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5 common forms of payroll fraud faced by employers

For employers looking to safeguard their organizations from fraud, payroll is among the most obvious targets they must protect. That’s where the money is, after all. Payroll can stand out as a bright red bullseye for criminals if not carefully guarded.

How bright? In its Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found that 15% of all occupational fraud schemes in the United States and Canada involve payroll. The report also revealed that, once these crimes are underway, they typically last 18 months before they’re detected, and the average loss is $2,800 a month.

Clearly, the stakes are high. What’s worse, payroll fraud can happen in many ways. Here are five of its most common forms:

1. Workers’ compensation insurance fraud. Employees who are legitimately injured on the job generally are entitled to receive workers’ comp benefits. But some employees fabricate injuries and make fraudulent claims. Crimes of this nature can elevate your insurance premiums and cause substantial out-of-pocket losses for self-insured employers.

To help prevent fraud, establish detailed policies and procedures for handling workers’ comp claims — including how to report injuries. Installing surveillance cameras to capture any workplace injuries may also help.

2. Buddy punching. This term is used to describe when one employee improperly punches a time clock for another employee to inflate hours on a time sheet. It usually means lower productivity and indicates a general culture of dishonesty. Time-tracking apps may help curtail buddy punching to some extent, but employees can still share login credentials and devices to cheat.

Be sure to create, distribute and enforce clear rules about recording time worked. If buddy punching becomes a recurring issue, require workers to verify their identities with ID cards, face recognition or fingerprints. Be sure supervisors are carefully reviewing time sheets and noting suspicious behavior.

3. Bonus and commission fraud. Many employers offer bonuses or commissions for meeting sales goals or other benchmarks. These can be valuable incentives that drive productivity. Unfortunately, they can also tempt dishonest employees to fudge the numbers. The temptation can be particularly great in stressful environments where competition is fierce and goals are tough to achieve.

Providing a level playing field and making goals achievable generally helps tamp down the kind of resentment and desperation that may lead employees to commit this type of fraud. Also, monitor bonuses and commissions paid every payroll period. If any amount seems unusual or excessive, investigate it.

4. Ghost employees. Accounting department staffers, or anyone with access to payroll records, can create “ghost” (nonexistent) employees and start issuing paychecks to them. The checks typically are deposited in accounts set up by the perpetrators. Although these criminals usually invent names for their fictitious employees, they sometimes use identities of former employees to collect wages illegally.

Regularly review payroll records to ensure there aren’t any ghosts on the books. One red flag to look for is unfamiliar names that share personal information with other employees, such as having the same home address or phone number.

5. Expense reimbursement fraud. This is an especially common form of wrongdoing. Some employees may not even think that falsifying expenses for business trips is unethical because they believe “everyone does it.” If you don’t have a detailed expense reimbursement policy that requires, for example, employees to substantiate claims with receipts and obtain manager sign off, establish one immediately.

Expense reimbursement fraud is serious and may get employers — not just their employees — in trouble with taxing authorities. Stay apprised of the latest IRS rules on reimbursing employees’ expenses. We can answer any questions you have about those rules or any aspect of payroll fraud prevention.

© 2024
TopLine Content Marketing Team

Why audited financials matter

Reliable financial reporting is key to any company’s success. Here’s why your business should at least consider investing in audited financial statements.

Weighing the differences

Most businesses maintain an in-house accounting system to manage their financials. The documents your staff prepares through your in-house accounting system are called “internally prepared financial statements.”

In many cases, internal financials are perfectly functional for the day-to-day operational needs of a small business. But they usually don’t follow every reporting standard prescribed under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

When an external CPA audits your financial statements, he or she will examine various accounting documents to check whether you’re following GAAP and, afterward, offer an opinion on your statements. If the auditor issues an “unqualified” opinion, he or she agrees with the methods your in-house team used to prepare your financial statements.

If a “qualified” opinion is issued, it usually means the auditor has identified one or more GAAP reporting methods that your company hasn’t followed. This doesn’t mean your financial statements are inaccurate; it just signifies that you didn’t prepare them according to GAAP. (There may be other reasons for a qualified opinion as well.)

Looking at both sides

Who cares whether you’re in compliance with GAAP? Lenders, investors and other external stakeholders do. For example, banks may require you provide audited financial statements before they’ll approve loans, and sureties usually require them for bonding purposes. Some governmental agencies also require companies to provide audited statements to bid on contracts.

You may even save money. Small businesses with audited statements typically receive lower interest rates on loans than companies without audited statements. In addition, because of the extra steps an external auditor takes, audited financial statements are more likely than internally prepared statements to be free of reporting mistakes, such as data entry errors. For example, if your balance sheet shows that you bought a piece of equipment for $100,000, your auditor will double-check that figure by looking at original receipts.

Although audited financial statements can provide the benefits mentioned, they’re not something your business should leap into without foresight. In addition to requiring a financial investment, an outside audit will ask you and your employees to invest a substantial amount of time and energy toward its completion. You’ll need to gather and provide extensive documentation and even submit to interviews.

What’s right for your business?

If external stakeholders don’t require your company to provide audited financial statements, your CPA offers other lower-cost options, such as compiled or reviewed statements, which can help you gain insight into your company’s financial health. Contact us to determine what’s appropriate for your situation. If you decide you want an external audit of your financial statements, we’ll discuss timelines and responsibilities before fieldwork begins.

© 2024
TopLine Content Marketing Team

Social Security tax update: How high can it go?

Employees, self-employed individuals and employers all pay Social Security tax, and the amounts can get bigger every year. And yet, many people don’t fully understand the Social Security tax they pay.

If you’re an employee

If you’re an employee, your wages are hit with the 12.4% Social Security tax up to the annual wage ceiling. Half of the Social Security tax bill (6.2%) is withheld from your paychecks. The other half (also 6.2%) is paid by your employer, so you never actually see it. Unless you understand how the Social Security tax works and closely examine your pay statements, you may be blissfully unaware of the size of the tax. It’s potentially a lot!

The Social Security tax wage ceiling for 2024 is $168,600 (up from $160,200 for 2023). If your wages meet or exceed that ceiling, the Social Security tax for 2024 will be $20,906 (12.4% x $168,600). Half of that comes out of your paychecks and your employer pays the other half.

If you’re self employed

Self-employed individuals (sole proprietors, partners and LLC members) know all too well how hard the Social Security tax can hit. That’s because they must pay the entire Social Security tax bill out of their own pockets, based on their net self-employment income. For 2024, the Social Security tax ceiling for net self-employment income is $168,600 (same as the wage ceiling for employees). So, if your net self-employment income for 2024 is $168,600 or more, you’ll pay the maximum $20,906 Social Security tax.

Projected future ceilings 

The Social Security tax on your 2024 income is expensive enough, but it could get worse in future years — much worse, according to Social Security Administration (SSA) projections. That’s because the Social Security tax ceiling will continue to go up based on the inflation factor that’s used to determine the increases. In turn, maximum Social Security tax bills for higher earners will go up. The latest SSA projections for Social Security tax ceilings for the next nine years are:

  • $174,900 for 2025,
  • $181,800 for 2026,
  • $188,100 for 2027,
  • $195,900 for 2028,
  • $204,000 for 2029,
  • $213,600 for 2030,
  • $222,900 for 2031,
  • $232,500 for 2032 and
  • $242,700 for 2033.

These projected ceilings are not always accurate (they could be higher or lower). If the projected numbers pan out, the maximum Social Security tax on wages and net self-employment income in 2033 will be $30,095 (12.4% x $242,700).

Your future benefits

Despite what you pay in, you might receive more in Social Security benefits than you pay into the system. An Urban Institute report looked at some average situations. For example, a single man who earned average wages every year of his adult life and retired at age 65 in 2020 would have paid about $466,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes. But he can expect to receive about $640,000 in benefits during retirement. Of course, there are many factors involved and each situation is unique. Plus, these calculations don’t account for the interest the Social Security tax dollars would have earned over the years.

Some people think the government has set up an account with their name on it to hold money to pay their future Social Security benefits. After all, that must be where those Social Security taxes on wages and self-employment income go. Sorry, but this is incorrect. There are no individual accounts — just a promise from the government.

Is the Social Security system financially solid? It’s on shaky ground. Congress has known that for years and has done nothing about it (although there have been many proposals on how to fix things). A Social Security Administration report states that “benefits are now expected to be payable in full on a timely basis until 2037, when the trust fund reserves are projected to become exhausted. At the point where the reserves are used up, continuing taxes are expected to be enough to pay 76% of scheduled benefits.”

The agency adds that “Congress will need to make changes to the scheduled benefits and revenue sources for the program in the future.” These changes could include a higher age to receive full benefits, additional Social Security tax hikes in the form of higher rates, some tax-law revision that effectively implements higher ceilings or a combination of these.

Stay tuned

The Social Security tax paid by many individuals will continue to go up. If you operate a small business, there may be some strategies than can potentially cut your Social Security tax bill. If you’re an employee, you need to take Social Security into account in your financial planning. Contact us for details.

© 2024
TopLine Content Marketing Team

Hiring your child to work at your business this summer

With school out, you might be hiring your child to work at your company. In addition to giving your son or daughter some business knowledge, you and your child could reap some tax advantages.

Benefits for your child

There are special tax breaks for hiring your offspring if you operate your business as one of the following:

  • A sole proprietorship,
  • A partnership owned by both spouses,
  • A single-member LLC that’s treated as a sole proprietorship for tax purposes, or
  • An LLC that’s treated as a partnership owned by both spouses.

These entities can hire an owner’s under-age-18 children as full- or part-time employees. The children’s wages then will be exempt from the following federal payroll taxes:

  • Social Security tax,
  • Medicare tax, and
  • Federal unemployment (FUTA) tax (until an employee-child reaches age 21).

In addition, your dependent employee-child’s standard deduction can shelter from federal income tax up to $14,600 of 2024 wages from your business.

Benefits for your business

When hiring your child, you get a business tax deduction for employee wage expense. The deduction reduces your federal income tax bill, your self-employment tax bill and your state income tax bill, if applicable.

Note: There are different rules for corporations. If you operate as a C or S corporation, your child’s wages are subject to Social Security, Medicare and FUTA taxes, like any other employee’s. However, you can deduct your child’s wages as a business expense on your corporation’s tax return, and your child can shelter the wages from federal income tax with the $14,600 standard deduction for single filers.

Traditional and Roth IRAs

No matter what type of business you operate, your child can contribute to an IRA or Roth IRA. With a Roth IRA, contributions are made with after-tax dollars. So, taxes are paid on the front end. After age 59½, the contributions and earnings that have accumulated in the account can be withdrawn free from federal income tax if the account has been open for more than five years.

In contrast, contributions to a traditional IRA are deductible, subject to income limits. So, unlike Roth contributions, deductible contributions to a traditional IRA lower the employee-child’s taxable income.

However, contributing to a Roth IRA is usually a much better idea for a young person than contributing to a traditional IRA for several reasons. Notably, your child probably won’t get any meaningful write-offs from contributing to a traditional IRA because the child’s standard deduction will shelter up to $14,600 of 2024 earned income. Any additional income will likely be taxed at very low rates.

In addition, your child can withdraw all or part of the annual Roth contributions — without any federal income tax or penalty — to pay for college or for any other reason. Of course, even though your child can withdraw Roth contributions without adverse tax consequences, the best strategy is to leave as much of the Roth balance as possible untouched until retirement to accumulate a larger tax-free sum.

The only tax law requirement for your child when making an annual Roth IRA contribution is having earned income for the year that at least equals what’s contributed for that year. There’s no age restriction. For the 2024 tax year, your child can contribute to an IRA or Roth IRA the lesser of:

  • His or her earned income, or
  • $7,000.

Making modest Roth contributions can add up over time. For example, suppose your child contributes $1,000 to a Roth IRA each year for four years. The Roth account would be worth about $32,000 in 45 years when he or she is ready to retire, assuming a 5% annual rate of return. If you assume an 8% return, the account would be worth more than three times that amount.

Caveats

Hiring your child can be a tax-smart idea. However, your child’s wages must be reasonable for the work performed. Be sure to maintain the same records as you would for other employees to substantiate the hours worked and duties performed. These include timesheets, job descriptions and W-2 forms. Contact us with any questions you have about employing your child at your small business.

© 2024
TopLine Content Marketing Team

The tax consequences of selling mutual funds

Do you invest in mutual funds or are you interested in putting some money into them? If so, you’re part of a large group. According to the Investment Company Institute, 116 million individual U.S. investors owned mutual funds in 2023. But despite their widespread use, the tax rules involved in selling mutual fund shares can be complex.

Review the basic rules

Let’s say you sell appreciated mutual fund shares that you’ve owned for more than one year. The resulting profit will be a long-term capital gain. As such, the maximum federal income tax rate will be 20%, and you may also owe the 3.8% net investment income tax. However, most taxpayers will pay a tax rate of only 15% and some may even qualify for a 0% tax rate.

When a mutual fund investor sells shares, gain or loss is measured by the difference between the amount realized from the sale and the investor’s basis in the shares. One challenge is that certain mutual fund transactions are treated as sales even though they might not be thought of as such. Another problem may arise in determining your basis for shares sold.

A sale may unknowingly occur

It’s obvious that a sale occurs when an investor redeems all shares in a mutual fund and receives the proceeds. Similarly, a sale occurs if an investor directs the fund to redeem the number of shares necessary for a specific dollar payout.

It’s less obvious that a sale occurs if you’re swapping funds within a fund family. For example, you surrender shares of an income fund for an equal value of shares of the same company’s growth fund. No money changes hands, but this is considered a sale of the income fund shares.

Another example is when investors write checks on their funds. Many mutual funds provide check-writing privileges to their investors. Although it may not seem like it, each time you write a check on your fund account, you’re making a sale of shares.

Figuring the basis of shares 

If an investor sells all shares in a mutual fund in a single transaction, determining basis is relatively easy. Simply add the basis of all the shares (the amount of actual cash investments), including commissions or sales charges. Then, add distributions by the fund that were reinvested to acquire additional shares and subtract any distributions that represent a return of capital.

The calculation is more complex if you dispose of only part of your interest in the fund and the shares were acquired at different times for different prices. You can use one of several methods to identify the shares sold and determine your basis:

  • First-in, first-out. The basis of the earliest acquired shares is used as the basis for the shares sold. If the share price has been increasing over your ownership period, the older shares are likely to have a lower basis and result in more gain.
  • Specific identification. At the time of sale, you specify the shares to sell. For example, “sell 100 of the 200 shares I purchased on June 1, 2020.” You must receive written confirmation of your request from the fund. This method may be used to lower the resulting tax bill by directing the sale of the shares with the highest basis.
  • Average basis. The IRS permits you to use the average basis for shares that were acquired at various times and that were left on deposit with the fund or a custodian agent.

As illustrated, mutual fund investing may result in complicated tax situations. We can answer any questions you may have and explain how the rules apply to your situation.

© 2024
TopLine Content Marketing Team

4 bookkeeping pitfalls for small businesses to avoid

Accurate bookkeeping is essential to operating a successful small business. The problems created by inadequate bookkeeping practices can have significant, long-lasting consequences. Here are four common pitfalls — and how to avoid them with the right knowledge and tools.

1. Commingled bank accounts

It’s important to maintain a separate dedicated bank account for business transactions. Using the owner’s personal accounts for business purposes can have legal and tax implications. Separate accounts also make it easier to track business expenses and prepare tax returns.

With a separate bank account, you can set up payments for recurring business expenses. It’s also important to review and reconcile your business records to bank statements on a regular basis.

2. Overreliance on spreadsheets 

Excel is a user-friendly, versatile tool for many business purposes. But without extensive programming, it lacks automation and the ability to provide real-time updates. And using spreadsheets for bookkeeping purposes can lead to inconsistent treatment of similar transactions and data entry errors.

Excel should never be a substitute for dedicated accounting software, such as QuickBooks®, NetSuite® or Xero™. These cost-effective solutions streamline a small business’s financial reporting processes. Most programs integrate with bank and credit card accounts — and cloud-based platforms provide access from anywhere with the owner’s (or manager’s) laptop, tablet and smartphone.

3. The use of personal credit for business expenses

Drawing from personal credit sources provides quick access to funds when you’re launching a new venture. However, they often come with high interest rates and fees. Using personal credit for business expenses also makes it harder to separate personal and business expenses for accounting and tax purposes.

To get a business credit line, you’ll need to contact your bank and complete an application. While the application process may take some time, it’s worth the effort. Credit lines help establish a credit history in the company’s name, which is essential as the business grows and needs additional capital to purchase major assets and pursue investment opportunities.

4. Lax recordkeeping practices 

Accountants dread when a small business owner shows up to tax preparation meetings with a shoebox of receipts — or no documentation at all. Well-prepared owners have organized records, including paper filing systems, digital storage, and backup solutions, to substantiate expenses for tax and accounting purposes.

By retaining original source documents — such as receipts, invoices, bank statements and contracts — you can track the business’s financial performance and file state and federal tax forms with ease. And you’re prepared if the IRS challenges any deductions or credits you claim for business-related items. Without source documents, the IRS is more likely to disallow business tax breaks and assess penalties and fines. 

In general, business records must be retained for a period ranging from three to seven years, depending on the nature of the record. Contact us for specific record retention guidelines.

We can help

Implementing sound bookkeeping practices can empower you to improve your business’s financial management and increase confidence in your financial reporting. It reduces the stress of running a business and provides essential information for your business to thrive in today’s competitive markets. Contact us for help building a solid bookkeeping foundation.

© 2024
TopLine Content Marketing Team