|
|
|
Established by the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants, SAS 70 Type II is a
widely recognized auditing standard for service organizations to
demonstrate they have adequate controls and processes in place. A
SAS 70 examination demonstrates that an independent accounting
and auditing firm has reviewed and examined an organization's
control objectives and activities. Federal regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley,
Gramm-Leach-Bliley and the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) require corporations to audit the
internal controls of their suppliers, including those that provide
on-demand services. By undergoing the SAS 70 II
audit, EMPLOYEEMAX can provide its clients with a
comprehensive audit report that facilitates compliance with these
and other regulations.
|
|
|
2012 Health
Savings Account Limits Released
|
|
The Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) has released the 2012 inflation adjusted amounts
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as determined under the Internal
Revenue Code.
An HSA is a health savings
account (a tax-exempt trust or custodial account) set up
exclusively for paying qualified medical expenses. To be eligible
to have contributions made to an HSA, an individual must be
covered under a high deductible health plan (HDHP) and meet
certain other eligibility requirements.
An HSA may receive
contributions from an eligible individual or any other person,
including an employer or a family member, on behalf of an
eligible individual. Contributions, other than employer contributions,
are deductible on the eligible individual's return whether or not
the individual itemizes deductions. Employer contributions are
not included in income. Distributions from an HSA that are used
to pay qualified medical expenses are not taxed.
Annual Contribution Limits
For calendar year 2012, the
annual limitation on HSA deductions for an individual with
self-only coverage under a high-deductible health plan is $3,100.
The annual limitation on HSA deductions for an individual with
family coverage under a high deductible health plan is $6,250 for
calendar year 2012.
High Deductible Health Plan
For calendar year 2012, a
"high deductible health plan" is defined as a health
plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,200 (no
change from calendar year 2011) for self-only coverage or $2,400
(no change from calendar year 2011) for family coverage, and the
annual out-of-pocket expenses (deductibles, co-payments, and
other amounts, but not premiums) do not exceed $6,050 for
self-only coverage or $12,100 for family coverage.
|
|
|
Introducing Sales
Evolution
|
|
|
|
Sales Evolution specializes
in creating more efficient and effective business development
processes for manufacturers, technology companies, consultants,
"non-selling professionals" like accountants and
attorneys, marketing companies, financial service companies, and
distributors. With over twenty years of experience training
individuals and teams in creating better results by working
smarter and not harder, Sales Evolution brings the power necessary to help your
people and organization get to the next level of business
development success. Our competency allows you to resolve
the following issues:
1.
Aggravation over continually dealing
with sales cycles that go on and on for no apparent reason and no
process for moving deals forward or killing them, 2.
Dealing
with the difficulty and struggle of how to
reframe a prospect or customer's view of your products as
commodities so you can maintain or expand margins, 3.
Feeling uncomfortable
about how to get the business you want at a price satisfactory to
both you and the customer, and how to get them to tell you how to
do it, 4. Frustration over the difficulty of
getting through to senior decision makers and getting an
audience, 5.
Eliminating or
reducing the high cost to the organization from
demands from prospects who want you to provide samples, drawings,
bids, quotes, RFP's, or other forms of "free
consulting" before doing business.
We are NOT for every
company. The shift from traditional selling to this new,
counter-intuitive methodology that changes the rules away from
the Buyer's game to the Seller's game takes a lot of energy and commitment
from senior management, challenges many core beliefs about
selling, and is expensive, but if any of the bullet points listed
above struck a chord or your curiosity is piqued spending a few
minutes on the phone talking about your specifics issues and
challenges is warranted.
Visit Sales Evolution website, www.salesevolution.com
for testimonials, videos, interviews, and more on Guess Free
Selling, or go to www.linkedin.com/in/scottmesser
to read over 30 recommendations on how and why Guess Free Selling
works so well.
Scott Messer, Principal
& Coach
610-353-8686
|
|
|
|
|
News
for employeeMAX clients
|
|
We
strive to provide our clients with pertinent information on our
Company, the Payroll Industry, and other Human Resource
information.
In particular, in this issue, we discuss the new
2012 Health Savings Accounts Limits, Guides for Employees'
Use of Social Media, and our ongoing feature article from
our benefits partner, The Business Benefits Group (BBG)
Fairfax VA.
We are also pleased to
announce our SAS 70 Type II Certification. More
information on this certification can be found
at http://sas70.com/sas70_overview.html
On
behalf of the entire EMPLOYEEMAX team, I thank you for your
business and we look forward to providing you with superior
payroll and HR services and exceeding your expectations.
Sincerely, Bob Curran,
President & CEO
Upcoming Classes
Report
Writer---07/14/2011 11
AM ET
HR
& Benefits Class---7/28/2011 11
AM ET
To
register or for more information, please contact Bobbie Smith at Bobbie.Smith@EmployeeMax.com
|
|
|
Tax Department News
Robert Hayner, CPP
Without a strong partnership
between ESO and YOU, resolving tax notices can be a difficult
process.
Therefore, ESO is utilizing
a new ticketing system that will allow better processing of tax
notices. The general process will be as follows:
1.
Client will fax
or email a tax notice.
2.
ESO - enter and
issue a letter of time line to estimate expectations for
resolving tax notice.
3.
ESO
periodically communicates updates or status of tax notice.
In some cases, the client may be required to send sequential notices
due to timing of processing.
4.
As the tax
notice is resolved, a final notification will be issued to the
client stating resolution and closure of the notice.
There are many ways to
minimize or alleviate tax notices. Below are some suggestions
and recommendations to assist with this endeavor:
1.
Reconcile every payroll
throughout the quarter.
2. Once the Tax Package is available in Reports, review for
any inaccuracies, report to the tax dept. so corrections can be
made prior to submitting tax returns to the agencies.
3. There are several areas to review in the tax
package: the variance recap (explains discrepancies in the
taxes), Profile page or end of the package (lists legal name,
account numbers, tax rates, etc). It is also recommended to
review each tax return.
4.
PLEASE take time to do all
of the above. Also, ask questions regardless of how
small. Investing time on the front end will eliminate any
frustrations throughout the process of receiving tax notices
later, which take a tremendous amount of time and money.
Remember, we are both on the
same team and ESO is here for your success.
As a reminder, please send
all tax notices immediately to ESO. They can be sent via
fax 832-204-8421 or by email at Tax@employeemax.com.
If you have any questions on this process, please do not
hesitate to contact the tax dept. 571-209-5340.
|
|
|
|
|
Employee Recruiting
Success - Developing an Effective Recruiting Program
Business Benefits Group
|
A successful
recruiting program is essential to attracting and selecting
qualified candidates to join your company's workforce and
positioning your business for growth. The key to successful
recruiting of new employees is the development of a systematic process
for developing job descriptions, generating a pool of qualified
applicants, and selecting the right candidate.
Developing
an Effective Recruiting Program
The following are
the significant steps involved in building a successful program
for recruiting new employees.
Before Recruiting Process Begins
- Before recruiting, consider ways to
improve efficiency and divide or allocate additional
responsibilities among existing staff to accomplish the
workload.
- Organize a planning meeting with
the hiring manager and/or relevant staff to determine needs,
timing and other recruitment issues.
- Decide whether your budget will
allow for the hiring of a new employee to fill the position.
Recruitment Process Tips
- Perform a detailed job analysis to
identify the necessary skills, knowledge, and abilities for
each position.
- Create your job description and
selection criteria based on the most current information
available and modify these materials as necessary.
- Design your recruitment plan in
terms of promoting the job opening and generating a
qualified pool of applicants.
- Establish a process for
interviewing candidates that will provide as much
information as possible about an applicant's potential to
perform the duties of the position.
- Develop a process for selecting the
best candidates.
- Avoid any discriminatory inquiries
or statements during the recruiting and interview process.
BBG,
offering a full line of services from integrated HRIS to full
business insurance products, is a proud Payroll Partner with
Employer Services Online. For further
information, please contact Anthony Stefanakis 703.385.7200 ext 101 or toll free at 877-785-7200 ext 101. You can also email
Anthony at Anthony@bbgbroker.com.
Feel free to visit BBG's websites at www.bbgbroker.com
and www.bbghr.com.
|
|
|
Social Media's Role in
Today's Workplace
Maria L. Novak
|
In my business, with Social Media being an
integral part of Marketing and Business Development, I am often
questioned on the role it plays when employees have access to
Social Media while working.
There are certain aspects of Marketing
that often overlap with Human Resources and many policies need to
be integrated into an Employee Handbook which are essential to
the development of the business.
Do you really know what your
employees are posting on the Internet?
The increased use of social media sites can
create some questions and concerns within the workplace. The
expansion of the Internet and sites where individuals can post
information have been a great asset for business, particularly
small businesses. Your business might even have a Facebook page
and you can use this as a communication tool to reach existing
customers and potential customers. However, there are also some
challenges that come along with this increased technology,
particularly when it comes to employee privacy rights.
The key concern that enters the picture is
the employees' use of time on social media sites while they are
supposed to be working, thus, creating loss of productivity. When
can an employee use social media, and what are employees allowed
to post?
The more challenging aspect of social media
sites for employers is the actual information that an employee
may post on a site. Is it potentially harassing behavior toward
another employee? Is the employee posting information about
the company that could violate any nondisclosure policies or
agreements? In order for companies to gain a better handle
on these situations, it is recommended that organizations have
clear Internet usage and social media policies written into their
Employee Handbooks.
A good policy should provide
the following:
· Instructions to employees on what is and is
not permissible with regard to using the Internet at work.
· Clear information about the employer's
right to monitor employee computers within the workplace and
require employees to acknowledge in writing that they should not
have an expectation of privacy for anything that is sent,
received or stored on the company's computer systems.
· Restrictions on the use of personal phones
and other electronic devices while on company time.
· Consequences for employees if they are in
violation of the Internet Usage and
Social Media policies.
For more information on Social Media policies
or Employee Handbooks, please feel free to contact Maria Novak,
owner of Marketing Solutions & Business Development.
Maria L. Novak is
president of Marketing Solutions & Business Development, a
firm offering creative marketing services for small & medium
sized businesses. For more information, contact Maria at 610-405-0633
or MariaNovak001@yahoo.com or visit
www.Maria-L-Novak.webs.com
|
|
|
We Appreciate
Your Referrals
|
|
Employer Services Online would like to thank
you for being a valued customer. We appreciate your
business and enjoy servicing your payroll and HR needs. In
addition to building relationships throughout our business
communities, referrals are the heart of ESO. The
biggest compliment we can receive is having our existing clients
refer us to others, so if you have enjoyed the EmployeeMAX
experience and savings, we would appreciate you telling
others! Thank you again for your continued commitment to
Employer Services Online.
|
|
|
|
|
