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Payroll

Payroll management, processing, and compliance for businesses of all sizes

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11 min read

Student Loan Wage Garnishment Is Back in 2026: What Employers Must Do When an Order Lands on Your Desk

Federal student loan wage garnishment resumed in 2026 and needs no court order. Employers must withhold up to 15% of disposable earnings while leaving the worker at least $217.50 a week (30 times the federal minimum wage), remit with the case number each pay period, never fire an employee over a single garnishment, and book withholdings to a Garnishments Payable liability account rather than an expense.

Mike Thrift

student-loanspayrollwithholding
11 min read

Can Your Small Business Hire Unpaid Interns? The 7-Factor Test That Decides Whether You Owe Back Wages

The Department of Labor's seven-factor primary beneficiary test decides whether an unpaid intern at a for-profit business was legally an employee. Fail it and you owe back wages at minimum wage plus overtime, an equal amount in liquidated damages, and the worker's attorney fees, reaching back two to three years. Here is what each factor means for a small employer, what misclassification costs, and the safer alternatives.

Mike Thrift

small-businesshiringpayroll
11 min read

Virginia's SB 637 Lowers the Anti-Discrimination Threshold to 5 Employees: A Payroll and HR Recordkeeping Guide

Effective July 1, 2026, Virginia's SB 637 extends the Virginia Human Rights Act to employers with five or more employees (down from 15) and lengthens the discrimination complaint window from 300 days to two years. This guide explains how to count employees under the 20-week rule, sets a three-year retention schedule for hiring, payroll and disciplinary records, and walks newly covered small employers through a seven-step compliance checklist.

Mike Thrift

small-businesspayrollcompliance
13 min read

Water Park Bookkeeping: How to Fund 12 Months of Costs From a 100-Day Season

An outdoor water park earns nearly all of its revenue in roughly 100 operating days but can burn $150,000 to $450,000 a month with the gates closed. Season-pass presales are a contract liability under ASC 606, recognized per operating day or per estimated visit, with breakage booked only at expiration. This guide sets up stream-level revenue accounts, seasonal labor budgeting, utility and chemical tracking, weather and capex reserves, and a 52-week cash forecast that funds the offseason trough.

Mike Thrift

seasonal-businessdeferred-revenuerevenue-recognition
9 min read

Statutory Employees: The W-2 Workers Who File Like a Business

Statutory employees are the IRS hybrid class between contractors and employees — commission drivers, full-time life insurance agents, home workers, and traveling salespeople under IRC section 3121(d)(3). Employers withhold Social Security and Medicare but no income tax, issue a W-2 with Box 13 checked, and the worker deducts expenses on Schedule C without owing self-employment tax. Covers the four qualifying categories, the three FICA conditions, and the misclassification errors that trigger back taxes and penalties.

Mike Thrift

payrolltax-compliancew-2-wages
10 min read

When Does a Commute Become Paid Time? DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-10 and Your Field Payroll

DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-10 (July 22, 2026) holds that a field engineer's morning calls to schedule customer appointments are integral and indispensable work, which starts the continuous workday and makes the drive to the first job site compensable. Passively receiving dispatch messages is not. Here is how to classify each step of the morning routine, fix mobile timekeeping, and book the reclassified hours.

Mike Thrift

payrollemployee-hourscompliance
12 min read

When Your Payroll Provider Fails to Deposit Your Taxes: Why the IRS Still Comes After You

If a payroll company withdraws your tax money and never deposits it, the employer still owes the full tax plus penalties. A payroll service provider or reporting agent assumes no liability, a Section 3504 agent shares it, and only an IRS-certified CPEO is solely liable for its work-site employees. This guide covers the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty that reaches owners personally, seven warning signs of a failing provider, and the monthly EFTPS verification habit that catches a missed deposit at a 2% penalty instead of 10%.

Mike Thrift

payrolltax-compliancewithholding
11 min read

SIMPLE IRA vs. SIMPLE 401(k) in 2026: Contribution Limits, Deadlines, and the 2-Year Rollover Rule Every Small Employer Needs to Know

Both SIMPLE plans share a $17,000 employee deferral limit for 2026, but they split on Form 5500 filing, participant loans, and the SIMPLE IRA's 25% early-distribution tax during its two-year rollover restriction. A practical comparison for employers with 100 or fewer employees, with the payroll deadlines, catch-up limits by age band, and the reconciliation workflow to run either plan cleanly.

Mike Thrift

iraretirement-savingssmall-business
12 min read

Supplemental Wages in 2026: A Small Employer's Guide to 22% Withholding on Bonuses, Commissions, and Overtime

For 2026, the federal flat withholding rate on separately identified supplemental wages is 22%, with a mandatory 37% rate on amounts over $1 million. Learn when small employers may use the flat method versus the aggregate method for bonuses, commissions, and overtime, why Social Security, Medicare, and FUTA still apply, how deposit timing and Form 941 fit in, and how to track W-2 box 12 code TT for qualified overtime.

Mike Thrift

payrolltax-compliancesmall-business
11 min read

Working Condition Fringe Benefits: How to Make Job Tools, Software, and Education Tax-Free in 2026

Under IRC Section 132(d), employers can exclude job tools, software, and job-related education from employee wages as working condition fringe benefits when the cost would have been deductible if the employee paid it. This guide covers the deduction test, the substantiation rules for cash reimbursements, how Section 127's $5,250 educational assistance limit differs, and a bookkeeping workflow that keeps qualifying benefits out of taxable payroll.

Mike Thrift

employee-benefitstaxpayroll
11 min read

Connecticut Paid Leave Is 0.5% in 2026: How Employers Can Catch Over-Withholding and Reconcile CTPL

The Connecticut Paid Leave contribution rate is 0.5% of subject wages for 2026, capped at the $184,500 Social Security wage base — a maximum of $922.50 per employee per employer. This employer guide covers the quarterly filing calendar, a six-step payroll reconciliation, and how to correct doubled 1% deductions, overpayments, and duplicate remittances.

Mike Thrift

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