OT:Printing checks

You can not directly import transactions from excel into QuickBooks so I suspect the previous person used another program to create the import file.

Do you have access to last year's imported file? You could start there to determine how this was accomplished.

There are a number of 3rd party excel add-ons that can convert excel files into IIF files that can be imported into QuickBooks. Check out some options at Big Red Consulting

I have the IIF transaction creator but I am not sure if it has the option to mark a check as "to be printed" which is what you will need to do batch printing of the checks.

And before someone jumps down my throat, may I suggest you also consult with the company's accountant to make sure that there are no payroll tax issues being ignored by issuing these as vendor checks. Under most circumstances these bonuses are taxable wages to the employees and need to be run through the payroll module.

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Agree looking at the previous year's file is way to go. Since IIF files are simply text, it's relatively easy to create them manually in Excel so that's not a real problem other than some tedium. But, if the previous person was clever and wrote some macro's maybe tools are there, too, who knows...

From the OP's original question doesn't sound like these are bonuses since it says they are pass-thru of donations from residents. That wouldn't be a payroll item if so.

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Not knowing the actual dollars involved this could be a non tax issue which is why I suggested checking with the accountant. I have seen this being declared as income to the nursing home and wages to the workers because the home added their own dollars to the kitty.

Agreed, checking with the accountant seems prudent. On the one hand the OP uses ther term bonus which implies payroll which should be handled through the outside payroll service. It is reasonable to assume that with a staff of

325 QB is not being used for payroll. On the other hand being paid by donated funds implies a tip. >

Call it what ever you want to. Bonus or tip it does not matter.

The IRS allows companies to give a gift of $25 or less without it being treated as wages for the employee. Assuming these "bonuses" are greater than $25 makes them taxable wages according to the IRS. Checking with the accountant puts the blame on them if done as straight cash/check without taxes being taken out and the company gets audited. I certainly don't want that hanging over my head especially when I suspect what they are doing is wrong.

Laura wrote: ...

I think it depends on where the $$ actually did come from which is indeterminate.

AFAICT, if indeed the company is simply distributing a kitty of voluntary resident contributions w/o company $$ being included, it isn't a company gift and above $25 limit doesn't apply.

OTOH, it's possible they are making a donation as well and it might. One would presume a corporation w/ 325 employees in a facility and more than one division does have folks on staff to keep things straight. Either way, it's not the responsibility of the OP to know that; all OP needs is how to do the job assigned.

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You can call it anything you want. Gifts are things. The IRS calls cash a tip. Why would you even think it could be different? Consider tips to maids at hotels or cabin attendants on cruise ships. Do you think because it is a retirement home that suddenly they aren't tips?

Social Security and Medicare will be required to be reported.

Don't you think our law firm checked? There are NO legal issues, but thanks anyway

You are correct that there are no legal issues. This is payroll TAX issue and a lawyer is not the appropriate person to check with. Check with your accountant or the local IRS office. These are wages, pure and simple, and to treat them any diferently is incorrect.

As a followup to this issue check the IRS pub 15b

especially page 8. It basically says any cash or cash equivalent payment to someone are taxabl wages to that person.

If the money is from the residents it looks like its a gift from the the residents rather than a gift from their employer. Pub 15 wouldn't apply to gifts from the residents.

This has been a discussion on another list that I am on. The CPAs all say that the IRS does not care where the money came from. It is recorded as Income to the Home and wages to the employees. I suspect that this is becasue too many companies abused this concept of a pass thru of gifts to employees. They collect 5000 and only shell out 2500 without recording anything. IRS nixed that by requiring ALL cash and cash equivlents paid to employees to be treated as wages.

Also, since the residents are not giving the money directly to the workers it is not a gift to them. In most cases the checks are made out to the retirement home-which is why it is now income to the retirement home.

OK Where did I state that it was tax free? Also, the COMPANY NEVER touch's the $$. Qkbks was only used to PRINT THE CHECKS. Get it? The amounts are entered into the employee's wages in our payroll program . I then do a misc dedution on the net amout to zero out the check. Hence, tthe $$ is in the employee earnings and the taxes are paid. I don't need help with that part because I do that every payroll in our payroll program (not Qkbks) for things like employee of the month checks etc that are manual checks, so I didn't post about it. Everyone clear now? I'll leave this thread now since it was hijacked from the beginning. Have fun kids! Boy oh boy. Glad I came to a quickbooks NG for Qkbks advice and instead got a bunch of "tax experts".

Frank wrote:

Luke / Frank:

When you say you don't have an accounting background, you get accounting advice. If you had bothered to say we do payroll elsewhere and all the payroll issues are taken care of you would get the advice you want. But when you don't give all the information you get answers full of assumptions such as using QB payroll!

Sure, you can set up a .iff to do the import. Look that up in the help file.

Gee, it would have been helpful if you had bothered to give us that information from the very beginning. Nowhere in your original post do you tell us that you are processing the checks through a payroll system and that you needed to just print their net checks in QB.

next time you ask a question, please give ALL of the details.