Oh, how time flies

Oh, how time flies! Most business owners and working professionals are in full swing, claiming their 2019 business goals and the human resources department is no exception. The human resources department is busy throughout the year with a variety of duties, responsibilities and compliance requirements. To support your team in achieving their goals and staying on track, here is a month-by-month HR Compliance Checklist for 2019. Enjoy!

January

Tax season is steadily approaching! You’ll need to distribute employee W2s by the end of the month. The compliance deadline January 31. Partnering with your payroll department or payroll provider will ensure you meet this goal. Also, keep in mind that employees may have moved, changed bank accounts or gotten married, so the top of the year is a good time to remind employees to verify their contact and personal information.

February

Be sure that you have the most up-to-date taxation information from your employees, especially the IRS Form W-4. This form is critically important, as it determines how much taxes are withheld from your employee paychecks.

March

With the year-end is behind us, we can now shift gears from HR compliance and payroll to company culture and employee engagement. Spring is on the horizon, so now is as good as a time as ever to creatively support employees in shaking off the winter blues. Company lunch and learns are the newest trending perk that offer benefits for both employers and employees alike but the good ole’ fashioned happy hour on the boss is always an office hit. Both are sure fire ways to lift spirits and build employee morale.

April

April tends to be a quieter time for HR and payroll professionals. Why not kick off the 2nd Quarter with thorough review and reflection of last year’s major initiatives. Could your onboarding process use some tweaking? Could year-end have been smoother? April is also a great time to do some strategic planning for the rest of the year. Schedule one-on-one time with the boss and dig into the data.

May

Mid-year is the perfect time to have a close look at your performance management processes. There are a variety of performance review cycles on the market for use so spend time researching different models before deciding on the best option for your company. Follow up with management training that help your employees in supervisory roles provide effective feedback to their direct reports.

June

Tis’ the season for “fun in the sun’ and employee vacations, but have you done an audit of your Paid Time Off (PTO) Policy?  Examine employee PTO usage and determine whether or not your current policy is supporting a better work life balance and keeping employees refreshed and engaged. Summer is a great time to bring on interns, especially when full-time employees are traveling or working reduced hours.

July

The year is more than half over, so it’s a great time to get a read on how employees are feeling. Making your employees feel valued is important, helping you to build a strong workplace culture that makes your business a great place to work. Send out an employee engagement survey, and set aside time to tackle new initiatives that address employee pain points—such as commuter benefits, wellness programs, or unique perks. Remember, good feedback is the key to improvement.

August

In final days summer, turn your assessment inward. Carve out some time to focus your current skillset and career goals. Do you want to study for a new HR certification? Assess your career goals, and identify a few ways to get there. The key to getting your employer to pay for your education is convincing management of the benefits to the company that will result from the new skills and knowledge you will acquire.

September

Ah, that crisp fall air! Invite employees to come together for a company sponsored Day of Health where employee will participate in an outdoor physical activity, win prizes, and eat themed foods. And if you're looking for help with ideas to would attract the most employee engagement, send out an office survey!

October

For many companies, now is the time to deep dive into open enrollment. The key to a successful benefits plan roll-out is clear, concise and informative communication. Gather next year’s benefits offering and start highlighting major policy changes, key deadlines for enrollments and trends in the benefits space. In the spirit of health and well-being, don’t forget to encourage sick employees to stay home as the temperature begins to drop.

November

The holiday season is around the corner, so get ready for an spike in time-off requests. Putting a tracking and communication process in place for management, such as a shared master time off calendar, will allow your managers to be on the same page.  An office memo reminding employees to consider a satisfactory coverage plan for their departments is an added plus and fosters a community of collaboration.

December

The end of the year is a perfect time to thank you employees for their year of hard work! How do you show your appreciation? Holiday Party? Bonuses? Reward programs? Whatever you choose, ample employee recognition encourages employees to kick the new year off with a bang!

HR Note: Once again, HR should have accurate and updated information on all employees. Bear in mind that employees may have married, moved or changed banks, which could affect direct deposit. Remind employees to verify their contact and personal information with HR before the end of the year.

Time flies when you’re being productive! Next year will be here before you know and it’ll be time to start setting your new year's business goals. Until then, use this HR checklist to stay organized, remember compliance deadlines, and crush the rest of the year!

Accounting Check List and Timeline by Ashish Pamula

Like a human fingerprint, every business is unique in its own way. However, one of the common threads that allow every business to survive relies on the maintenance of its accounting processes. Keeping updated records and reviewing that information through the Balance Sheet and Income Statement helps establish the fiscal health of the organization. The business owner will then be able to act on this information and formulate better decisions as to the next steps in the development of the business. The following is a list of bookkeeping responsibilities that the accounting team or business owner should be on top of in order to keep a healthy set of books:

BEFORE STARTING

• Chart of Accounts – Organizing the chart of accounts should be the first thing that is done prior to accounting for anything. The Balance Sheet and Income Statement are both made up of line items that make up your chart of accounts; Balance Sheet including assets and liabilities while the Income Statement includes income and expenses. The business owner along with the accounting team should review each line at the beginning of the year in order to ensure that they will be properly tracking the necessary items against their goals, as changing the chart mid-year can spoil historical information and consistency.

WEEKLY

• Cash on Hand – Knowing how much cash is in the bank account can give you a quick answer on how to plan for upcoming expenses. If checked daily, can also give an idea of the burn rate.
• Record Daily Transactions – Many organizations lag behind on their daily accounting and are forced to throw together numbers that may not be trustworthy. Recording transactions (bills, invoices, checks, donations, etc.) as they come up is always the best option, and accounting software such as QuickBooks can help streamline the process. Additionally, keeping digital or paper records of all receipts associated with any transaction is also extremely valuable in classifying income or expenses.
• Review Accounts Payable & Receivables – Any vendors yet to be paid for their services will accumulate in the Accounts Payable schedule while the Accounts Receivable schedule shows invoices that the organization has yet to receive the cash for. Evaluating these schedules will allow the organization to communicate with the vendor/customer on outstanding payment terms and keeping documentation of these transactions eliminates any miscommunications,
• Process Payroll – Payroll can be handled through a third-party service or by the business owner, but both must be reviewed to ensure that applicable taxes are being withheld at the proper times (federal, state, social security, Medicare, etc.)

MONTHLY

• Reconcile Business Account – Many transactions flow in and out of the bank account on a weekly basis and reconciling the account can assist in catching any erroneous entries. This process is usually done at the end of each month once the bank statements are released but can be done as often as necessary.
• Review Income Statement vs. Budget – The Income Statement and budget comprise of the same income and expense lines; the statement shows how much was actually earnt and spent for a certain period while the budget shows the planned numbers. Reviewing these two financial statements against each other can emphasize which areas are being over/underspent and need to be revised for the next budget.
• Review Balance Sheet vs. Prior Period – Assessing the balances of asset and liability accounts against its prior period balances aids in showing how effectively these accounts are being managed. For example, comparing the current balances against the balances from two months ago will display any significant increases and allow the business owner to drill down on irregularities.
• Compliance – Apart from accounting for payroll taxes and filing yearly tax returns, there are other steps to be taken in order to remain compliant with IRS. At the end of the year, W-2s are needed to report earnings of all full-time employees and 1099s need to be sent to all independent contractors who were compensated more than $600. The business owner should review all filing and tax deadlines, or at the very least connect with an accounting professional who can help prepare a compliance checklist.

Get Closer to a 10% Overhead Rate

In 2005, while working as a consultant to nonprofits, I learned of the ten percent rule that most nonprofits were striving to achieve. The ten percent rule was a theoretical limit on how much funds a nonprofit should spend on Administrative costs. The tagline at the time was “ninety cents out of every dollar donated went to serving the community.” Smaller nonprofits believe that this was the cause of them not getting the funding they needed because this percentage rule was almost impossible to attain. Smaller agencies began to assess that they were not efficient enough or that because of their size they could not reach the economies of scale needed to hit this mark.

The reality is one of two things, either most large nonprofits did not even try to hit this mark with most hovering around a thirty percent administrative rate. Or they managed to label costs and positions in a way that made them seem more program centered that they were.

The ten percent rule while not a practical policy still holds an ideological truth to all businesses. How do you, a business leader, reduce the cost of the administrative work so that you can spend more resources on the core mission of your business. There is essential work for every company; accounting, human resource management, marketing, administrative support. All these are not just wishful thinking items, but instead, they are critical to the survival of your organization. But too many leaders think the cost is a deterrent and end up suffering the painful truth that lack of this work is the cause of most businesses failing.

One way of avoiding this painful truth while also getting the most out of your limited resources is to outsource some the work.  A cost-effective and efficient consultant should be able to fit into one of four categories.

1.      Consulting: Find an agency that can help you develop the structure and guidance on business systems

2.      Training: Find an agency that can give you a formal understanding of how to manage items internally

3.      Support: Find an agency that can assist you in some tasks when you are not ready to outsource the functions

4.      Management: Find an agency with qualified specialists that will do the day to day administrative work leaving you with time and resources to invest on your core mission.

 Utilizing one or all of these categories will strengthen your ability to focus on your core mission, increase you and your company’s effectiveness, and get you closer to the ten percent rule.

www.primusco.com

Business Resources

The fact is that most small businesses including non-profits fail because of lack of resources. The issue is that most of the time when people refer to the lack of resources they are talking funding. But take a deeper look at that the funding was going to cover, Infrustrure, capacity development.  Businesses fail they are not able to allocate their limited resources correctly.  Leaders should lead and concentrate their efforts on the core mission of the organization and leave the business aspects of their business, accounting, HR management, and marketing to trusted external experts.

www.primusco.com

Do you have a business question you would like answered?

Do you have a business question you would like answered? PRIMUS will be answering business-related questions every Wednesday between 12-12:30 pm. Tweet to @primusbus 
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