Hidden Feature: Calculator Within QuickBooks
One of the best tips that I would provide my clients with, that they didn't usually know about before, was the calculator functions within QuickBooks Desktop. When typing any calculator function in a quantity or amount field in a transaction, Add (+), Subtract (-), Divide (/), or Multiply (*), a mini calculator would pop up.
Adding the next number and then enter would provide the result.
What most people still don't know is that QuickBooks Online (QBO) also has this functionality. While a little calculation window doesn't pop up, you can still use any of the character functions in a quantity or amount field, add a number, and then the TAB key (the Enter key doesn't work here).
You will notice a red error message, "
This value is out of range
" when entering a number and then the character function. But just enter the next value or number and then TAB and it will calculate the result.
You can even do multiple calculations by inputting another character function, a number, character, number, on so on. It is not until you key the TAB button that it completes the calculation and provides a total.
How To Prepare QuickBooks Payroll for Arizona’s New Mandatory Sick Leave Under Prop 206
On November 8, 2016, Proposition 206: The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act passed. There are two parts to Prop 206: the first is a minimum wage increase, and the second is a mandatory employer-provided sick leave. It is the requirement for private and municipal employers to provide paid sick leave to all employees beginning
July 1, 2017
. Under Prop 206, all employees must accrue paid sick time at a minimum rate of one (1) hour of paid sick time per every thirty (30) hours worked (not confined to a workweek or pay period). Employers with less than fifteen (15) employees, must provide and allow the use of twenty-four (24) hours of paid sick time per year, while employers with fifteen (15) or more employees must provide and allow the use of forty (40) hours of paid sick time a year.
Employers have 2 options to provide these hours to employees:
On an accrual basis (1 hour of sick time accrued for every 30 hours worked).
Front loading 24 hours or 3 days at the start of the calendar year, anniversary date, or 12 month basis.
To Enter the Accrual into QuickBooks Payroll
Starting July 1, 2017, employees will
earn
at least 1 hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked. That works out to a little more than 8 days a year for someone who works full time. But employers can limit the amount of paid sick leave you can
take
in one year to 24 hours (3 days).
Minimum Accrual Calculation: 1 hr. divided by 30 hrs. = 0.03333 hours.
Hours are accrued per hour worked using the decimal calculation per hour with a maximum allowed number of hours.
Note: The maximum allowed is the maximum hours
at any time.
It does not enforce the yearly limit.
However, if you use a professional time tracking software like
, you can enforce a yearly cap. I highly recommend this software even if you are not using QuickBooks for payroll (works with ADP and other payroll service providers).
To Front Load the Hours into QuickBooks Payroll
Employers also have the option of front loading the 24 hours (3 days) to their employees at the start of the calendar year, anniversary date, or 12 month basis.
Hours are accrued at the beginning of the year.
Hours are accrued on the anniversary date (hire date).
Hours are front loaded for employees.
The accrual method may be the preferred and more accurate way of allowing employees to earn their sick time for businesses that don't already provide a block of sick hours to be used. For those businesses that already have a sick pay policy where hours are not earned until after a tenure of employment (90 days, 1st year of employment, etc.), it may be better to switch to the accrual method. However, it may also be too difficult to track the amount used and stop the accrual beyond the yearly limit since the payroll service doesn't limit by year.
By front loading hours, the employer risks an employee using up their sick hours and leaving employment before actually earning them. However, by giving employees the maximum amount of hours up front, there is no need to keep track of when accrued hours have maxed out, so this is the easiest method to ensure compliance.
I Made Top 100 QuickBooks ProAdvisor Again for 2017!
I have been named a
2017 Top 100 PROADVISOR
by
, an independent news and information source written specifically for the small business advisor who needs to stay current on the latest news and offerings in accounting technology, including updates from Intuit, Xero, Sage and the hundreds of Add On products serving the small business.
This list recognizes the leading consultants who have embraced the ProAdvisor program and have leveraged it in order to better serve their clients and grow their own business.
“We’d like to congratulate everyone who made this year’s list,” said Insightful Accountant Senior Technical Editor, William “Murph” Murphy. “We had several new people join the ranks this year.”
“This is the fourth year of our PROADVISOR awards,” said Insightful Accountant Publisher and Managing Partner, Gary DeHart. “Each year the competition continues to grow and we appreciate the hard work and efforts of all of our winners.”