• Scale with your business – So it can handle running payroll for when you expand in the future.
• Be around in years to come – So you don’t have to vet and take a risk bringing on a new payroll firm.
• Be reliable and accurate – So that your payroll runs are always on time.
• Offer top-notch customer service – So your calls are returned right away.
• Be professional – So that your payroll runs are kept in line with the most recent legal changes in the payroll and taxation fields.

But, you also should be looking for other services available from the payroll service.

You are going to make a meaningful investment of your time bringing on a payroll firm. Why not leverage what you’ve built with them? By the time you’ve been with a payroll firm for a year, they should:

• Understand the nuances of your business.
• Understand how best to offer customer service to you and your staff.
• Have built an ever-rising level of trust in their services they are providing to your company.

By planning for the future, you can anticipate leveraging these aspects. Imagine how much time you’ll save by having your business outsource also start providing HR services, like reviewing employee handbooks and acting as a resource to handle finding the best workers’ compensation quotes. Or maybe you’ll need a bookkeeping service down the road. If you use a local Columbia, MO outsource, you also have the advantage of the outsource understanding how Columbia is affected by local factors, like mid-west weather and seasonal bursts of business associated with the college schedules.

Understanding what other services a payroll service company can provide is a great way to open up your outsourcing options in the future. If you hire a different outsource for each business process, you may wind up investing more time than you’d like maintaining the relationships with multiple vendors.

As a local business service company providing services to Columbia, MO businesses, Moresource strives to provide informative resources relevant to business owners and c-level executives. We provide help with payroll processing, human resource outsourcing, and payroll management, along with our other core services.

If you are looking for a free employee discipline template, just make sure it includes spaces for:

• The name of the employee.
• The date of the meeting with the employee.
• A simple list of infractions with associated checkboxes (performance, safety, attendance, conduct, etc.)
• A blank writing space for adding a description of what the employee did.
• A place for the employee to sign and date, that states the employee has read the document.
• A manager signature and date area.

Your discipline process documentation should include a list of common problems at your work place. Be sure to include the ones specific to your industry. You might include things like dress codes, tardy policies, and safety requirements. Use this list to help train managers to address situations that arise.

Your manager should be trained on how and when to document an employee’s infractions. This is key to a sound legal path to and eventual termination of the employee, if needed.

Employees should be educated by the company on what the discipline policy is. Are there verbal warnings? Are there a set number of written warnings before somebody gets fired? What kinds of violations enable the company to skip right to a termination?

The discipline policy should be distributed via email to all employees, distributed in print form occasionally, and placed in the employee handbook.

As a local business service company providing services to Columbia, MO businesses, Moresource strives to provide informative resources relevant to business owners and c-level executives. We provide help with payroll processing, human resource outsourcing, and payroll management, along with our other core services.

Medical treatment for the injured worker.

The medical benefits associated with a work injury are usually unlimited and do not have a deductible. The medical payments continue until the injured employee is cured and/or given maximum relief. The employee’s only responsibility is to follow doctor’s orders.

Depending on a doctor’s evaluation of the workers condition, the worker may also be entitled to:

Lost Wages

If the worker’s injuries are keeping them from returning to work, or if the employee is recovering from surgery, they may have a right to Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefits. If the worker has some capacity to return to light duty, and the employer can offer that light duty, then they may not be eligible for TTD.

Permanent Disability Benefits

If an injured employee reaches their maximum recover, but residual limitations from the injury are preventing the employee from returning to their full position duties, the employee may be eligible for permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits, because they are still able to work at some job, but not necessarily their original one pre-injury. Permanent Total Disability (PTD) occurs then the employee can no longer perform any job. If the most recent work related injury solely cause the permanent total disability, then they may be eligible for weekly payment for life from the employer or insurer.

Benefit Payments

The employer’s workers’ compensation insurance usually pays the disability payments and medical bills. Normally, the employee receives no compensation for the first three days they are unable to work, but if the employee is unable to work for more than 14 consecutive days, then those skipped three days are paid out to the employee.

Temporary Partial Disability benefits should be 66 2/3% of the difference between the employee’s average weekly earnings prior to the accident and the amount which the employee, in exercise of reasonable diligence, will be able to earn during the disability. Temporary Total Disability is calculated at 66 2/3% of the injured worker’s average weekly wage, not to exceed a maximum amount set by the law. The average weekly wage is based on the employee’s gross wages.

Permanent Partial Disability is calculated at 66 2/3% of the employee’s average weekly earnings as of the date of the injury. However, if the employee suffers from a permanent partial disability, they may receive a lump-sum payment based upon the amount of disability.

Permanent Total Disability is based upon 66 2/3% of employee’s average weekly earnings at the time of the injury, not to exceed a maximum amount set by law (this maximum amount is much higher than the maximum amount for partial disability). Employees may receive weekly payments for their lifetime, or they may negotiate a lump-sum settlement.

As a local business service company providing services to Columbia, MO businesses, Moresource strives to provide informative resources relevant to business owners and c-level executives. We provide help with payroll processing, human resource outsourcing, and payroll management, along with our other core services.

Being a business outsource company, we’re working with many companies in Columbia, MO and its surrounding areas in terms of how human resource management can contribute to their bottom line and how to execute a plan.

The plan should start with understanding what the company’s leadership wants from the HR department. Many times we find it’s helpful to ask the leadership to talk about concepts that you put on the table. The leadership team should include the company’s legal advisor, since HR duties frequently delve into liability territory. So, you might ask them about whether any of the following is important to their efforts:

• Filling positions quickly.
• Finding the best person for empty positions.
• Limiting expenses.
• Finding ways to make a positive return on financial investments made in the HR department.
• Avoiding employee lawsuits.
• Creating and Maintaining safety and process documentation.
• Employee safety.
• Employee Training.
• Leadership training.
• New employee orientation.
• Researching industry benchmarks concerning position salaries and qualifications.

Some of the items on the list seem obvious, but consider something as simple as “finding the best person for empty positions.” Your company may not care to invest in further rounds of candidate screening to find the very best person to do something as simple as distributing door hanger advertisements during the summer.

You should also list the functions current HR staff handles and have a review to see how those functions line up with leadership’s needs. To help develop this list, you should take a look at the staff’s current job descriptions and add to it input from the staff. Many times, they are performing duties that have come about since the last job description audit.

Getting feedback from the leadership about their needs is a great place to start your human resources management plan. Other aspects of the management plan will include measuring your current performance, benchmarking against industry standards and local Columbia, MO competition and change management.

As a local business service company providing services to Columbia, MO businesses, Moresource strives to provide informative resources relevant to business owners and c-level executives. We provide help with payroll processing, human resource outsourcing, and payroll management, along with our other core services.

Vacation Forms:

• Can keep misunderstandings with employees at bay. If employees mistakenly think they have been approved for a vacation day due to a hallway conversation, it can lead to misunderstandings and resentment.
• Enable an easy process to update the company calendar to know when your employees won’t be available. This can help with scheduling projects and production efforts.
• Provide documentation to clearly indicate when an employee is not acting on behalf of a business.
• Give HR a chance to check if the employee has accrued the vacation time they are requesting.

When creating your printable Vacation Request Form for your Columbia, MO business, keep in mind that you want to make sure you include the following elements:

Employee’s Area:

• The employee name.
• Space for the date of the request.
• An area for the dates being requested.
• Some lines for written notes, should the employee want to add some detail to the request.
• A signature line for the employee.

Admin Area:

• Space for the date the request was received by the manager, or HR
• Place for the Manager, or HR staff, to sign and date.
• Two check boxes to indicate whether the request has been approved or denied.
• Space for an explanation of any denied request.

We’ve created a page that lists all the forms we’ve made available on the site. Check it out for free templates, letters and forms.

As a local business service company in Columbia, MO, Moresource strives to provide informative resources relevant to business owners and c-level executives. We provide help with payroll processing, human resource outsourcing, and payroll management, along with our other core services.

Once you have a bookkeeping routine in place, it will help you avoid:

Not having cash for major expenses

If you know about major expenses, you can use your bookkeeping plan to make sure there’s enough money, or credit available to handle the expenses. If you go for a business loan, you’ll certainly need organized books to present to the firm issuing the loan.

Not planning for seasonal events

In Columbia, MO, not planning for the seasonal swing in the economy can be a business crusher. If you depend heavily on the student population for revenue, you can use your bookkeeping system and projections to plan for the lean times of the year and make sure you don’t fall short when the monthly bills arrive.

Not tracking expenses

Thousands of dollars in tax deductions are missed each year when a business doesn’t keep track of the expenses. It’s amazing how much the little things add up to at the end of a year. If you don’t keep, and file that office supply receipt, then you’ll miss out on the business expense deduction when you file your annual business tax returns. Pay particular attention to any supplies you routinely purchase with cash. These are the ones where you don’t have the credit card statement to fall back upon for documentation. These routinely include small cost items, lunches, and drive through purchases.

Not tracking deposits

Make sure you record what kinds of deposits you are making and keep that record for tax season. If your bookkeeper notes all deposits as income, you may wind up paying taxes on non-revenue items like:

• Personally invested cash in the business.
• Loan checks.
• Prepayments/deposits on future work (depending on your accounting system).
• Security Deposits from clients/renters.

Not tracking invoices.

Unpaid invoices can slip through the cracks and remain unpaid lost past their issuing date. Make sure your bookkeeping service has a routine to check if invoices are closed out, and for sending second invoices when needed.

As a local business service company providing services to Columbia, MO, businesses. Moresource strives to provide informative resources relevant to business owners and c-level executives. We provide help with payroll processing, human resource outsourcing, and payroll management, along with our other core services.

Details about the situation are not specific. If the employee uses vague language in describing the event, it could indicate that your staff isn’t getting a clear story about what happened. In a factual situation, employees can usually describe the event and the symptoms clearly with actions, times and intensity characteristics.

Reports of the incident don’t appear in a timely fashion. If there is a significant delay in the reporting of an incident, this may indicate other employee motives.

Claims that arise on a Monday. There have been situations where an injury occurs, or it worsened, over the weekend in non-work related activities. Come Monday, the employee files a workers comp case due to their current injuries, blaming the work event that occurred during the previous week.

No other witness to the injury event. This can come in two forms. There may be no other witness to an injury event; Or, there may have been employees present, but they are unwilling to make a statement that supports the injured employee’s claims.

Changing story. If the injury story keeps changing, it can be a sign of not relating the factual events of the situation.

Missed medical appointments. Sometimes, an employee avoids medical checkups and therapy to avoid showing healing or increased functioning.

Employee’s current activity doesn’t reflect the injury claim. If you hear about how the employee is water-skiing on the weekend, while filing a back injury claim, then you probably aren’t getting the whole truth.

As the business owner, if you are experiencing many of the following in a workers’ compensation situation, you may want to contact the Missouri state Workers Compensation board if you suspect an employee is making a false claim.

As a local business service company in Columbia, MO, Moresource strives to provide informative resources relevant to business owners and c-level executives. We provide help with payroll processing, human resource outsourcing, and payroll management, along with our other core services.

The form itself is designed to help inform the federal government about withholdings being made by your company for your employees. It itemized the amounts of federal income tax, social security tax and Medicare tax being prepaid each quarter. The process allows your business and the government to help ensure you won’t be way off base and behind on deductions as the fiscal year comes to an end.

The form itself can be filed electronically, or you can get a copy on the IRS website to print. If you want to file the form electronically, you can use a tax preparer who is authorized to e-file tax returns. Some accountants and most payroll companies (like Moresource), are certified to handle this. You can use one of many software services, like H&R Block At Home or TurboTax.

The forms get completed and turned in before the end of the month, following the end of a quarter. For example, the Form 941 is due by the end of April, for the first quarter of the year.

The main points of information on the form are related to the number of employees you had during the quarter and the total payroll involved. The form helps walk you through the calculated social security and Medicare wages on that payroll. It then takes into account the adjustment related to sick pay, tips, and group insurance packages.

For that bookworm in some of us, much of the information about the 941 can be found in the resources on the IRS website. Your payroll company will also be able to answer your questions about the Federal 941 tax form.

As a local business service company in Columbia, MO, Moresource strives to provide informative resources relevant to business owners and c-level executives. We provide help with payroll processing, human resource outsourcing, and payroll management, along with our other core services.

Keep in mind that no matter which method you choose, running your payroll in Jefferson City, MO involves many different aspects that can challenge your business to:

• Stay in legal compliance both on the Federal, Missouri and Jefferson City, MO level.
• Create accurate payroll runs and records.
• Handle deductions correctly.
• Minimize the amount of time it takes to run a payroll.

No matter what way you go, you’ll need to start with a system to process your payroll.

There are many options for the system, from cutting one check at a time by hand, all the way up to outsourcing the entire operation. You’ll have many choices to choose from, and it’s worth investigating the options to make the best decision for your business. Some of the options include:

Manual System:

Using paper forms that track employee time/commissions and handwriting employee checks from the check book.

Advantages include requiring the least amount of capital investment of any of the other options.

Disadvantages include no automation to save time and no help with managing deductions, and staying in compliance.

Personal Computer Software and Printer:

Up until the turn of the century, this was the most popular option for a small business with a handful of employees. With a personal computer, printer and a few hundred dollars worth of software, you had a system in place that would keep electronic records of payroll runs, and could alert the business owner of new tips and laws in place, that were placed into the software as it was updated each year.

Advantages include digitizing the operation and having electronic records that can be copied and placed in a safe location.

Disadvantages include the risk of having the payroll system dependent on a single computer; Limited access to the data because it resides on a single computer.

Software as a Service (SaaS):

All of the most popular personal computer payroll-run software companies have, now create online versions of their software. Now, all of your business’ data is online at the payroll company’s website.

Advantages include the ability for the website to improve its service during the year and not require your staff to download and install any software to “get the update.” If your computer breaks, you just hop on another computer to get to your data on the service’s website.

Disadvantages include possibly not having access to your data when not connected to the internet. Access to your entire business data is typically managed through the use of a single account name and password used to log into the service. A copy of the log-on information stuck to a cubicle wall can be a huge security threat if a visitor sees it.

Outsourcing Payroll:

Many times, companies just outsource their payroll to another company that performs payroll services for many clients. In this case, you usually can have face-to-face meetings with the outsource to explain the nuances of your business. The outsource may have experience working with clients in your industry which can lead to a better relationship and potential payroll insights due to the expertise of the outsources’ staff and experience.

Advantages include having outside experts working with your company to help ensure timely and accurate payroll runs. You have the ability to have face-to-face meetings with the payroll staff to work through business issues and to gain an understanding of new guidelines and legislation that can affect your payroll and deductions. You may be able to save on salaries by outsourcing more processes to the outsource down the road, after they prove themselves. You’ll have payroll experts that understand state and local issues and how they affect your company’s payroll.

Disadvantages include upfront investment in screening the outsource candidates. You’ll need time in the relationship, starting with the initial meeting, to let the outsource prove themselves as reliable.

As a local business service company, Moresource strives to provide informative resources relevant to business owners and c-level executives to the Columbia and Jefferson City, MO areas. We provide help with workers’ compensation and other risk management, human resource outsourcing, and payroll management, along with our other core services.

Assuming you didn’t file for a tax exception before Monday, April 17, you have some work to do and new deadlines to consider.

First off, if you’re sure you’ll be getting a refund, then don’t worry. There are no penalties. Just don’t wait too long to file for the tax return you’re owed. After three years, the IRS is not required to pay you.

If you are going to owe taxes, then there will be a late-filing penalty. A late-filing penalty is usually 5% of the balance due for each month that the return is late. The fee is capped at 25% of the balance due. The “balance due” is the amount you owe, minus what you’ve previously paid through withholding from your salary during the year. If you feel like now is the time to access a tax service or an accountant to help you through the process, you’d probably be correct.

Note that there is some leniency when missing the deadline, if your situation involved any of the following:

A family death or serious illness.

Major Postal Delays (see natural disasters).

Destruction of your home or records due to a fire, natural disaster or civil disturbance.

As an individual taxpayer, just try to clear this situation up, so you can relax and have fun at things like the Civil War Reenactment at Jefferson City’s Binder Park in May.

As a business owner, the best thing you can do for your employees is to support them with on-time W2s and to remind them about tax deadlines. The lost work time associated with an employee scrambling to file their taxes, or dealing with tax penalties, is an avoidable situation.

As a local business service company, Moresource strives to provide informative resources relevant to business owners and c-level executives to the Columbia and Jefferson City, MO areas. We provide help with workers’ compensation and other risk management, human resource outsourcing, and payroll management, along with our other core services.