Payroll Training Seminar & Workshop

Day 1: Payroll Basics - Making Sense of Your Day to Day Payroll Duties

During this session, we will talk about the basics of payroll - from hiring an employee through cutting their first and last paycheck to doing the required reporting.

Defining The Employment Relationship

• Classifying the different types of workers - and how they should be paid
  
• Employee vs. Independent Contractor determinations - and the consequences of getting it wrong
  
• Exempt-NonExempt worker determinations - the basis of every pay calculation
  
• What are your company's responsibilities for travel time, on-call time, and time employees spend waiting on behalf of your company?
  
• Which meetings and training sessions are and aren't deductable – and how to handle the deduction properly
  
• When are exempt employees eligible for overtime?
  
• Understanding overlapping federal and state wage and hour laws
  
• Comp time: the common illegal practice many companies unknowingly use
  
• What to do if you get an FLSA complaint

Interactive Exercise: Independent Contractor Determination

Handling Compensation

• Defining "wages" vs other types of compensation
  
• Computing overtime correctly to help you avoid costly penalties
  
• When and how to tax fringe benefits such as company cars, club memberships, etc.
  
• The legal ramifications of paycheck advances
  
• When must prizes won at a company function be taxed?
  
• Accountable Plan Accounting - and getting it right to avoid expenses becoming compensation

Calculating Payroll

• IRS and state rules
  
• Federal and state taxes that impact an employee's paycheck - and the employer's expenses
  
• Withholding Issues for employees performing services in multiple states
  
• Deposit Requirement best practices

Interactive Exercise: Withholding Computations

The Paperwork

• How registering as an employer not only affects payroll, but the tax department as well
  
• How to comply with the New Hire Report requirements
  
• TIN Verification and the I-9 Process
  
• What to do when your employee won't complete a Form W-4
  
• Handling Garnishments
  
• Record Retention requirements impact payroll as well
  
• IRS Form 941
  
• IRS Form 940
  
• IRS Form W2

Interactive Exercise: Review Of Various Forms

Day 2: Advanced Payroll Processes

Travel vs Commute

• The IRS guidelines regarding commute costs
  
• What is considered a wage or a taxable commute benefit?
  
• Is it Compensation or a Bona Fide Business Expense?
  
• The rules for mileage, car rental, airfare, hotel, and personal aircraft
  
• The One-Year Rule-is there such a thing as breaking residency and restarting the reimbursement clock?

Interactive Exercise: Methods For Calculation Car & Aircraft Use

Executive Compensation

• Deferred Compensation reporting
  
• Stock Options, ISOs, NSOs, and ESPP taxation
  
• Fringe Benefits are currently a hot topic with the IRS. Know what to focus on!

Interactive Exercise: Computation Of Stock Option Income

Inpats - Expats

• How to handle nonresident Alien Payroll
  
• How to Report an Employee Based on Their VISA Type
  
• What Tax is the Employee Subject To?
  
• How to pay US Employees Working Abroad
  
• How to Run a Shadow Payroll
  
• What Tax is the Employee Subject To

Terminations & Layoffs

• We have 50 states and 50 different rules-How Quickly to Pay Your Employees
  
• Voluntary Quits versus Terminations and how this effects how quickly you have to pay your employees
  
• Benefits Provided at Termination and Their Tax Consequences

Interactive Exercise: Review Of 50 State Table For Termination Rules

Penalty Abatements

• Typical mistakes and penalties that can be faced by the payroll department – and how to avoid them!
  
• How to abate or request a waiver of a penalty

Interactive Exercise: How To Read A Penalty Notice And Prepare A Waiver Request

Amended Returns

• When an amended return may be necessary
  
• How to file an amended return
  
• How to deal with repayments from your employees, especially after year end

Payroll Tax Audits

• Review of the various types of audits that can occur and effect the payroll department

Recordkeeping

• What to keep: when, where, and why
  
• Benefits of a Payroll Manual
  
• Post Sarbanes-Oxley payroll procedures
  
• How to write your payroll procedures

Interactive Exercise: Do's & Don'ts For Your Payroll Manual

Program Wrap-Up