QuickBooks Tip – Reporting Health Coverage on 2012 Form W-2

Employers who filed 250 or more Forms W-2 for 2011 are required to report the cost of employer sponsored group health plan coverage in 2012 on each employee’s form W-2. This requirement is for informational purposes to reflect the value of the employee’s healthcare benefits.

QuickBooks Payroll includes a tax tracking type, Health Coverage Cost, to support this reporting requirement. This allows you to track the cost of healthcare coverage for reporting on the employees’ 2012 form W-2 in box 12, code DD. Additional information is available at Intuit Payroll.

More QuickBooks Tips

• Go Paperless with QuickBooks (holtpros.wordpress.com)
• Connect with Customer Messages (holtpros.wordpress.com)

Go Paperless with QuickBooks

Ready to get rid of all the stacks and file drawers full of paper? Scan and connect your documents to your QuickBooks records for permanent filing of your records.

In QuickBooks, Click on the Docs button on the icon bar to open the Document Center or click on Company from the menu bar to choose Documents from the drop down list and select Doc Center.

Load you document in your scanner. Click on the Scan button in the Document Center and follow the instructions. The QuickBooks Scan Manager window will open for you to select a scan profile and page size.

Scan Manager

Click the Scan button to begin the scan process. Choose to scan more pages or click on the Done Scanning button. A window will appear to allow you to name the document, add a description and enter keywords to assist with search functions.

Your scanned document appears in the Doc Center and is available to attach to any transaction or item within QuickBooks.

To Attach Documents:

Find the transaction or item and open it. Click the Attach button. Select the document from the Doc Center and click Attach. Click Done. The document is now attached to the QuickBooks transaction or item. Click Save & Close. Now you can get rid of the paper!

QuickBooks Critical Notice

Reminder: The Payroll Service for QuickBooks 2009 will be discontinued.

Inuit is providing customers with additional time to upgrade their QuickBooks software. They have extended the date of the payroll service discontinuation to June 30, 2012.

After that date, QuickBooks 2009 will no longer automatically calculate correct payroll taxes or provide payroll tax forms. Payroll subscriptions for customers with QuickBooks 2009 will be inactivated on July 1, 2012.

For additional information read the original discontinuation notice at QuickBooks Support. While the payroll services are the most critical service being discontinued, be aware that all technical support, credit card processing, QuickBooks email and online banking will be discontinued  as of today, May 31, 2012. The extension time through June 30th is only offered for the payroll services. This affects all 2009 versions of QuickBooks for Windows and Mac.

To minimize disruption to your business, customers are encouraged to upgrade their QuickBooks software as soon as possible.

QuickBooks Payroll Users – Critical Maintenance Alert

Intuit QuickBooks Payroll

 
Important System Maintenance Announcement

The Intuit Small Business Division, including QuickBooks and QuickBooks Payroll product lines, will be performing a system-wide upgrade starting on Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 6pm PT and ending on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 5am PT.  Our goal with this upgrade is to provide you with a complete view into all of the Intuit products and services you use and improve your overall support experience by getting you to the right team Customer Care team member quickly.

As a result of this upgrade, some of the services you receive today on the Intuit.com websites, as well as within your QuickBooks and/or QuickBooks Payroll products will be temporarily unavailable at various times throughout the weekend.

Description	Unavailable from May 25 8pm - May 26 2am	Unavailable from May 24 6pm - May 29 5am	Unavailable from May 25 6pm - May 29 6am	Available all weekend
Creating direct deposit paychecks	Χ
Processing payrolls that do NOT include direct deposit checks				Χ
Electronic filing and electronic payments (efile and epay)				Χ
Activation of products already purchased, Upgrade to different service level		Χ
Access to account information from within your QuickBooks product		Χ
Online purchases at Intuit.com, QuickBooks.com, Payroll.com		Χ
Self help support at Payroll.com				Χ
Payroll phone support*			Χ

*Payroll phone support is available during normal operating hours: 6am-6pm PT, Monday through Friday.  Payroll phone support is not available on weekends or bank holidays, including Memorial Day.

What does this mean to me?

• If you need to create direct deposit paychecks:  QuickBooks Payroll will not process direct deposit checks dated for Monday, May 28, 2012 due to the Memorial Day holiday.  In order for your employees to receive their paychecks before Monday, May 28, you should change your paycheck date to Friday, May 25 and send your payroll by 5pm PT on Wednesday, May 23.  For more options and a detailed direct deposit schedule, click here.

If you need to access your account information from within QuickBooks, we encourage you to do so prior to May 24 or after May 29.  You can access account information in QuickBooks by selecting Employees, then selecting My Payroll Service, then Account/Billing Information.

Things to do before May 24th:

1. Download the latest tax table: version 21210.  Go to Employees and then select Get Payroll Updates.  If you are not using tax table version 21210, click on the Update button and follow the download instructions.
2. Print and share this email.  Please share this information with anyone else who has access to your QuickBooks or QuickBooks Payroll products.  You can also visit our maintenance website here for more information.

We appreciate your patience as we upgrade and improve our systems.  If you have any questions about this upgrade or would like to contact our Customer Care team, please visit our website for the latest information. Payroll customers can use the support feature located at payroll.com/support.

QuickBooks Tip – Connect with Customer Messages

Connect with your customers using the Customer Message field. QuickBooks has default messages to choose from or you can create you own. The message field is available for Invoices, Sales Orders or Estimates. Use the customer message to market your special offers, thank your client, or ask for referrals. Be sure to update the messages as needed. One more way to connect to your clients.

Giving Back to Make America Stronger

I am proud to be participating in the Startup America Partnership through Intuit’s small business software division for QuickBooks. As a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, I have been given the opportunity to partner with Intuit and Startup America Partnership in providing valuable resources to business startups.

There are three main goals of Startup America Partnership.

1. Provide valuable resources and connections to help young companies grow.
2. Support regional startup ecosystems throughout the country.
3. Recognize startups as the drivers of our economy and their founders as American heroes.

My goal is to give back to the community in helping startup businesses get a firm foundation using my expertise in accounting and QuickBooks. What do I get out of it? The satisfaction from knowing I helped America grow just a bit stronger.

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QuickBooks Payroll Users – Critical Maintenance Alert

Intuit QuickBooks Payroll

 
Important System Maintenance Announcement

The Intuit Small Business Division, including QuickBooks and QuickBooks Payroll product lines, will be performing a system-wide upgrade starting on Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 6pm PT and ending on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 5am PT.  Our goal with this upgrade is to provide you with a complete view into all of the Intuit products and services you use and improve your overall support experience by getting you to the right team Customer Care team member quickly.

As a result of this upgrade, some of the services you receive today on the Intuit.com websites, as well as within your QuickBooks and/or QuickBooks Payroll products will be temporarily unavailable at various times throughout the weekend.

Description	Unavailable from May 25 8pm - May 26 2am	Unavailable from May 24 6pm - May 29 5am	Unavailable from May 25 6pm - May 29 6am	Available all weekend
Creating direct deposit paychecks	Χ
Processing payrolls that do NOT include direct deposit checks				Χ
Electronic filing and electronic payments (efile and epay)				Χ
Activation of products already purchased, Upgrade to different service level		Χ
Access to account information from within your QuickBooks product		Χ
Online purchases at Intuit.com, QuickBooks.com, Payroll.com		Χ
Self help support at Payroll.com				Χ
Payroll phone support*			Χ

*Payroll phone support is available during normal operating hours: 6am-6pm PT, Monday through Friday.  Payroll phone support is not available on weekends or bank holidays, including Memorial Day.

What does this mean to me?

• If you need to create direct deposit paychecks:  QuickBooks Payroll will not process direct deposit checks dated for Monday, May 28, 2012 due to the Memorial Day holiday.  In order for your employees to receive their paychecks before Monday, May 28, you should change your paycheck date to Friday, May 25 and send your payroll by 5pm PT on Wednesday, May 23.  For more options and a detailed direct deposit schedule, click here.

If you need to access your account information from within QuickBooks, we encourage you to do so prior to May 24 or after May 29.  You can access account information in QuickBooks by selecting Employees, then selecting My Payroll Service, then Account/Billing Information.

Things to do before May 24th:

1. Download the latest tax table: version 21210.  Go to Employees and then select Get Payroll Updates.  If you are not using tax table version 21210, click on the Update button and follow the download instructions.
2. Print and share this email.  Please share this information with anyone else who has access to your QuickBooks or QuickBooks Payroll products.  You can also visit our maintenance website here for more information.

We appreciate your patience as we upgrade and improve our systems.  If you have any questions about this upgrade or would like to contact our Customer Care team, please visit our website for the latest information. Payroll customers can use the support feature located at payroll.com/support.