Employees Need To Fill Out Timecards
The most practical reason is that all employees want to get paid, early, often and on a regular basis.
For those of you that are parents do you remember when you brought home that brand new baby? They need food, water and diaper changed. You learned all about “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” Some children who are born on a HOT summer day seem to get “overheated” very easily and do not suffer quietly.
If you have employees you may notice in some similarities to raising children because in some cases you the contractor take over where your employee's parents left off. They want their paychecks (allowance) on a regular basis and it had better not bounce at the bank due to insufficient funds.
If any of your construction worker's paychecks do happen to bounce or they are not able to cash it at the bank because your construction company does not have enough money in the payroll account then most likely you will find whatever tools and equipment they have easy access to at the nearest pawn shop.
In almost all cases in addition to visiting the local pawn shop if an employee does not get paid “On Time” they may contact your local State agencies and even Federal agencies for assistance. Please understand payday is “Results Driven”, your results, not theirs and “No Excuses Allowed”.
Purpose Of All Timecards:
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Pay Employees
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Fill out Government Forms
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Job Costing for a better bottom line
As the Employer you need to have the Timecard as the foundation to making sure employees get paid. Employees need to fill-it-out their own timecard and total it, including anyone on salary. You can create your own timecard or you can download our FREE timecard form and modify it to fit your needs. Timecard needs to be something more than a few numbers scribbled on back of a paper bag or the nearest Home Depot receipt (those are already full of foot prints and coffee stains).
After all timecards (timesheets) are entered into QuickBooks save and file them. Do this even if you are using a 3rd party payroll processor. You may need to reference the information later.
Timecards Should Have The Following - More Detail Is Better:
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Company Name
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Time Period Payroll Covers
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Employee Name
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Days of Week worked
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Hours Worked with Start / Stop and lunch breaks
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Total Regular Hours
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Total Overtime Hours
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Special Hours
If you are interested in solving the entire timecard issue and moving to a smartphone / web based solution click on the button below:
Quarterly tax returns for Washington State Employment Security and Washington State Labor & Industries quarterly tax returns cross reference each other. Washington Employment Security and Labor & Industries compare what you put on your quarterly tax returns and communicate with each another to review the same employee wage data in different ways.
Quarterly tax returns for Washington State Employment Security Quarterly Reports want employee wage detail including:
Name
Social Security Numbers
Hours Worked
Gross Wages
Washington State Labor And Industries Wants Summary Data Including:
Labor code worked under
Total hours per classification
Total wages per classification
Washington State Labor And Industries sets the rate for each contractor based on their experience rating.
Example of Washington State L&I Contractor Rates
It is always optional to take the employee deduction from employees paycheck based on risk classification worked. Taking more than allowed is not acceptable.
We recommend all construction company owners deduct the maximum allowed from each employee and bring it up early and often in your safety meetings because it helps them focus more attention on safety which helps lower overhead costs and benefits everyone. It is important to understand the Psychology of Construction Field Employees. Click here for more
Whenever any employee is requesting unemployment benefits, their request is sent to the employer to verify they are or have been an employee. The Washington State Employment Security computer may auto fill the form and sends a letter to the first company on the list. It is very important that someone in your office double checks the accuracy of the request and notify the Washington State Employment Security if it is not your employee. Companies have similar names and each state wants to apply the risk to the proper company. They also want to verify if any employee is saying they have worked for a company which they were a 1099 contract employee or trying to submit a fraudulent claim.
Part Time Employees
What about an employee who is working part time and sometimes receiving unemployment benefits.
Washington State Employment Security will send a form for the employee to fill out breaking down the hours and gross pay week-by-week for a period that is in question.
Example of Washington State Employment Security Wage Verification
This can be for all the hours worked from a 12 to 52 week period including time worked during the previous year. Your source document is the timecards and paystubs and you may need it if you have to prove their hours and the more detail in their own handwriting the better!
Washington State Employment Security wants to know
Does the social security number match?
What is the rate of pay?
Is there any other type of benefits?
What is your pay cycle?
What is the last day of the pay period?
Are original timecards (sheets) available?
What are the daily hours with a weekly total?
What is the weekly total earned?
What day was the wages paid?
Dollar amount of wages paid?
All forms are easy to fill out if you have all the data in an easily usable format that accessible. What you do as a contractor is “Easy To Do” if it is something you do all of the time.
As QuickBooks experts in Contractors accounting and contractors bookkeeping paperwork is our special skill set. We know what to do! Let us help you so you can do what you do best!
We have a FREE sample time card you can download by clicking here
Profitable Construction - Companies have known about the value of outsourced bookkeeping services for a long time and now you know about it too!
We Scan Your Receipts And Invoices link the appropriate transactions to QuickBooks or Xero Accounting Online depending on the construction accounting service you are using and provide ongoing Cloud Based Contractors Bookkeeping Services by accountants who understand construction.
Business Process Management (BPM) For Contractors
Thinking About Outsourcing Your Contractors Bookkeeping Services?
Click On The Button Below To Download A Free Guide
Fill Out The Form And Get The Help You Need!
Need Help Now?
Call Sharie 206-361-3950
sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com
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About The Author:
Sharie DeHart, QPA is the co-founder of Business Consulting And Accounting in Lynnwood Washington. She is the leading expert in managing outsourced construction bookkeeping and accounting services companies and cash management accounting for small construction companies across the USA. She encourages Contractors and Construction Company Owners to stay current on their tax obligations and offers insights on how to manage the remaining cash flow to operate and grow their construction company sales and profits so they can put more money in the bank. http://www.fasteasyaccounting.com/sharie-dehart/
