Clearing voiced invoices (that are partially paid)

I'm in an unusual situation. I'm officially an employee of a company, but I'm working as an independent contractor. The company asks me to invoice them for each phase of a project. However, they also deduct payroll taxes from my paycheck, and directly deposit the funds into my bank account.

This means that my payments are always about 3/4 of the amount on the invoice. How can I keep proper accounting of this project? I could simply delete the invoice from the account, but I want to keep a record of the work I've done. And I certainly want to avoid the possibility of issuing two different invoices with the same number.

I considered just voiding the invoice, but it still shows up in the unpaid invoices report. Is there a way to clear a voided invoice?

Reply to
Michael Ray Brown
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Thanks for your help. It appears that my accounting has just become a bit more complicated. My situation is unusual, but it keeps me from having to pay self-employment tax. I supposed the invoices I submit are analogous to a time card.

Reply to
Michael Ray Brown

"BTW, either you are an employee or you are an IC. You can't be both."

You are either/or - you can't be both at the same time. (Well, it is possible for an employee to undertake a separate project as an independent contractor, but that's a rare situation - and apparently not what you are talking about.) Read the IRS link that she gave you, remembering that it is addressed to your boss, the employer, not to you, the employee. Most of the risk of penalty for mis-classification is on the employer, not the employee. But it wouldn't hurt to discuss this subject with the company's attorney or CPA.

What version of Quicken are you using? Are you using H&B? Or QuickBooks? Are you running a business, in addition to this ambiguous employee/contractor engagement? Do you also work for other "employers"? It seems to me that your "invoices" are the equivalent of time sheets submitted by many employees, showing hours worked in a week or month. Or the daily time cards stamped by time clocks in many factories and other workplaces. Rather than Quicken, you could use Word or some other program to print your invoices.

Assuming that Laura and I have correctly understood your situation, then the "invoices" that you issue don't need to be recorded on your books at all, except perhaps as memo entries if you choose. You should record the payments you receive as paychecks, showing the full invoice amount as "gross pay" and recording all taxes and other deductions, and showing the "net pay" as the deposit to your bank account. At year-end, you should receive a W-2 form and the numbers on it should agree with what you have recorded for gross pay and for income tax and FICA withheld and other amounts deducted. As I'm sure you know, "gross pay" is income and that's what you'll pay tax on; "net pay" is what you can spend, but there's no place for it on your tax return.

RC

Reply to
R. C. White

Dear R.C.,

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm using H&B 2006. I considered just sending a pro-forma invoice made through MS Word, but I prefer to keep all my invoices for the same business together. I'll take yours and Laura's advice, and record all the deductions. It certainly is extra work, but then I'll have something to compare with the W-2's at the end of the year.

Reply to
Michael Ray Brown

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