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Why should you choose Visual ContrAcct® software?

  • You want an integrated job cost management/accounting system developed by people who know your business — contracting.
  • You want a system supported by the people who wrote it originally — and update it based on the changing needs of you and your industry.
  • You want personalized training and reliable telephone support from experienced professionals.
  • You want a proven solution — one that is the choice of over 900 contractors like you.
  • You want the reliability of a software company that has been around since 1979.
  • You know that whatever the job, you can do it better when you use the right tool!

Visual ContrAcct® — Job Cost Accounting Software Modules

  • Accounts Payable
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Billing
  • Cash Management
  • Equipment
  • General Ledger
  • Inventory
  • Job Cost
  • Payroll
  • Purchase Order
  • A single-entry system requiring only one-time entry of source documents.
  • Internal posting from system to system, performed automatically, eliminates the need for repetitive entries.
  • Standard or user defined reports available on either screen or paper printout.
  • All software supports multiple companies and multiple work stations.
  • Password Security by user.
  • Hot key windows

Visual ContrAcct® Contractor Accounting Software

  • Improves cash flow & collections with automated accounts receivable!
  • Improves job profits & labor productivity through better cost analysis & reporting.
  • Reduces clerical expenses & paperwork in processing invoices, lien wavers, and other financial documents.
  • Prepares payroll checks quickly and accurately. Includes 7 types of payroll overhead.Prepares government & union payroll reports.
  • Tracks retainage automatically. Keeps track of retainage for your contracts and for those of your subcontractors.
  • Increases billing accuracy. Keeps track of original estimates, change orders, current estimates, actual job-to-date, and balance-to-complete.
  • Eliminates costly duplications and errors-single entry accounting.
  • Windows functions- for quick, easy operation.
  • Provides audit trail — the system's accuracy is always verifiable.
  • Eliminates hand posting to job cost, general ledger, payroll, etc.
  • Supports multiple companies and bank accounts-versatile and easy to use.
  • Designed by CPA's exclusively for contractors. We wrote the software with you in mind.
  • Our software can grow with you and your company. Runs on PC's, Microsoft Networks & Novell Networks.
  • Offers one on one training — designed to get you up and running on your schedule not ours.
  • Includes modular systems — use only the systems you need, but add additional capabilities as needed. All modules are totally integrated.
  • Over 30 years of experience, and hundreds of customers.
 

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Features

Accounts Payable Features

  • One-time invoice entry, including retention tracking
  • On-screen inquiry of open invoices, including “drill down”
  • Automatic discount percentage and due date
  • Automatic assignment of a purchases account number for fast invoice entry
  • Automatic assignment of vendor numbers
  • Automatic posting of transactions to CASH MANAGEMENT, GENERAL LEDGER and JOB COST
  • Ability to put vendors on hold, jobs on hold, invoices on hold or part of an invoice on hold before printing checks
  • Alert for duplicate invoice
  • Processing of credit memos
  • linked to Crystal Reports REPORT WRITER

Reports

  • Vendor (including subcontractor) information with calendar and fiscal year-to-date totals
  • Computer printed 1099's
  • Pre-check edit report
  • Computer printed checks
  • Check registers for hand written checks, computer printed checks or combination
  • Aging reports summarized by vendor, job, or open invoice including retention tracking
  • Job-to-date detail of payable costs
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Accounts Receivable Features

  • Unit price and lump sum invoicing, including retention tracking
  • On screen inquiry of open invoices, including “drill down”
  • Automatic assignment of a sales account number for fast invoice entry
  • Automatic assignment of customer numbers
  • Automatic posting of transactions to CASH MANAGEMENT, GENERAL LEDGER and JOB COST
  • Allow for hand written invoice
  • Provision for posting of partial payments and over payments
  • Linked to Crystal Reports REPORT WRITER

Reports

  • Customer information with calendar and fiscal year-to-date totals
  • Receipt summary
  • Aging reports summarized by customer, job or open invoice including retention tracking
  • computer printed customer statements
  • Job-to-date detail of invoices
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Billing Features

  • Standard (description, quantity, unit of measure, price, total)
  • Contract billing
  • Original contract
  • Approved change orders
  • Current contract
  • Work completed to date
  • Less retentions
  • Net completed to date
  • Less net previously billed
  • Net due this invoice
  • Balance to complete
  • Schedule of values
  • Unit price billing
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Cash Management Features

  • Bank account information
  • On screen inquiry of account balances
  • Automatic posting of PAYROLL checks, ACCOUNTS PAYABLE checks and ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE receipts to cash transaction files
  • Entry of miscellaneous cash transactions, such as service charges
  • Automatic posting of miscellaneous cash transactions to GENERAL LEDGER
  • Entry of items that have cleared the bank
  • Linked to Crystal Reports REPORT WRITER

Reports

  • Bank account summary
  • Cash transaction summary
  • Bank reconciliation
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Equipment Features

  • On screen inquiry of equipment information
  • Application of equipment cost to JOB COST based on standard hourly rates and equipment hourly usage entered through PAYROLL
  • Subdivided equipment file to accommodate classifications for equipment such as office equipment, administrative vehicles & excavating equipment
  • Linked to Crystal Reports REPORT WRITER

Reports

  • Equipment summary
  • Class summary
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General Ledger Features

  • User-defined account numbers
  • On screen inquiry of accounts
  • General journal file for adjustments and miscellaneous transactions
  • Automatic reversing entries
  • Automatic standard (repeating) entries
  • Departmental accounting
  • Percent complete or completed contract accounting method
  • linked to Crystal Reports REPORT WRITER

REPORTS

  • Chart of accounts
  • Trial balance
  • Detail ledger showing each transaction for the period
  • Income statement
  • Balance sheet
  • Statement options
    • Current period
    • Year-to-date
    • Comparatives to this period last year
  • Percentage of total sales calculations on income statement
  • Percentage of total assets calculations on balance sheet
  • Year-to-date audit report showing all transactions posted to an account
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Inventory Features

  • On screen inquiry of inventory items including last purchase information
  • Product receipt posting to inventory quantities
  • Product requisition posting to GENERAL LEDGER and JOB COST
  • Separate market cost price
  • Separate sales or transfer price for posting to JOB COST
  • Linked to Crystal Reports REPORT WRITER

Reports

  • Inventory item information
  • Product receipt edit
  • Job requisition summary
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Job Cost Features

  • On screen inquiry of jobs and job/phases, including “drill down”
  • Up to 6 user selected cost categories per phase, such as Labor, Labor Overhead, Equipment, Material, Subcontracts, Miscellaneous
  • Tracking of original estimates, change orders, current estimates actual job-to-date and balance-to complete
  • Automatic posting of PAYROLL and EQUIPMENT costs and hours
  • Automatic posting of ACCOUNTS PAYABLE and ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
  • Job detail stored indefinitely
  • Optional storage of completed job information in history files
  • Lump sum or unit price estimate entry
  • Linked to Crystal Reports REPORT WRITER

Reports

  • Job and job/phase information
  • Month-to-date, year-to-date and job-to-date job cost summary reports with and without billings
  • Detail audit report showing all transactions posted to a job/phase
  • Job and job/phase percent complete
  • Variance reports comparing estimates to actual job progress
  • Lien Waiver (Title & Trust) and Contractor's Affidavit
  • AIA billing
  • Job cost reports have the following features:
    • Beginning and ending job numbers and phase numbers
    • Up-to-the-minute estimate and actual cost information
    • All jobs or only open jobs
    • Job/phase detail or job totals only
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Payroll Features

  • Multi-company payroll
  • Multi-state payroll
  • On screen inquiry of employee information, including calendar and fiscal year-to-date
  • Ability to process hourly, salary and commission payrolls on a weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly basis
  • One-time employee time card entry, including optional production, billing and equipment usage entry
  • Calculation and reporting of 7 types of payroll overhead (FICA, Federal Unemployment Tax, State Unemployment Tax, Union benefits, Workers Compensation, Other 1, Other 2)
  • Calculation and entry of hand written checks (layoff checks)
  • Detail files can be stored on disk indefinitely
  • Automatic posting of checks to employee records and CASH MANAGEMENT
  • Automatic posting and reporting of labor and labor overhead costs to EQUIPMENT, GENERAL LEDGER and JOB COST
  • Handles 401K & Section 125 (cafeteria) plans

Reports

  • Employee information including year-to-date, earnings, taxes and deductions
  • Time card edit by employee and/or by job
  • Computer printed checks and check register
  • Weekly state and federal certified job (HUD WH-347)
  • Monthly union summary
  • Monthly workers compensation
  • Monthly employment utilization (EEO) with covered area summary
  • Quarterly and year-to-date check ledgers, listing all checks paid to an employee
  • Quarterly 941A detail, Federal Unemployment Tax and State Unemployment Tax reports
  • Annual W-2 form printing and summary
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Purchase Order Features

  • Stores date to-be-ordered, date ordered, date required, date acknowledged, and date received
  • Tracks back ordered items
  • Stores quantity ordered, quantity received, date received, received by (employee), and shipped via
  • User-selected report sequence: by purchase order, job, or vendor
  • Linked to ContrAcct® ACCOUNTS PAYABLE invoice entry
  • Linked to ContrAcct® JOB COST
  • Linked to Crystal Reports REPORT WRITER
  • Linked to ContrAcct® INVENTORY

Reports

  • Purchase order list
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Frequently Asked Questions — Visual ContrAcct Payroll - Rel 8

How do I do my weekly payroll?

The first step to running a payroll is to print a Payroll Pay Period Checklist (or a Field Payroll Pay Period Checklist for your Field Payroll). The checklist will list step by step procedures to complete your payroll. Each step on the checklist indicates a task, with the menu options for that task listed below. There is also a place for you to initial and date each step as it is completed.

Please note that YOU must determine which pay periods go into each month. The system will ask you to assign a pay period to a particular accounting month and year before you enter the first time card for that pay period. For a pay period that ends in one month but is paid in the next, you have the option of putting it in the month in which it will be earned or the month in which it will be paid. For pay periods that span two months, you may also select the month in which the payroll is to be posted to your General Ledger and Job Cost Ledger. Please discuss this with your accountant if you are not sure which pay periods belong in which month.

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How do I reopen a week of payroll once it is closed?

Closing a Pay Period involves posting the payroll information to the General Ledger, the Job Cost Ledger and the Employee Files. If you need to reopen a pay period, you need to undo the postings you did at closing. Use these procedures to re-open a closed pay period.

 

  1. From the Admin menu, select Payroll > Unpost > Checks from Employees. The system will present you with the date of the most recent posted pay period. Hit Enter or click OK to accept.
  2. When the system displays a message indicating it has completed unposting, click OK or hit Enter.
  3. Return to steps 1 and 2 to complete the same process for unposting Equipment from Ledger, Payroll from Ledger (JC) and Payroll from Ledger (GL).
  4. This pay period is now open – it is as if you had never closed it. When you have completed whatever additional work you needed to do, you must close this payroll again, following the same steps as you did when you first closed it.

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How do I enter a bonus timecard?

Use this procedure to enter a bonus time card:

  1. From the File menu, select Payroll > Time Cards. Enter the Pay Period Date when prompted – hit Enter or click OK to select default date displayed.
  2. Click Add tab on your task bar, or hit Ctrl + A.
  3. Complete the time card as you would normally. Leave the Union field blank for the time card to have no effect on your union reports. For the Day of the Week, enter B for Bonus or W for weekly. If you will not be charging the bonus to a Job/Phase, then leave those fields blank. For the Account #, use the General Ledger Account Number which best applies to this taxable amount (Hit F12 for a list). Leave the hours blank and enter the taxable bonus amount in the field marked Taxable Amount.
  4. Click the "Save & Add" button to save the time card when you are finished entering one and want to add more. Otherwise, click Save tab or type Ctrl + S to save.
  5. When you are finished with time card entry, click Exit tab or type Ctrl + Q to exit.

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How do I reprint my paychecks if they jam in the printer or if they printed on plain paper instead of check stock?

You may easily reprint payroll checks, however the instructions to do so vary depending on where you are in the process. If you tried to print payroll checks and they printed incorrectly and you answered NO to the system when it asked you if they printed correctly, then just return to Print Payroll Checks and follow the steps again. If you tried to print payroll checks and they printed incorrectly, but you answered YES to the system when it asked you if they printed Print_Payroll checks correctly, then you need to first Delete Payroll Checks and Recalculate Payroll Checks, then Print Payroll Checks.

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How do I void a payroll check?

Use this procedure to void a Payroll Check when the Pay Period is open. Please note that you can only VOID printed checks. If the check you do not want is a calculated check (a temporary, unprinted check whose number starts with T), you must delete it. See Delete a Payroll Check.

  1. From the File menu, select Payroll > Review/Void Checks. Enter the Pay Period Date when prompted – hit Enter or click OK to select default date displayed.
  2. Click Binoculars tab on your task bar or type Ctrl + L to bring up a list of the available checks. Highlight the one you want to void and hit Enter or double-click to select it.
  3. Click the VOID button on the check. The system will respond by asking you to confirm that you want the check voided. Click Yes or hit Enter to continue and the check will be voided.
  4. The system will also ask you if you want to create a new, printable check. If you want to reissue the payroll check in the exact same amount as the one you just voided, click Yes. If you will not be reissuing the payroll check or you will be reissuing one in a different amount, click No.

To print the reissued check, see Reprint Payroll Checks. To reissue the check in a different amount, you may delete or change some of the time cards and/or change the employee's deductions, recalculate the check and print it. See Recalculate a Payroll Check. To not reissue any check at all, you must delete the all of the time cards associated with that employee. See Delete a Timecard.

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My employer has a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan. How do I set it up on the system?

Before starting, please refer to Deductions, Add-on's & Fringes for general information about deduction features. Use this procedure to set up a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP):

  1. From the Admin menu, select Payroll > Deductions/Add-on's/Fringes.
  2. Type Ctrl + A or click Add tab to create a new deduction. A blank form will display on the screen. Enter the Deduction ID, Description and Short Description.
  3. Enter the Type, Frequency and Rate. These three fields are default fields. When you actually put this deduction on an employee, these are the choices that will be displayed when you add the deduction. You should set these items to what you expect most employees to choose. However, if an employee's choice for his/her SEP deferral is different than the default, you may make changes to that deduction as you add it to that individual employee.
  4. Enter the GL Acct ID where this deduction will be charged each pay period when the payroll is recorded on the General Ledger.
  5. Refer to the IRS Instructions and enter the W-2 Box Number and W-2 Code for a SEP in the fields provided.
  6. At the bottom of the form are check boxes which control the calculation of withholding taxes and the presentation of wage information related to the deduction on Form W-2. For a SEP Plan, you should check the following boxes:

    • Exclude from Federal Withholding Wages
    • Exclude from State Withholding Wages
    • W-2 Deferred Compensation
  7. When you are finished, type Ctrl + S or click Save tab to save. To exit, type Ctrl + Q or click Exit tab.
  8. For each employee who is deferring under the SEP Plan, you must make the SEP deduction one of their deductions. See Employee Deductions for specific procedures on how to do this. The SEP deduction you just created will appear on the list of available GL Ledger Account IDs.

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How do I set up a 401(k) plan on the system?

Before starting, please refer to Deductions, Add-ons & Fringes for general information about deduction features. Use this procedure to set up a Section 401(k) Plan:

  1. From the Admin menu, select Payroll > Deductions/Add-ons/Fringes.
  2. Type Ctrl + A or click Add tab to create a new deduction. A blank form will display on the screen. Enter the Deduction ID, Description and Short Description.
  3. Enter the Type, Frequency and Rate. These three fields are default fields. When you actually put this deduction on an employee, these are the choices that will be displayed when you add the deduction. You should set these items to what you expect most employees to choose. However, if an employee's choice for his/her 401(k) deferral is different than the default, you may make changes to that deduction as you add it to that individual employee.
  4. Enter the GL Acct ID where this deduction will be charged each pay period when the payroll is recorded on the General Ledger.
  5. Refer to the IRS Instructions and enter the W-2 Box Number and W-2 Code for a 401(k) in the fields provided.
  6. At the bottom of the form are check boxes which control the calculation of withholding taxes and the presentation of wage information related to the deduction on Form W-2. For a Section 401(k) Plan, you should check the following boxes:

    • Exclude from Federal Withholding Wages
    • Exclude from State Withholding Wages
    • W-2 Deferred Compensation Section
      • 401(k) Deduction
  7. When you are finished, type Ctrl + S or click Save tab to save. To exit, type Ctrl + Q or click Exit tab.
  8. or each employee who is deferring under the 401(k) Plan, you must make the 401(k) deduction one of their deductions. See Employee Deductions for specific procedures on how to do this. The 401(k) deduction you just created will appear on the list of available deductions when you hit F12.
  9. Check your Federal Tax Table to make sure you have the proper 401(k) limit for the current tax year. From the Admin menu, select Payroll > Tax Tables > Federal. This information should be available from your Plan Sponsor, your accountant and the Federal Government.
  10. Determine your monthly contribution by printing the monthly Section 401K Deduction Report. From the Reports menu, select Payroll > Monthly > 401K Deduction. Enter the desired beginning and ending pay period dates or accept the ones offered. You may select a range of employees or leave blank to select all employees. The Matchable percent and Company percent displayed are taken from the Payroll Control File – you may accept these or type in other amounts. You may sort the report by Social Security Number, Employee Name or Employee ID. Select Ascending or Descending order and the Destination of your report (Printer, Screen or File). Click OK or hit Enter to run the report.

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How do I set up a Section 125 plan on the system?

Before starting, please refer to Deductions, Add-ons & Fringes for general information about deduction features.

Use this procedure to set up a Section 125 (cafeteria) Plan:

  1. From the Admin menu, select Payroll > Deductions/Add-ons/Fringes.
  2. Type Ctrl + A or click Add tab to create a new deduction. A blank form will display on the screen. Enter the Deduction ID, Description and Short Description.
  3. Enter the Type, Frequency and Rate. These three fields are default fields. When you actually put this deduction on an employee, these are the choices that will be displayed when you add the deduction. You should set these items to what you expect most employees to choose. However, if an employee's choice for his/her 125 deferral is different than the default, you may make changes to that deduction as you add it to that individual employee.
  4. Enter the GL Acct ID where this deduction will be charged each pay period when the payroll is recorded on the General Ledger.
  5. If this Section 125 deduction is for Dependent Care, refer to the IRS Instructions and enter the corresponding W-2 Box Number and W-2 Code in the fields provided. For other Section 125 deductions, leave the W-2 Box and Code blank.
  6. At the bottom of the form are check boxes which control the calculation of withholding taxes and the presentation of wage information related to the deduction on Form W-2. For a Section 125 Plan, you should check the following boxes:

    • Exclude from Federal Withholding Wages
    • Exclude from State Withholding Wages
    • W-2 Dependent Care Deduction (only check this for dependent care deductions)
    • Section 125 Deduction Exclude from Social Security Wages
    • Exclude from Medicare Withholding Wages
  7. You may need to create several deductions if your plan has more than one option (medical insurance, reimbursed medical expenses, dependent care, etc…). Repeat step 2 as needed. When you are finished,type Ctrl + S or click Save tab to save. To exit, type Ctrl + Q or click Exit tab.
  8. For each employee participating in the Section 125 Plan, you must make the Section 125 Plan deductions they have selected part of their deductions. See Employee Deductions for specific procedures on how to do this. The Section 125 Plan deductions you just created will appear on the list of available deductions when you hit F12.

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How do I rerun certified payroll reports?

Use the following procedure to rerun certified payroll reports:

  1. From the Reports menu, select Payroll > Weekly > Certified. Certified.
  2. Accept the period end date offered or type in the desired date. You may also click on the calendar to the right of the date field and select a different date -click OK when you are finished.
  3. Enter the desired beginning and ending Job IDs – if you leave these fields blank, all certified jobs will be selected.
  4. Select Ascending or Descending order and the Destination of your report (Printer, Screen or File).
  5. Click OK or hit Enter to run the report.

I posted my payroll to the wrong month. Is there an easy way to correct it?

Use the following procedure to unpost PR from the wrong month and Repost it to a different month.

  1. Go to Admin > Payroll> Unpost and unpost each of the following: Checks from Employees
    • Equipment from Ledger
    • Payroll from Ledger (JC)
    • Payroll from Ledger (GL)
  2. Go to Admin > Payroll> Timecard Header. Click Binoculars tab on the task bar or type Ctrl + L to being up the week that was posted in the wrong month. Change the accounting month to be the correct accounting month.
  3. Go to File >Payroll> Post and repost each of the following:
    • Payroll to Ledger (GL)
    • Payroll to Ledger (JC)
    • Equipment to Ledger
    • Checks to Employees

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What do I do about a new union contract?

Use this procedure to change information on an existing union:

  1. From the Admin menu, select Payroll > Unions/Pay Rate Table >Unions/Pay Rate Table.
  2. Type Ctrl + L or click Binoculars tab to display a list of available unions. Highlight the one you want to change and select it.
  3. Enter updated information (Add-Ons, Deductions, Fringes or Rates) and make changes as needed. Please note that when you change union pay rates, the rates will NOT be changed on time cards whose corresponding payroll check has been calculated.
  4. When you are finished entering, click Save tab or type Ctrl + S to save.

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What do I need to do at the end of my insurance year for Workers' Compensation?

At the end of your workers' compensation year, there are no special close-out steps or checklists to follow. Simply print the Workers' Comp Report to get a summary of wages classified by workers' comp code for the requested period. Follow these procedures to run the report:

  1. From the Reports menu, select Payroll > Monthly > Worker's Comp.
  2. Accept the beginning and ending pay period ending dates offered, or enter the dates you require.
  3. Accept the beginning and ending insurance dates offered, or enter different dates. The insurance dates you enter will appear in the title of the report and will govern what items are included in the year-to-date amounts on the report.
  4. Enter the beginning and ending Workers' Comp Codes or leave blank to include all codes on the report.
  5. Select Ascending or Descending order and the Destination of your report (Printer, Screen or File).
  6. Click OK or hit Enter to run the report.

The end of your workers' compensation year usually means that you have new workers' Comp rates to enter into the system. Use the following procedures to enter those new rates into the system.

  1. From the Admin menu, select Payroll > Worker's Comp Codes. What will appear on the screen is the first item in a list of existing workers' comp codes.
  2. Click Binoculars tab on your task bar or type Ctrl + L to bring up a list of the available codes.
  3. Move to the one you want and select it.
  4. Enter the new rate in the percent field and then type Ctrl + S or click Save tab to save. Return to step 2 until all needed changes are made.
  5. When complete, type Ctrl + Q or click Exit tab to exit.

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I have an adjustment amount on my 941A report — what does this mean?

If your Form 941 adjustmentt amount is more than a few cents due to rounding, there are several reasons why this may have occurred:

  • You made changes to an employee's quarterly totals in the employee file for auto usage or third party sick pay.
  • You had a FICA adjustment reported on your Form 941 in one quarter, but you recorded it on the system in the following quarter.
  • You have not closed one or more pay periods in the quarter.

If none of the above items appear to be the cause of your adjustment, you need to contact Job Cost Inc.'s customer support department and discuss the problem with a qualified professional.

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How do I report payroll information using magnetic media?

To report Illinois State Unemployment Insurance using magnetic media, complete the following steps:

  1. From the Reports menu, select Payroll > Quarterly > State Unemployment.
  2. Indicate your choices for year, quarter, range of employees, upper and lower percents and limits. If you do not indicate a range of employees, all employees will be included on the report. Please note that if the unemployment state is set to Employers in your Payroll controls, you must accept the default state for this report.
  3. To run both a paper report and a magnetic media file, select Both. For the magnetic media file only, select Text.
  4. If you do not have a document control number, accept the system default of 1. To enter another default number, the Text option must be selected. The report can be sorted by Employee Name, Employee ID or Social Security Number.
  5. Select the destination for the report (Printer, Screen or File) and click OK to run. If Text or Both was selected, the system will create a DOS file named "L----.YYQ", where "----" is the state unemployment insurance account number stored in the SUT Account # field on page 2 of the state's tax table. YY represents the last 2 digits of the year and Q is the quarter.
  6. The system creates this file in the directory specified in the Miscellaneous Company Controls file. You must copy this file onto the diskette you will send to the state of Illinois, following Illinois' documentation instructions.

To report W-2s on Magnetic Media for the Social Security Administration, complete the following steps:

  1. From the Reports menu, select Payroll > Year End > W2 Magnetic Media.
  2. At the report dialog screen, indicate the Year (of the Employee File), the Social Security limit, the Tax Year and whether or not you are re submitting. If you are re submitting a file, you will also need to enter your TLCN number. If you have completed your year end closing steps, the Year and the Tax Year will be the same. If you have not yet backed up and zeroed out the Employee File, then the Year (of the Employee File) should be "Current".
  3. Click OK to run the report. The system will create a DOS file named W2REPORT in the directory specified in the Miscellaneous Company Controls file. You must copy this file onto the diskette you will send to the Federal Government, following the IRS/SSA guidelines. If you wish to keep a copy of the file on your system, it's a good idea to rename the file to W2REPORT.YY where YY represents the last 2 digits of the year for which you made the file.

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What do I need to do at the end of the calendar year?

For Payroll, the end of the calendar year means W-2 reporting in addition to the regular quarterly payroll tax returns. To make the process more manageable, the first thing you should do is print the Calendar Year End Checklist. The checklist will list step by step procedures along with the appropriate menu selections for Payroll (and Accounts Payable, too).

For Payroll, you will complete the payroll section of the checklist AFTER your final pay period of the calendar year (and AFTER you have completed the monthly and quarterly sections of your pay period checklist). Remember that the government requires you to report earnings based on the CHECK DATE, so your last payroll for the year is the one with the last PAY DATE in that year.

For reporting items such as Officer Group Life Insurance, Auto Usage, 3rd Party Sick Pay, and S-Corp and if these are to appear on W-2's, contact Job Cost, Inc. for instructions.

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What do I need to do at the end of my fiscal year?

The first thing you need to do at the end of the fiscal year is print a Fiscal Year End Checklist. The checklist will list step by step year end procedures for each module, including Payroll. You should follow the steps for Payroll AFTER your final pay period of the fiscal year.

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How do I keep my payroll confidential?

The Payroll module in Visual ContrAcct has two levels of security. The first level allows you to divide your payroll into Field Payroll and Confidential Payroll. The second level of security is by user – the system allows you to restrict access to the Payroll and Payroll Field modules to specified users.

Employees who are designated "Confidential" are in the Confidential Payroll. Employees without this designation are in the Field Payroll. The Confidential designation is on the first page of the Employee screen near the top. You may change an employee's designation at any time during the year simply by checking or removing the check from the box.

The menus for Payroll and Field Payroll are similar, but not identical. Users with access to the Field Payroll may enter and change field employees; enter and change time cards for field employees; and calculate, review and print payroll checks for field employees. Users with access to Payroll may do all of those functions for ALL employees, plus the payroll close-out and posting functions as well as the various reports.

A Payroll user MUST do all of the periodic close-outs for Payroll. Security levels for Payroll and Field Payroll are established in the Miscellaneous Controls File in Admin. If you have security rights to this menu, you may establish which users can have access to which module. You may designate which users have access to Field Payroll, which users have access to Payroll and which users are denied access to either Payroll menu. In this way, only specifically designated users have access to Payroll.

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