[00:00:04] Welcome to our podcast, Its About Payroll. We're your hosts, Brian Escobar and Walter William Duncan III. Whether you're new to the payroll game or a seasoned veteran, we have something for you.
[00:00:19] Welcome back folks. It's episode 136 as we continue to climb the 200.
[00:00:27] Before we get into the episode. Yeah man, before we get into it, how you doing Walt?
[00:00:32] I'm good. Thank you for asking as always. We're one day closer to 2025 and time is, as I always say, time is a flying. How about you?
[00:00:48] Waits for no one. I'm doing fantastic bro. I'm good. Yeah man, I'm good. I'm good. Like I was telling you before, I was like, damn bro, I can't, I don't know why I'm not working more, but I just, I burnt out and just, I'm not working.
[00:01:02] I just need a little break and get back at it. I love what we do. And this part is fun and prep for the show. And been thinking about the last couple of the topics we have planned. So I've been like thinking about little things and tips and taking the, Ooh, tell the folks this and tell them that.
[00:01:16] This one is a cool one. Cause we're going to cover year end for we're on payrollers. We're talking about payroll. It's always fun to cover year end and help people the checklist. Cause I think we all get paranoid at the end of the year, no matter how long we've been doing this.
[00:01:31] Right. We get paranoid at the end of the year. Oh my God. I need my checklist. And you know who I always think about. I think about Fran. Fran's so cool and calm. She got her list and she's, Oh my God this. And, but I like, I think a lot of us just get frantic. Oh my God. Year end. What do we do? What do we, what do you mean? What do you do? You've been doing it for 20 years. What do you mean?
[00:01:53] No, but it's fair. Right. Yeah. No, of course.
[00:01:57] To, to ask ourselves that because you couple that with everything that's going on in life. Yes. And yes, 20, 20 years ago, we might have been in a different phase of our lives. For sure. You know, like now I think that for a lot of us who have matured and been in this industry for so long, we've matured professionally and personally. Hopefully. Hopefully.
[00:02:21] Hopefully. But I think a lot of us, we do handle things differently and times are different now, man. Like times are totally different. I remember stuffing checks. I'm sure some people are listening to this.
[00:02:33] Still have to do it. Yeah. Depending on, bro. It's so crazy how no matter it's going to be another five to 10 years before we make a digital transformation. It doesn't matter how much technology folks are still doing manual things. And it's wow.
[00:02:51] This is crazy. But there's always going to be a group of people that are going to be slow moving towards. Yes. Like the laggards, the laggards, people who lag behind a little bit because they're just so comfortable with, Hey, I read it.
[00:03:06] I trust myself because I know I'm going to do it right. I'm not trusting some machine to take my information.
[00:03:11] And it's just, what book was it? Damn. Crossing the chasm? Chasm? I don't know how this word is pronounced.
[00:03:21] C-H. What is that? Chasm?
[00:03:24] Chasm.
[00:03:24] Chasm? Anywho, in here, it's a great book, man.
[00:03:29] And it talks about like just innovation. Yeah. And the laggards are at the end and they define, let me see if I can find the laggards.
[00:03:39] These people simply don't want anything to do with new technology. New technology. Not technology.
[00:03:45] New technology.
[00:03:46] New technology.
[00:04:16] New technology.
[00:04:17] New technology.
[00:04:19] Right?
[00:04:19] Folks, we don't plan all. We do a lot of planning, but it doesn't always happen this nicely. But go ahead. Yeah. Take a sense of pay news.
[00:04:27] This article I found on ignitehcm.com.
[00:04:33] Nice.
[00:04:33] It's a wonderful article written by Blair McQuillen. I hope I pronounced your name if you ever listened to this.
[00:04:39] But it's fascinating because AI is such at the forefront of a lot of the conversations that we're having now currently in payroll.
[00:04:50] And there's a lot of fascinating things that Blair touches on in this article.
[00:04:54] But there were two sections that really spoke to me.
[00:04:58] Okay.
[00:04:58] So those are the two I'm going to talk about.
[00:05:00] Yeah.
[00:05:00] And when it comes to AI, she talks about this principle, what she calls EAT.
[00:05:04] E-A-T.
[00:05:07] Right?
[00:05:07] Like eating.
[00:05:08] Eat.
[00:05:08] Yeah.
[00:05:08] Okay.
[00:05:09] And it says about building trust in an AI-powered payroll.
[00:05:13] So the E stands for expertise.
[00:05:15] It's talking about AI systems being built on a deep knowledge of payroll processes, tax laws, and best practices, and everything.
[00:05:24] And then authoritativeness is A, and like leading payroll software providers and are investing heavily in AI technology and establishing themselves as authorities in the field.
[00:05:37] Hmm.
[00:05:38] Right?
[00:05:38] And then the last one is T, trustworthiness.
[00:05:43] Okay.
[00:05:43] They're implementing rigorous security measures and data encryption to ensure safety of sensitive payroll information.
[00:05:50] Being transparent about AI decision-making process allow for auditing and validation and regular system checks to maintain accuracy and reliability.
[00:06:00] Right?
[00:06:00] So that was fascinating to me.
[00:06:02] And then the last piece, right?
[00:06:03] Because I know a lot, there might be some of us in the payroll world or HR world that are concerned, right?
[00:06:08] Yeah.
[00:06:09] About AI taking our place.
[00:06:11] Yeah.
[00:06:11] And there's a section in here that's right after the EAT principle.
[00:06:15] It's called the human touch.
[00:06:16] And it says finding that perfect balance.
[00:06:19] Right?
[00:06:19] And I'm not going to go through it all, but there's four things that Blair highlights here.
[00:06:24] And she basically says the AI handles the routine, those calculations, the data entry, basic reporting can become automated.
[00:06:32] Yep.
[00:06:32] And it says that humans can tackle those complex things, those unique situations, the policy decisions.
[00:06:39] You don't never leave the policy decisions to AI.
[00:06:41] Yeah.
[00:06:41] Employee concerns.
[00:06:43] Right?
[00:06:43] That's what I was just going to say.
[00:06:44] Yep.
[00:06:44] Yep.
[00:06:45] So you allow the human interaction.
[00:06:47] Yes.
[00:06:48] The one-off things.
[00:06:49] Yes.
[00:06:50] Yes.
[00:06:50] Yeah.
[00:06:51] And this is my favorite one of all four.
[00:06:54] Here it says AI flags humans investigate.
[00:06:59] Humans investigate.
[00:07:00] Yeah.
[00:07:01] No doubt.
[00:07:01] So AI will identify the problem.
[00:07:04] Human professionals dig deeper to resolve those things.
[00:07:07] Right?
[00:07:07] Yep.
[00:07:08] Yep.
[00:07:08] But like you ever seen somebody on the beach or they have one of those metal detectors or whatever it is when they're scanning the sand.
[00:07:15] Hunting for treasure.
[00:07:16] Yep.
[00:07:16] Hunting for treasure.
[00:07:17] Right?
[00:07:17] They're, they're, they need that device in order to help them find the thing.
[00:07:24] Right?
[00:07:24] If they didn't have that device, oh my God, how long would it take them to be able to find?
[00:07:28] Oh gosh.
[00:07:29] That makes it a lot easier.
[00:07:30] Yeah.
[00:07:30] So I think in my mind about AI, think about AI in that type of sense.
[00:07:36] I like that analogy.
[00:07:36] Yeah.
[00:07:37] Right?
[00:07:37] Yep.
[00:07:37] You know what I'm saying?
[00:07:38] For me.
[00:07:38] And then the last one is something that we always talk about.
[00:07:41] Continuous learning.
[00:07:43] We always want to continue to educate ourselves on AI as we improve upon the AI algorithms and stuff and create a cycle of ongoing enhancement.
[00:07:55] That's dope.
[00:07:56] You know what I'm just thinking about?
[00:07:57] Continue to learn.
[00:07:58] And I'm like, wow, you could probably, and I feel like we talked about this before.
[00:08:01] You could probably program it.
[00:08:03] Now I know for sure.
[00:08:05] You could program it so that the AI is like, how can I say?
[00:08:10] Periodically quizzes the human.
[00:08:12] Hey, here's a new quiz for the last month because a few things changed.
[00:08:17] Are you up to date?
[00:08:18] You know what I mean?
[00:08:19] Just to keep the pilot up to speed on what's going on, all the changes for on government, on the government level.
[00:08:26] Like, again, business-wise, we're going through a whirlwind of reversing the rules that were made six months ago, a year ago.
[00:08:35] Right?
[00:08:36] You just sent me an article about that business reporting that I was actually preparing to do for our business.
[00:08:43] Yes.
[00:08:43] And I'm like, that just got overturned.
[00:08:46] And Christina at Valor literally just got on and was like, if you did it, great.
[00:08:51] If you didn't, don't worry about it.
[00:08:54] Because right now they made it.
[00:08:56] So little things like that just to keep the pilots freshened up and whatnot.
[00:09:01] Yeah.
[00:09:01] Look, I'm excited about it.
[00:09:03] I think that we as payroll folk need to usher in.
[00:09:07] I think we said it a million times already.
[00:09:09] We have to be the ushers of the AI into payroll.
[00:09:12] We can't block it and be like, oh, no AI here.
[00:09:15] No, embrace it.
[00:09:16] There was a cat on LinkedIn and I got part of his GPT.
[00:09:20] I forget what he calls it.
[00:09:22] Global payroll guru.
[00:09:24] Right?
[00:09:25] And it's basically, you can go look up compliance globally.
[00:09:31] What country you're going in and what the compliance is in that country.
[00:09:34] He built this with chat GPT.
[00:09:36] I haven't pressure tested yet to see, but I'm sure there's some, he got a lot of clicks.
[00:09:41] So I'm sure the global community is, but little things like that.
[00:09:45] That's what you have to do.
[00:09:46] We have to usher it in.
[00:09:47] And please believe Walt and I are in the background building some tools and working on things.
[00:09:52] We, I think, right?
[00:09:54] You're crazy, bro.
[00:09:57] So we gotta be, we gotta be that.
[00:09:59] And then coincidentally, my article tied into AI as well.
[00:10:04] Yep.
[00:10:05] Intuit.
[00:10:06] Intuit.
[00:10:06] If you, if folks don't know the Intuit, it's a QuickBooks.
[00:10:09] Intuit is the company that owns QuickBooks.
[00:10:12] They just partnered with Amazon to bring AI to AI and bringing AI to Intuit.
[00:10:18] Like Amazon is helping them bring in the AI piece to the Intuit environment so that users can integrate AI into payroll processing and all the Intuit.
[00:10:29] Intuit has a bunch of tools.
[00:10:30] So that's why it's not QuickBooks specifically.
[00:10:33] Intuit partnered with Amazon to start creating this.
[00:10:36] So just little things like that, man.
[00:10:39] And I look, I think it's exciting.
[00:10:41] Folks, payroll folks, don't get scared.
[00:10:43] Start embracing this.
[00:10:45] I've been trying to look at courses and different courses.
[00:10:47] Like what can we take to learn a little bit more?
[00:10:50] There's a course that I think at UCF that I'm looking at right now for AI prompting.
[00:10:54] It's a short, inexpensive course.
[00:10:56] I just, I want to talk to somebody about like how.
[00:11:00] I want to take a break real quick just to let you know about a new show we've just added to the network.
[00:11:06] Up Next at Work, hosted by Gene and Kata Keel of the Devin Group.
[00:11:12] Fantastic show.
[00:11:14] If you're looking for something that pushes the norm, pushes the boundaries, has some really spirited conversations.
[00:11:21] Google Up Next at Work, Gene and Kata Keel from the Devin Group.
[00:11:28] What are, like I want to talk to other people who've taken it already and see how good it is.
[00:11:32] Because a lot of stuff, folks, you can learn on your own.
[00:11:35] You know what I mean?
[00:11:36] For free.
[00:11:36] There's a ton of free content out there that you could learn.
[00:11:39] There's a ton of people on TikTok teaching prompt engineering for free.
[00:11:44] So I want to, like, if I'm going to pay for a course, I don't care how inexpensive it is.
[00:11:48] I want it to be a huge value add.
[00:11:50] So, yeah, folks, man, little things like that, man.
[00:11:54] And then, and before we get into the year-end conversation, we've got to pay some bills.
[00:11:59] Shout out to our partners over at Timetrack Go.
[00:12:02] If you're tired of messy timesheets or complicated time clock software and bulky machines and things like that,
[00:12:10] and your systems are outdated, Timetrack Go is an intuitive solution that makes managing employee hours simple and efficient.
[00:12:18] But don't take our word for it.
[00:12:20] Customers have given Timetrack Go a 4.7 out of 5 stars on Capterra.
[00:12:26] And that's been awarded, and they have been awarded badges for best ease of use and best customer support again in 2024.
[00:12:34] Let's do it again in 2025.
[00:12:36] And here's some of the things that the customers have said.
[00:12:40] They say it's a great value.
[00:12:42] Best clock-in app on the market.
[00:12:45] Great time clock for the modern office.
[00:12:48] Intuitive and efficient.
[00:12:51] Simple to use and priced right.
[00:12:54] And the customer support is awesome.
[00:12:56] I mean, it's awesome.
[00:12:57] Those are all the great...
[00:12:59] What more can you want from your customers than to give you these accolades, man?
[00:13:05] So shout out to Timetrack Go.
[00:13:06] And on the flip side, what more could you ask for from a company like Timetrack Go?
[00:13:12] So to learn more about a simpler better solution for time tracking, those real-time reportings, PTO automation, payroll integrations, and more,
[00:13:23] you want to go visit www.timetrackgo.com.
[00:13:28] That's T-I-M-E-T-R-A-K-Go.com.
[00:13:33] And start your 14-day free trial today.
[00:13:38] Let's go.
[00:13:39] Let's go.
[00:13:41] All right.
[00:13:43] All right, man.
[00:13:44] So let's get into our main topic again.
[00:13:46] It's year-end time, folks.
[00:13:48] So gear up.
[00:13:49] It's ready.
[00:13:51] Dang.
[00:13:51] Remind me to tell you about a bonus story.
[00:13:55] Okay.
[00:13:55] Yeah.
[00:13:56] All right.
[00:13:56] We'll save it at the end.
[00:13:58] Yeah.
[00:13:59] I'll remind you.
[00:13:59] Tell us about that bonus story.
[00:14:01] Yep.
[00:14:01] All right, man.
[00:14:02] Look, as the end of 2020, 2020, 2024, payroll pros and HR pros definitely have to focus on those critical tasks to ensure that we have a smooth year-end process and that we're compliant with all regulations.
[00:14:22] So here are some key considerations.
[00:14:25] So number one, verify that data.
[00:14:29] Verify the employee information.
[00:14:30] You want to ensure that all employee records, names, social security numbers especially, and addresses are accurate enough to date.
[00:14:39] This accuracy is crucial for correct W-2 processing and tax reporting.
[00:14:46] Anything to add to that, Brian?
[00:14:48] Yeah.
[00:14:48] And if one, I guess it could come in a community, I'll say in a communication.
[00:14:54] But if you're not already using E-Verify as part of your process, the SS, the Social Security Administration allows for a mass upload to validate social security numbers.
[00:15:03] So it's like a manual way so that you can stay in compliance and making sure before you process W-2s that all of your employees are who they say they are, that you don't have like a baby's social security number in your system or folks that have passed away already or way past retirement age.
[00:15:24] And you're like, wait a minute, we don't have anybody here that's 97, you know what I mean?
[00:15:28] Or seven for that matter, you know what I mean?
[00:15:30] So little things like that, that you can, there are some manual ways if you're not in a sophisticated E-Verify environment.
[00:15:38] Okay.
[00:15:39] Nice.
[00:15:41] Nice.
[00:16:09] Tax rates and deposit schedules.
[00:16:12] Update your federal, state, local tax rates and deposit schedules for 2025.
[00:16:18] I've been in a situation where I was working at a PEO.
[00:16:22] So I think it was as a temp before.
[00:16:25] And I had just started, it was like the beginning of the year.
[00:16:29] And unfortunately, somebody did not update the rates.
[00:16:34] And they do their job.
[00:16:35] Dang.
[00:16:36] So it can happen.
[00:16:37] I know most systems nowadays may be automated to do that.
[00:16:41] But.
[00:16:41] Got to check it still.
[00:16:43] Trust me, verify what my wise partner says.
[00:16:45] Right?
[00:16:46] Trust me, verify.
[00:16:47] Verify any changes in tax laws that may affect payroll processing in the coming new year.
[00:16:54] Number four, you want to take these last four, man?
[00:16:58] Oh, sure.
[00:17:00] Distribute W-2 forms.
[00:17:02] Right?
[00:17:02] Make sure they go.
[00:17:03] I know it sounds like, oh, that's basic.
[00:17:05] Yeah.
[00:17:06] But make sure that it's going to happen.
[00:17:08] Right?
[00:17:09] Prepare and distribute for W-2 for the employees by the legal deadline, which is January 31st of every year.
[00:17:18] Ensure electronic and or paper forms are accessible to all employees.
[00:17:22] Right?
[00:17:23] What's your strategy here?
[00:17:25] Are they, if you have paid one, is everybody opted in for digital?
[00:17:30] Because it's not, you can't force it.
[00:17:32] Most states, you can't force it.
[00:17:33] There has to be an opt in or out.
[00:17:35] What's that look like for your population?
[00:17:38] Are you going to have the paper going out at all?
[00:17:41] And if so, is it going straight to the employee or is it going to their work location?
[00:17:48] If you're in a multi-right location situation, because keep in mind, sometimes you don't want terminated employees to come back on site to get their W-2.
[00:17:57] Right?
[00:17:57] It may have been a bad break and you don't want them to come back on site.
[00:18:01] You know what I mean?
[00:18:02] Keep that in mind.
[00:18:03] Talk to HR partner.
[00:18:05] Yeah.
[00:18:06] We're laughing because we have stories that we can't share and set up.
[00:18:09] This one's really basic.
[00:18:10] Set up a plan with HR to make sure files available with them as well.
[00:18:15] For instance, if.
[00:18:17] Go practice.
[00:18:17] Yeah.
[00:18:18] It's just for good measure.
[00:18:19] If everybody's calling in January, in February for their W-2s, you're going to get terminated people.
[00:18:25] Oh, where's I need my W-2, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
[00:18:27] If you're in, if your strategy is to support that and distribute and serve those customers as they call in, you want to expand your team.
[00:18:38] Because the HR team alone, the payroll team alone is going to be overwhelmed.
[00:18:43] Like make it like everybody who's privy to that information should be able to help distribute that information to the employees.
[00:18:52] So, again, what's the strategy?
[00:18:54] What's the thing about it now?
[00:18:55] Don't get caught like January 25th.
[00:18:57] Oh, wait a minute.
[00:18:58] These are all coming paper here.
[00:18:59] I've had that happen.
[00:19:00] We just got a crap load of paper delivered to the all.
[00:19:04] And we were like, yo, what is this?
[00:19:05] Those are your W-2s.
[00:19:06] What do you mean?
[00:19:08] Those are your W-2s.
[00:19:08] They're not digital?
[00:19:09] Nope.
[00:19:11] No.
[00:19:11] So, yes, to Brian's point, you want to double check with your payroll provider and see how those are going to be sent out.
[00:19:18] Yes.
[00:19:18] Because you don't want to get that surprise and be like, wait, they're not being sent directly to, there's not direct mail?
[00:19:24] Because somebody didn't check a box and somebody, maybe somebody, maybe look, maybe the company can't afford it because that is an expense.
[00:19:31] And they will charge you for mail for every one of them.
[00:19:34] Had that happened too.
[00:19:35] And look, payroll providers do make mistakes.
[00:19:38] Yep.
[00:19:39] Payroll providers also do stuff wrong.
[00:19:42] May have been set up properly, but somebody, they have to do their checks and balances too on their end.
[00:19:47] Absolutely.
[00:19:47] So somebody could have done something that impacted that as well.
[00:19:52] You know what I'm saying?
[00:19:52] Word.
[00:19:53] Number five, reconcile payroll accounts.
[00:19:57] Conduct a thorough reconciliation of all your payroll accounts.
[00:20:00] Identify and correct any discrepancies between payroll records and actual payments.
[00:20:06] Me and Walt been through a year end where we were reconciling W-2s to the reporting.
[00:20:12] And we discovered that it was in the W-2.
[00:20:17] Good, great.
[00:20:18] But it wasn't in our reporting.
[00:20:21] So it had to be loaded.
[00:20:23] It didn't.
[00:20:24] We were like, what?
[00:20:25] What do you mean?
[00:20:26] How is it not?
[00:20:28] As I was just speaking to just a moment ago, the payroll provider, they collected to do something on their side.
[00:20:35] We call it on the back end, right?
[00:20:37] On the back end.
[00:20:38] All of us know who deals with the back end.
[00:20:40] What does that mean?
[00:20:42] They didn't push something through for a specific payroll.
[00:20:46] Yep.
[00:20:46] So as a result, whenever we ran a report, that specific date range or check date did not populate on the reports.
[00:20:54] So it didn't just throw us off.
[00:20:56] It threw finance to us.
[00:20:57] Yeah.
[00:20:58] Finance was like having a cow.
[00:21:01] And then they don't know.
[00:21:03] So they blame it.
[00:21:04] What are you guys doing over there?
[00:21:05] Blah, blah, blah.
[00:21:06] Shoot.
[00:21:06] The bank is not matching payroll.
[00:21:08] Yeah.
[00:21:08] Forget about it.
[00:21:09] That's part of what it is.
[00:21:10] Reconcile your stuff.
[00:21:11] Make sure everything is aligning.
[00:21:13] Next one is communicate with employees.
[00:21:15] Now, this one is, look, yes, you still have a chance even at the time that this episode airs.
[00:21:22] You still have a chance to do it.
[00:21:24] But.
[00:21:25] Hi there.
[00:21:26] I'm Peter Zollman.
[00:21:27] I'm a co-host of the Inside Job Boards and Recruitment Marketplaces podcast.
[00:21:32] And I'm Steven Rothberg.
[00:21:33] And I guess that makes me the other co-host.
[00:21:35] Every other week, we're joined by guests from the world's leading job sites.
[00:21:39] Together, we analyze news about general niche and aggregator job board and Recruitment Marketplaces sites.
[00:21:46] Make sure you sign up and subscribe today.
[00:21:50] I think it's more of a, one, you should have ongoing communication with your employees.
[00:21:56] You should be reminding them maybe even quarterly.
[00:21:59] Hey, update your addresses.
[00:22:02] Update your information.
[00:22:04] Look over things.
[00:22:05] That's where inform employees about the year-end process.
[00:22:09] And also, you know, like you said in here, did you say it already about the upcoming year?
[00:22:16] No.
[00:22:16] Okay, go ahead.
[00:22:17] I did.
[00:22:18] I don't want to say.
[00:22:18] Okay.
[00:22:19] Include availability of W-2 forms because I promise you January 1st, they're going to be calling you, where's my W-2?
[00:22:27] Can I get my last check stop?
[00:22:28] Can I?
[00:22:29] And oh, and don't do that.
[00:22:31] Do not.
[00:22:32] Don't provide it.
[00:22:33] Look, people, if they have access to their last check stop, they want to go make that mistake.
[00:22:37] They can, but you should be urging them.
[00:22:39] Please wait for your W-2 because we still have time to add on to the new year.
[00:22:44] So the prior year.
[00:22:45] Direction, adjustments.
[00:22:47] Right.
[00:22:47] Say I forgot to do a manual check.
[00:22:49] I never posted it.
[00:22:50] That's right.
[00:22:51] For the specific employee.
[00:22:52] Yep.
[00:22:52] And then now their data changes.
[00:22:54] Yep.
[00:22:55] And then that's like, that's on them.
[00:22:57] If they, oh, I filed off my last pay stop.
[00:23:00] That's your problem.
[00:23:00] That's your business.
[00:23:02] Excuse me.
[00:23:03] Hopefully people don't even allow that anymore.
[00:23:05] I'm sorry.
[00:23:05] I need water.
[00:23:05] And then any changes for payroll procedures in the new year, if you're doing process improvement,
[00:23:11] Hey, this is going to change.
[00:23:12] We used to do it like this, but this year we're not.
[00:23:15] So there's a great time to build an FAQ of frequently asked questions.
[00:23:22] Hopefully like you're, you know, you have a portal or something, whatever it is, a PDF,
[00:23:26] whatever it is to push out to the employees so they can constantly refer back.
[00:23:32] And look, another thing that you can do as well.
[00:23:35] Speaking to Brian's point here, for instance, did many of, I'm asking you as well and our listeners,
[00:23:41] Brian, did you know that 20, there's a different W4 form for 2025?
[00:23:47] Nope.
[00:23:47] It's going to change a little bit.
[00:23:49] Nope.
[00:23:49] Right.
[00:23:49] Sure did.
[00:23:50] So thank you.
[00:23:51] A good payroll processor.
[00:23:54] You want to get in the habit of researching that stuff and saying, Hey, here, you know,
[00:23:58] there's a new form out there.
[00:23:59] If you use employee self-service, the system should automatically update for you as well.
[00:24:05] But you want to keep them on this too.
[00:24:06] Yep.
[00:24:06] Right.
[00:24:07] Because, you know,
[00:24:08] when is it out already?
[00:24:10] They sent, they sent the draft of it in September.
[00:24:13] Okay.
[00:24:14] Is there a date for the, when the new one will be out?
[00:24:17] They said by the end of January, from what I'm reading.
[00:24:20] See, and that's what kills me.
[00:24:21] It's like, you got a new W4.
[00:24:23] We need a January one.
[00:24:25] Really?
[00:24:25] We needed December 15th, but you're going to put it out in January, in February.
[00:24:29] But still, those are things that you want to prepare your employees for.
[00:24:32] Hey, as of this day, we're switching over to this document and then also push that document
[00:24:36] out to them when it's ready.
[00:24:39] You know what I mean?
[00:24:39] That's good communication.
[00:24:40] It should be, communication should be an ongoing thing.
[00:24:44] Not just, oh, once a year, I'm going to talk to my employees about, no, get, get them
[00:24:48] used to getting information from you.
[00:24:51] Updating their address.
[00:24:53] Yes.
[00:24:53] All those things will come in handy.
[00:24:55] Yep.
[00:24:56] Those FAQs like Brian was speaking to, they do come in handy.
[00:24:58] Absolutely.
[00:24:59] Number seven is plan for the new year.
[00:25:02] Schedule your first payroll for 2025.
[00:25:04] Considering the holidays, are you, do you have to run your first one on the week of new
[00:25:09] years?
[00:25:09] That's going to throw, there's a bank holiday in the last two weeks of the year or rather
[00:25:13] the first week, the last week of the, this year and the first week of the new year.
[00:25:18] Where's your payroll land?
[00:25:20] Plan that out accordingly with your stakeholders.
[00:25:24] Send out any changes in the payroll schedules.
[00:25:27] Did you go through a change where, oh, we're going from semi-monthly to bi-weekly now.
[00:25:31] That should have been planned and executed properly.
[00:25:34] What else?
[00:25:35] Ensure all systems are updated with new tax rates.
[00:25:37] We said that.
[00:25:38] And then send out your, again, send out your schedule to your stakeholders and your employees.
[00:25:43] The new, even if it's the same cycle, your managers, your people, they want to know what
[00:25:48] the check dates are, what the cutoffs are, all those good things.
[00:25:51] Right?
[00:25:52] Right.
[00:25:53] And then a few more things here.
[00:25:55] Back at your year and look at all the deductions and earning codes that you use during the year.
[00:26:00] Do you still need them?
[00:26:02] Was there any actions that you needed to do?
[00:26:04] Do you have taxable add-ons that you forgot?
[00:26:07] Oh my gosh, I got to add this on.
[00:26:09] What's up?
[00:26:09] Do you have multiple companies that you set up the earning code across and it's not uniform?
[00:26:16] And it can create, and I'm not going to say issues, it creates a headache.
[00:26:21] Pet peeve, redundancy.
[00:26:22] Yeah, it's annoying.
[00:26:23] It's just bad data.
[00:26:24] Or not bad data, but it's just little cleanups that you thought about at the beginning of the year, but you hadn't done it yet.
[00:26:31] This is your time when you look at, not look at what's in the library, but also look at what you actually used and then compare the two.
[00:26:39] Because if you have codes in your earning code library that you hadn't used in the past year, do you need them anymore?
[00:26:44] Yep.
[00:26:45] You know what I mean?
[00:26:46] Do things like that.
[00:26:47] Make sure you-
[00:26:48] You need new codes.
[00:26:48] Yeah.
[00:26:49] You need new ones.
[00:26:50] Yeah, exactly.
[00:26:51] Make sure that you've downloaded all your reports.
[00:26:53] I'm a stickler for this.
[00:26:55] I know folks may be like, oh no, my vendor has it.
[00:26:57] Yes, your vendor has it until you move off of that vendor.
[00:27:01] And then what happens?
[00:27:02] Because the longer you spend on a payroll vendor, think about how much downloading you'll have to do or ask them how much it's going to be for them to provide you with all the reporting that you need.
[00:27:14] It's going to be a pretty penny, I promise you.
[00:27:17] So even if you do it once a year, which I don't remember, you should be doing it every payroll.
[00:27:22] But if it's only once a year, then here's your time to download all of your payroll registers, all of your quarterlies, all of your important critical documents that are in the payroll vendors environment.
[00:27:34] Put them on the company's servers.
[00:27:38] Schedule a year-end course if you haven't done so already, right?
[00:27:40] Don't panic if you feel like you need to, man, I don't know if I've got everything.
[00:27:46] Take a course.
[00:27:47] Everybody's given a course right now.
[00:27:48] Your vendor should have a free one for you that they can cover on that.
[00:27:52] The payroll orgs of the world, they have courses out there.
[00:27:56] Look at all of them.
[00:27:57] All these learning sites have a year-end course that you can take if you want to double make sure you're good, right?
[00:28:04] Anticipate the last payroll of the year, just like we said for the new year.
[00:28:07] Do you have any bank days?
[00:28:09] Is your company holiday party landing on a processing day?
[00:28:13] Little things like that where you got to be diligent with your calendar and say, okay, these next two months, these next 60 days are critical.
[00:28:21] What's happening in my world, in my personal life that I need to know.
[00:28:26] I remember I worked at a college one year and it was amazing because we had off two weeks, but I had to process payroll still.
[00:28:34] Can I add something?
[00:28:36] Yeah, heck yeah, go ahead.
[00:28:37] Allows for PTO payout.
[00:28:41] That's a huge payroll process.
[00:28:43] That's a huge payroll process.
[00:28:45] And you want to make sure you do it timely, right?
[00:28:47] Especially if the company wants you to make sure you add it to the appropriate tax year.
[00:28:52] They want it to be for 2024, but you're like, oh, I forgot to pay it on December.
[00:28:57] Now you got to add it to the bottom line in January.
[00:29:00] You might get a little ding for that.
[00:29:03] Oh, yeah.
[00:29:03] Heck yeah.
[00:29:04] And keep in mind, ask your vendor, even after you've processed your last cash payroll for the year, how long you have to process any lingering transactions that might not be cash related or even cash.
[00:29:20] Sometimes you got another week into January to process a 1231 check, right?
[00:29:25] If you need to understand your limits and your thresholds and your limits really with your vendor.
[00:29:33] What else?
[00:29:33] Yep.
[00:29:34] Yep.
[00:29:34] Deadlines.
[00:29:35] Spot check W2s.
[00:29:37] If you haven't done so already, okay, start looking at the W2s and spot checking them.
[00:29:44] If your vendor is giving you a preview, awesome.
[00:29:47] Some of them give you a preview file.
[00:29:49] You can start skimming and spot checking.
[00:29:50] If not, here's where that those critical payroll skills come in.
[00:29:55] You can build your own file.
[00:29:57] Okay.
[00:29:58] Yep.
[00:29:58] If you have a reporting tool, if you don't have a reporting tool, you have totals of some sort, any type of technology, you can start putting numbers together to figure out, okay, this plus that equals this minus this equals taxable deduction, taxable wages.
[00:30:16] What do taxable wages mean?
[00:30:18] What are these things, right?
[00:30:19] So this is where the hard skills come in.
[00:30:22] And if you're not, like, how can I say, if you're not served up a W2, then you can build your own preview of it.
[00:30:31] And I'm not saying check everybody, but spot check.
[00:30:34] Pick some people who have complicated taxable things going on.
[00:30:37] Your CEO should be on the top of that list, right?
[00:30:41] What else?
[00:30:42] Yeah.
[00:30:42] And look, what's that audit that you do, right?
[00:30:45] That you had me doing and then you've done it.
[00:30:48] I'm sure you still do it now.
[00:30:49] The W3 audit, right?
[00:30:51] Oh, yeah.
[00:30:51] You get a preview.
[00:30:52] Yeah.
[00:30:52] That's a good audit to do to check the W3 totals for your company versus what's in payroll.
[00:30:58] That's how we found that missing batch.
[00:31:00] So that's a great audit.
[00:31:01] Look for ghost employees.
[00:31:03] This is a great time to look back at your data.
[00:31:06] You're looking back at a whole year.
[00:31:08] You got a whole year to look back.
[00:31:10] And you look at different ways.
[00:31:12] Me and Walt were thinking about that.
[00:31:13] We were chopping it up one night.
[00:31:16] Is there a guaranteed way to find the ghost employee?
[00:31:20] It was a little debate.
[00:31:22] Yeah.
[00:31:23] I don't know if it was a debate.
[00:31:24] I think we were just pushing each other to really figure it out.
[00:31:27] No guarantee.
[00:31:28] And honestly, I think we still landed on the more headcount you have, the less sure shot way it is.
[00:31:38] If it's a small shop, you can.
[00:31:40] Think about it.
[00:31:41] If you only have 20 employees, your sure shot method for ghost employee is to make sure you match the paycheck with a face.
[00:31:48] If you have 200,000 employees across the globe, how do you ensure?
[00:31:56] If you guys know, tell us because we got stuck.
[00:31:59] We got stuck there.
[00:32:00] We got stuck at the high numbers.
[00:32:02] Guaranteed.
[00:32:03] Saying that there's a guarantee.
[00:32:05] Right.
[00:32:06] Think about 2 million.
[00:32:07] Think about the Walmarts of the world that have millions of employees.
[00:32:11] Yeah.
[00:32:12] So and then where?
[00:32:14] Yeah.
[00:32:14] We have the bonus story part.
[00:32:19] You know what you should know?
[00:32:21] You should know that.
[00:32:23] You should know podcast.
[00:32:24] That's what you should know.
[00:32:26] Because then you'd be in the know on all things that are timely and topical.
[00:32:31] Subscribe to the you should know podcast.
[00:32:34] Thanks.
[00:32:34] Thanks.
[00:32:35] Man, we just put out that.
[00:32:36] I think it was on I on It's About Your Paycheck.
[00:32:39] We put out the be careful about getting bonus and taxed on the bonus rate and the supplemental rate because it's bonus time.
[00:32:46] My neighbor was like, Brian, my whole team went crazy because of the bonus rates that they got hit with.
[00:32:52] The next day I saw your episode on TikTok.
[00:32:55] I saw the clip on.
[00:32:57] She shared it with her team.
[00:32:59] She was like, yeah.
[00:33:00] Yeah.
[00:33:01] So I was like, dang.
[00:33:02] One, I felt great because we put out something that was valuable.
[00:33:06] And hopefully it gave the employees some type of, OK, I didn't get.
[00:33:11] It wasn't malicious type of thing because people could be thinking, oh, man, why are y'all being malicious?
[00:33:16] No, it's not.
[00:33:17] It's a supplemental rate.
[00:33:19] And look, maybe that's a chance for that employer to learn how to communicate.
[00:33:24] To your point earlier.
[00:33:25] Yes.
[00:33:27] Yes.
[00:33:27] Maybe we can communicate better.
[00:33:29] Yes.
[00:33:29] That's a great call out.
[00:33:30] They can do that earlier in the game.
[00:33:33] And yeah, exactly.
[00:33:34] So that's it, folks.
[00:33:36] We got a question of the day, our safe talk question of the day.
[00:33:40] And Walt has asked, is asking everybody, whose fault is it if the payroll team doesn't have the bandwidth to do their job?
[00:33:49] And is it the employer's fault?
[00:33:52] Is it payroll leadership fault?
[00:33:53] And what do you mean?
[00:33:54] Do you mean like in general or do you mean just like now at year end crunch time?
[00:33:58] In general.
[00:33:59] In general.
[00:33:59] In general.
[00:34:00] I'll let you lead off, man.
[00:34:02] What do you think?
[00:34:03] So look, I think I really thought about this question.
[00:34:07] I figured because it was like, whoa, wait a minute.
[00:34:09] I think I'm going to lean towards payroll leadership here.
[00:34:12] And hear me out, right?
[00:34:13] Because I know you may have an employer that makes it difficult to progress.
[00:34:19] But if you don't and you don't use your voice, what did Ian Giles say?
[00:34:24] Have we heard other people say?
[00:34:25] Yep.
[00:34:25] Use your voice.
[00:34:26] Speak up.
[00:34:28] Tell them.
[00:34:29] Like, hey, even if you're not sure and it's just a question that pops in your head.
[00:34:32] I want to find out, is this an actual concern?
[00:34:36] Yep.
[00:34:37] And speak up.
[00:34:39] So in this case, you know, maybe this person didn't speak up.
[00:34:44] Yeah.
[00:34:44] You know what I'm saying?
[00:34:45] So I think you have to speak up and just wave the flag.
[00:34:48] What do you always say?
[00:34:49] The squeaky oil.
[00:34:50] Squeaky wheel.
[00:34:51] It's the oil.
[00:34:52] It's the oil.
[00:34:52] Yep.
[00:34:52] Like, that is what I leaned on with this question.
[00:34:56] Because I was going back and forth.
[00:34:57] I was like, oh.
[00:34:58] Because at first, my initial reaction was, oh, it's the employer all the way.
[00:35:01] I think it's both.
[00:35:03] Really?
[00:35:03] Yeah.
[00:35:04] I think it's both.
[00:35:05] Okay.
[00:35:05] Okay.
[00:35:05] Yeah.
[00:35:06] I think it's a combination.
[00:35:07] Yeah, I think it's both.
[00:35:09] And it also depends.
[00:35:11] And so that's why I want to go with both.
[00:35:14] Because at the end of the day, if something is, if there's a failure in some way because
[00:35:20] of payroll, yeah, internally, fingers may be pointed.
[00:35:26] But who do you think the employee is going to blame?
[00:35:31] Look, everybody.
[00:35:33] Everybody.
[00:35:34] Yeah.
[00:35:34] So that's what I think.
[00:35:35] That's what made me think of it.
[00:35:36] Wait a minute.
[00:35:37] Our customer is going to be like, F all of y'all.
[00:35:40] You all suck.
[00:35:42] You know what I mean?
[00:35:43] Especially if it's not their first payroll error.
[00:35:46] We know that at the two payroll errors.
[00:35:48] You're reading my mind.
[00:35:50] You're reading my mind.
[00:35:51] Exactly right.
[00:35:52] Exactly right.
[00:35:53] So yeah, folks, that was a good one, man.
[00:35:55] I love it.
[00:35:56] I get excited.
[00:35:57] I'm happy to bring this conversation year.
[00:36:00] We have it every year, right?
[00:36:01] It was our third year now.
[00:36:02] We're doing year end.
[00:36:03] And if there's anything we missed, please don't hesitate.
[00:36:05] Go ahead and call it out and let us know.
[00:36:07] And we'll shoot.
[00:36:08] We'll update.
[00:36:09] We'll put a post out.
[00:36:10] Put it.
[00:36:11] Like when we post this episode on social media, just add something in the comments.
[00:36:15] For real.
[00:36:16] Yes.
[00:36:17] Each one to each one.
[00:36:18] Unless, you know, because all the companies, like it's then its nuances is, wait, I do
[00:36:23] this and I do that.
[00:36:24] And those are good call outs for people to think about.
[00:36:26] And I'm sure we missed some things.
[00:36:28] It's just like.
[00:36:29] Look, look, this is just.
[00:36:30] Get you thinking.
[00:36:31] Yes.
[00:36:32] We could have died.
[00:36:34] Dove deeper.
[00:36:34] For sure.
[00:36:35] And everything.
[00:36:36] But.
[00:36:36] Get you thinking.
[00:36:37] This will get your juices flowing.
[00:36:38] Right.
[00:36:39] And this.
[00:36:39] If you're scared.
[00:36:40] This is gonna be like, oh, but you didn't think about.
[00:36:42] Ah, but you thought about it now.
[00:36:43] You know what I mean?
[00:36:44] So.
[00:36:45] All right, folks.
[00:36:46] We love you.
[00:36:48] Till the next time.
[00:36:48] Till the next time.
[00:36:50] Peace.
[00:36:51] Peace.
[00:36:57] Before we sign off.
[00:36:58] Here are a couple of quick things.
[00:37:00] Don't forget to follow.
[00:37:01] It's about payroll on LinkedIn.
[00:37:02] And it's about your paycheck on Facebook and TikTok.
[00:37:07] Thank you for being part of our payroll community.
[00:37:09] And thank you for being a part of this journey with us.
[00:37:13] Until the next time.
[00:37:14] Keep learning.
[00:37:15] Keep growing.
[00:37:16] And most importantly.
[00:37:17] Keep going.
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