|
Preventing Fraud with TRAVERSE
There are several features found within your
accounting software applications that address an
employer’s concern regarding identity theft and
fraud.
In Payroll you can designate which forms and reports
display the employee’s Social Security Number. You
have a choice to print either all the Social
Security Number, none of the Social Security Number
or just the last four digits on the employee’s check
stub or voucher.
In Direct Deposit you have the choice of printing
all, none, or the last four digits of the bank
account number on the employee’s Direct Deposit
Voucher.
Using Direct Deposit rather than writing checks to
your employees can also save the employee from
identity theft since there is no check for the
employee to have to take to the bank. The payroll
amount is automatically deposited.
The application Banking adds additional features to
prevent fraud and identity theft. Using this
application you have the ability to pay your
Accounts Payable invoices electronically and deposit
the amount you owe a vendor directly into their bank
account. There is no mailing of the check and no
check floating around where someone can get hold of
it and steal your information.
Banking also includes a feature called “Positive
Pay”. What this feature does for fraud protection is
to create a file from the checks you are about to
run. This file is then transmitted to your bank
listing the check date, the check number and the
check amount. With this information the bank will
only cash checks against your account that meet the
criteria. This stops any and all illegal copies of
checks that may have been created by persons trying
to fraud your company. This feature is available in
both Accounts Payable and Payroll, so that if for
some reason you decide NOT to use the ACH or Direct
Deposit methods of payments the checks that you
write and mail are protected. If a check is
presented to the bank that is not on the positive
pay list it will not be paid by the bank.
Setting your options to not allow display of Social
Security Numbers will protect your employees should
someone happen to get on your workstation when you
are away and left open the Payroll
Application.
In Accounts Receivable there is an option to not
allow the Customer Credit card number to be
displayed. With Banking you can additionally set an
‘Authorization Required for Amounts Over $”. This
will require an authorization whenever a receipt for
a credit card is above this stated amount.
It is your responsibility as an employer to protect
the identity and personal information about your
employees from fraud. It is also your own
responsibility to protect yourself from fraud. We
are here and we can assist you in ways to protect
yourself and your employees.
Top
New Bank Accounts in
OSAS
With the New Year often come new Bank Accounts. To
set up new bank accounts you need to do several
things.
First, set up the General Ledger Account number for
this new bank account. Make sure that it is also
included in the contents of your Balance
Sheet.
Next set up the new Bank Account and assign to it
the new General Ledger Account number that you just
set up.
If it is to be your default bank account then set
this Bank Account to be the default.
If you will NOT be using the old bank account for
deposits any longer go into Sales Order/Accounts
Receivable and call up each method of payment.
Change the bank account inside the method of payment
to reflect the new bank account.
If you will be using both bank accounts for deposits
then set up another method of payment for checks,
cash, etc to go to this new bank account. Then upon
entering cash receipts you will use the Method of
Payment that pertains to the Bank you are depositing
the deposit to.
If you will be using MOSTLY the new account you may
want to change the existing Methods of Payments to
reflect the new bank and set up new Methods of
Payment for the old accounts. This is because the
old Methods of Payments are already set up in the
customer master file as a default. Otherwise you
would need to remember to change the Method of
Payment each time you enter a cash receipt.
In Accounts Payable you may need to change Bank
Accounts within Hold and Release if Bank Accounts
have been assigned to the vendors. Simply go through
the invoices in Hold and Release and make the change
under edit.
Always double check your reports before posting
during this transition for proper bank.
Top
Stop and Double Check
During this time of transition between 2009 and 2010
ALWAYS double check yourself to ensure you are in
the proper Fiscal Year.
You are in a hurry and it is easy to miss a
‘warning’. Always stop and read each ‘prompt’ TWICE
before you act. This sounds simplistic but it is as
important as ‘backing up’ your databases.
Also, always double check your journals to make sure
the Period and GL Year are correct.
When entering General Ledger transactions take a
double look at the year you want to enter
transactions into is correct. Just dating GL
transactions a specific date will NOT put them in
the proper year. They must be entered into the
proper year.
Should you enter your transactions into the wrong
year you will need to reverse those entries in the
incorrect year and then re-enter them into the
correct year.
Also remember to UPDATE CURRENT YEAR each time you
post to the master in GL.
Top
Payroll New Year Tips in
OSAS
There is no Social Security Wage Base Change for
2010, since there is no Cost–of-Living (COLA) for
Social Security beneficiaries in 2010. The Wage
Limit remains at $106,800.00.
There are no changes to the paper or the Magnetic
Media filings for the year ended 2009.
Any manual changes made to the W2 information need
to be made in Employee History and Employer History
with the “View Taxable Earnings” Box Checked.
Deductions and Earnings codes that need to be
printed on the W2’s are set up with the description
you need right within the Deduction and Earning Code
Setup itself. Just insert the W2 Box to print in and
the description (one or two letters) that you want
to appear. Descriptions for Box 12 can be found on
the back of the W2’s.
Remember to re-prepare your W2’s each time you make
any changes to them.
Check the State Unemployment table to insure that
the proper rate and limit is being used for the New
Year. In some cases applying the Year End Updates
may overwrite this table.
Always double check yourself the first few weeks of
2010 to make sure you are in the proper year for
your Transaction entry.
One final note……
Not every year has only 52 Pay Periods in it. For
the year 2010 since it begins on a Friday there will
be 53 Pay Periods and not 52. If your Pay Date is
Friday and you opted to date your checks 12/31/09
rather than 01/01/10 then the year 2009 will have 53
weeks rather than 52.
This ‘extra’ week is nothing you need to worry
about. The amount of this extra check and the amount
of taxes withheld are immaterial in the scheme of a
year and you should not be concerned, nor should you
change the number of weeks to calculate on in the
employee’s file.
Top
Change ID’s
in TRAVERSE
This feature has been around for a few versions now.
It seems to be one of those features that get
forgotten, when it really can be a handy tool for
cleaning up your data.
In System Manager, Set Up and Maintenance, Change
Id’s you can change the Customer, Vendor, Employee,
Bank Account, Item, Department, GL Account, and
Sales Rep ID. Simply select the ID you want to
change, enter the old ID and enter the ID you want
to change it to. When OK is selected the change will
be complete throughout all applications including
histories that contain that ID.
Remember this is a single user ‘sa’ function. No one
else can be in the system when you are changing ID’s.
Top
Dates to Consider
By January 15, 2010
Review paychecks outstanding more than two pay
periods so that voided checks are reflected on the
2009 W-2’s.
Be sure total FWH, MED, and OAS reported on the
quarterly 941’s match 2009 W2’s
Enter Third Party sick pay on both 941’s and W2’s.
By January 31, 2010
If the Special Accounting Rule was elected for 2009,
notify employees by today
Have W2’s postmarked or in employee’s hands or
available to them on a Web site.
Have 1099MISC for 2009 postmarked or available on
line.
Postmark 1099-R for pension and retirement, etc
postmarked.
Top
Contact Us
Maple Business Software Consulting LLC
59113
Timber Trail
Goshen, IN 46528
574-742-9241 - Office
574-312-8056 - Cell
574-975-2755 - Fax Number
email:
rvandaele@maplebusinesssoftware.com
|
