Keeping track of bookkeeping/accounting tasks and the information that is required when you hire a new employee can be pretty overwhelming for a business owner or bookkeeper. In the normal rush of day-to-day activities; sometimes important items can get overlooked and come back to bite you later.
Welcome to Tuesday Training!
Tuesday Training is a new feature here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog. While everyday focuses on training of one sort or another, Tuesday’s are dedicated to more in-depth training.
We’ll teach you the things you need to know about using QuickBooks, that you won’t find in the QuickBooks Help file, in order to successfully run your construction business and obtain accurate job costing reports; from eBooks, live webinars, and recorded training sessions.
You’ll find high-quality (budget friendly) training without having to leave the comfort of your home or office.
Bookkeeping & Accounting Tasks
We’ve compiled a list of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual bookkeeping and accounting tasks to help you stay on track – this is also a handy checklist to provide to a new bookkeeper.
This list is geared for contractors and include items such as certified payroll reports, AIA billing draws, Worker’s Comp, and General Liability Insurance tracking reminders.
Excel format, so you can easily add other items and customize it to meet the needs of your business.
We hope that you’ve found today’s Tuesday Training items to be helpful to your business – if so please take a moment to leave a comment or share this with others on your favorite social media network using the buttons below
Download your free copy of our Bookkeeping and Accounting Tasks checklist here.
Employee New Hire Packet
What should a “New Hire Packet” contain? Federal W-4, State W-4, and Form I-9 at a minimum – but that really isn’t enough information to keep on file. You, as well as your bookkeeper needs to have more information about a new employee than what is available on these forms. Utilize our New Hire Checklist” to provide your bookkeeper with additional information about the employee.
Word format, so you can easily add additional information and customize it to suit the needs of your business.
Download your free copy of our Employee New Hire Packet by clicking here.
We hope that you’ve found today’s Tuesday Training items to be helpful to your business – if so please take a moment to leave a comment or share this with others on your favorite social media network using the buttons below.
So how do you find a “good” bookkeeper and test their knowledge before hiring them? Or, perhaps you are ready to hire a CPA to help you with your business and your books. Congratulations! We all know what a struggle it is to “try to do everything” yourself, and it almost goes without saying that as a busy contractor, we also know that time is best spent on the job and not in the office handling paperwork.
Welcome to Tuesday Training!
Tuesday Training is a new feature here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog. While everyday focuses on training of one sort or another, Tuesday’s are dedicated to more in-depth training.
We’ll teach you the things you need to know about using QuickBooks, that you won’t find in the QuickBooks Help file, in order to successfully run your construction business and obtain accurate job costing reports; from eBooks, live webinars, and recorded training sessions.
You’ll find high-quality (budget friendly) training without having to leave the comfort of your home or office.
Construction Bookkeeper Test – $25.00
So how do you find a “good” bookkeeper and test their knowledge before hiring them? Well, we have scoured the internet searching for a “good” QuickBooks and Construction Bookkeeping Test, and while we have found some that would test an applicant’s basic knowledge of QuickBooks as well as some basic accounting knowledge, none have addressed any construction related functions. Being disappointed in what we have found, we’ve designed our own – somewhat based on issues that we deal with on a day to day basis supporting our own software which integrates with QuickBooks – and we are happy to offer you a copy {complete with the answers}.
Our Bookkeepers test asks applicants to answer a total of 145 questions, covering 5 different areas of knowledge.
Purchase your copy today for $25.00.
Hiring a Bookkeeper or CPA
We all know what a struggle it is to “try to do everything” yourself, and it almost goes without saying that as a busy contractor, we also know that time is best spent on the job and not in the office handling paperwork.
Before you hire someone to handle your books or your taxes, check their skills and lay the ground rules to make sure that you are getting the right person for your business and never make the big mistake of just “turning” it all over to someone (no matter how enticing that idea may be). Always keep an eye on what is going on.
FREE eBook – click here to download.
Additional Resources from the IRS
Even the IRS feels that this is an important subject, and the IRS urges you to choose that preparer wisely. Most return preparers are professional, honest and provide excellent service to their clients. But it is the taxpayer who is legally responsible for what’s on his or her tax return even if it is prepared by someone else.
We hope that you’ve found today’s Tuesday Training items to be helpful to your business – if so please take a moment to leave a comment or share this with others on your favorite social media network using the buttons below.
It’s FREEBIE FRIDAY! Wow wasn’t it Friday just a couple of days ago? Feels that way to me. Where has the week gone?
This weeks Freebie Friday giveaway here on the QuickBooks for Contractors blog is an Employee New Hire Checklist.
One of the hardest things about being a bookkeeper or payroll clerk, is that we seldom receive any information about new employees – other than the information that comes from their Federal W-4, State W-4, and their I-9 form.
As a bookkeeper in the construction industry, a lot of times the ONLY information that I ever received was a scrawled note with the employees name on it – and I’d spend the rest of my week trying to chase down the rest of the information that I needed, because of course that employee needed a paycheck come Friday! Does that sound familiar? I bet it does!
Do yourself a favor and put together New Hire Packets so that you can get the information you need!
What should a “New Hire Packet” contain? Federal W-4, State W-4, and Form I-9 at a minimum. Additionally, you may want to utilize our free “New Hire Checklist” to provide your bookkeeper with additional information about the employee.
Our New Hire Checklist is a 5-page Word document, which you can further customize to meet your needs.
Click here, for instant access.
Enjoy, and Happy Friday to everyone! 
A great article that I just had to share from a newsletter that I subscribe to.
There are many reasons why you should check the references of prospective employees. Often, applicants’ resumes and application forms are incomplete or even contain misrepresentations that could lead to a bad hiring decision. So, if you check references, you can help eliminate undesirable applicants, identify the best candidate, reduce turnover and training costs, and even prevent liability for negligent hiring.
At a minimum, carefully conducted reference checks can help ensure that your hiring decisions are more informed. Generally, reference checks should be made before the offer of employment is extended so that you have as much information about a candidate as possible. However, it may be difficult to get a reference-giver to provide helpful information because of their fears of defamation claims and restrictive corporate policies allowing only the release of a former employee’s “name, rank, and serial number.” The following five strategies can help your organization conduct effective reference checks:
- Insist that every applicant sign a release. Never check references before obtaining the candidate’s written permission to do so. Consent is a strong defense to defamation and other tort (wrongful act) claims an applicant may bring, and it also generally is required under the Fair Credit Reporting Act before an employer can use a third party to conduct checks. To protect further against applicant lawsuits, the consent form also should include language that releases the organization and its agents, as well as former employers and reference givers, from any legal liability that may result from the checks.
- Get job-related information from applicants. Before conducting reference checks, request that applicants provide background documentation such as old pay stubs, business cards, job descriptions, and performance appraisals. These items can be used to verify information provided in resumes, application forms, and interviews and can help identify specific issues to follow up on in reference inquiries.
- Minimize reference resistance. Expect reference sources to be guarded, or even defensive, since so many organizations try to limit potential legal exposure by releasing only the “name, rank and serial number” of former employees. To facilitate the process, fax or mail the signed consent and release to the reference giver. When calling references, the interviewer can help break the ice by briefly sharing information about himself, the organization, and the job the candidate has applied for. Some employers even ask an applicant to contact referrers first to help ensure that they can actually get through to them.
- Keep questions pertinent. To obtain relevant and consistent information on applicants, develop a reference check form with a list of standard questions and require its use for all checks. At a minimum, the form should cover the basics including dates of employment, positions held, and pay rates. In addition, it should contain open-ended questions about skills, qualifications, strengths, weaknesses, work habits, and suitability for the position. The form also should include specific questions about performance issues and disciplinary actions, eligibility for rehire, and reasons for leaving.
- Document responses, even if limited. Keep an accurate written record of all your reference discussions to support your hiring decisions and to help protect against negligent hiring, defamation, and other legal claims. And, if the reference giver refuses to provide any information, document the request and the lack of cooperation.
Of course, reference checks are just one of many tools that you need to make a good hiring decision. You also should verify other information on a candidate’s resume or application (such as educational history pertinent to the job) and consider performing additional background checks (such as criminal, credit, and driving checks) if the nature of the job warrants these checks. In addition, you may want to conduct skills testing to further evaluate a candidate’s abilities. All of these steps will help you make more effective hiring decisions.
Download a FREE 42 page sample hiring model policy that includes Labor Law Posters from HR Matters.
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Distributed by Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc. with permission from:
HR Matters E-Tips, copyright Personnel Policy Service, Inc., Louisville, KY, all rights reserved, the HR Policy and Employment Law Compliance Experts for over 30 years, 1-800-437-3735. Personnel Policy Service markets group legal service benefits and publishes HR information products, including the free weekly electronic newsletter, HR Matters E-Tips (www.ppspublishers.com/hrmetips.htm). This article is not intended as legal advice. Readers are encouraged to seek appropriate legal or other professional advice.
