Category Archives: Accounting tips

Accounting advice from EJK Accounting & Tax

12.29 2020

Reminder – Form W-2s and 1099s Are Due in January

 

When you running a small business, it is important to know which form is used when the tax season come. The most common forms in business are Form W-2s and 1099s.

 

  

What is Form W-2?

Let’s start with a quick refresher: Form W-2 is the document that employers use to report each employee’s wages and earnings to the IRS as well as the employees.

How to file Form W-2?

Most businesses use accounting and payroll software, which will complete fillings of Form W-2 for employers, even automatically mailing the employee copies to them. You can file from e-file or paper and send it to IRS.

This is a Form W-2

 

Understanding payment categories for the Form 1099s

What is new for tax year 2020?

From 2020, the IRS has introduced the new Form 1099-NEC just for reporting independent contractor income. Because of this, you are no longer using Form 1099-MISC for reporting non-employee compensation. Let’s check out new arrangement and box numbers for reporting certain income.

 

What is Form 1099-NEC?

Form 1099- NEC is a new document specifically used to report the amounts for non-employee who worked for you during 2020 and earned more than $600. Non-employee who is not on payroll on a contract basis. If you do not have contractor’s information, ask them to fill out Form W-9 for the preparation of Form 1099-NEC.

 

New:  If you filed Form 1099-MISC with only Box 7 in the past, you should more likely to choose Box 1 (Nonemployee compensation) on the Form 1099-NEC.

 

What is Form 1099-MISC?

Form 1099-MISC is to report payments made in course of a trade or business to non-employee.

Lean more about Form 1099-Misc Boxes

 

Ready to file your 1099s, see What is a 1099 and do I need to file one?

Deadline: January 31, 2021

 

 

What if missing the filing deadline?

If you missed the deadline of January 31, 2021, you will need to pay a penalty depending on how late the filing is.

  • $50 if you file within 30 days
  • $100 if you file more than 30 days late, but before August 1
  • $260 if you file on or after August 1

 

12.28 2020

Bank Reconciliation

First, what is a bank reconciliation?

When you reconcile your bank account or statement, you compare your internal financial records such as bookkeeping records against the records provided by financial institutions.  A monthly reconciliation helps your business to detect discrepancies and errors as well as identify any unusual transactions that might be caused by fraud actions. In other word, this practice can help your business inefficiencies in accounting procedures.

 

         How often to reconcile bank statements?

Many business performs monthly bank reconciliation for identifying problems. It is the best to have a regular schedule and save bank statement or other related document for avoiding time-consuming task.  Some businesses with a lot of transactions, reconcile on a daily basis.  If something does not match with your record against bank statement, it might be due to timing differences that items or checks have not yet cleared. However, bookkeepers and accountants should be able to explain those differences.

 

Once you have figured out the reasons why bank statement and records do not match up, you need to record them by making adjusting journal entries.

 

Best Bank Reconciliation Practice and Tips

To reconcile bank accounts, you need to compare your internal record of transactions, balances, and descriptions to your monthly bank statement. Make sure matching the amounts and stating any memo or note for differences that requires more investigation and detail.

 

12.18 2020

Fill out your PPP Forgiveness Application Form


SBA released the official form to fill out for applying forgiveness on PPP Loan. Now that lenders are opening up for forgiveness applications. It is time to start prepare the documents need to qualify for full foreignness.

There are some documents and information requirements are universal to prove if you used the PPP Loan to cover any of following.

– Payroll costs

To prove payroll costs, you need to prepare:

  • Payroll service reports documenting wages and salaries paid to employees
  • Federal payroll tax filing (IRS Form 941 / 943)
  • State quarterly Payroll, Income, and Unemployment insurance reports
  • Receipts* for employee contributions to employee benefits
  • Receipts* for any retirement plan contributions

– Owner compensation

To prove owner compensation payments, you need t prepare:

  • 2019 Schedule C (or January to February 2020) for Sole Proprietorships
  • 2019 Form 1099-MISC (or January to February 2020) for Independent Contractors
  • 2019 Schedule K-1 (or January to February 2020) for Partnerships
  • Receipts for compensation payment

If there is more than one individual included, provide a separate document that lists the names and payments to each owner.

– Mortgage interest payments

        To prove mortgage interest payments, you need to prepare:

  • Mortgage amortization schedule or mortgage account statements
  • Receipts or cleared checks 

– Rent/ Lease payments

        To provide rent/ lease payments, you need to prepare:

  • Current Lease agreement and receipts or cleared checks 
  • Lender monthly account statements

– Utilities payments

        To prove utilities payments, you need to prepare:

  • Monthly utilities statements or involves
  • Receipts, cleared checks, or account statements

*Payment receipts, cleared checks, or account statements documenting the amount that the Borrower included in the forgiveness

What is next?

Once you have prepared all documentations, it is time to fill out the application form and upload supplemental documents into your portal.

 

Accounting Tips: Educate Your Employees

Why is it important to have strong internal control within an organization?

        A control environment is made up of a compilation of an entity’s organizational structures, policies, standards, and processes that maintain control across the organization. Having effective control environments with adequate internal control is essential for businesses to reduce the risk of asset loss and ensure reasonable assurance for stakeholders and businesses. Moreover, implementing a strong internal control, businesses establish solid protocols and procedures for their employees and partners. It allows businesses to prevent fraud and theft by separation of duties and organization of financial and management information.

Here are some best practices that should mitigate issues from happening in your business.

  • Segregation of Duties
  • Physical Controls
  • IT Controls
  • Accounting Standards and Policies 
  • Ethical Learnings

We strongly recommend to educate and train your employees for prevention of fraud as well as errors and mistakes.

05.10 2016

IRS Workshops for Non-profits

In an effort to provide better access to popular workshops, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has posted virtual versions of workshops on their website. The most recent installment focuses on tax compliance for exempt organizations including small to medium-sized 501(c)3 organizations.

Lessons include topics such as how to apply for 501(c)3 status, 990 overview course, and hiring employees. They are designed to help both new and pre-existing organizations. The IRS also offers certificates of attendance to encourage comprehensive education around a variety of topics.