for a license they had no permission to sell. Today's messages from them started with asking to order again, trying to blame a former employee, then dropped back to the same vile stuff that got them fired in the first place. All messages came from the same email address, so I doubt the person really had an employee acting without their knowledge, since the email address is personal in nature, not a business account or name. The firing consisted of a letter saying we were no longer doing business with them, and a full refund for their most recent order. I suspect the issue today is now that the new year is here, their ill gotten license is no longer working for them, nor for the unsuspecting folks who were duped by them.