#payroll
Payroll management, processing, and compliance for businesses of all sizes
Section 119 of the IRS code allows tax-free meals and lodging furnished by employers on business premises, for employer convenience, and lodging as a condition
A working operator's guide to calculating restaurant prime cost every seven days, the 55–65% benchmark by service segment, the five leaks weekly tracking surfaces first, and the bookkeeping setup the cadence requires.
The 2024 DOL Independent Contractor Final Rule and its six-factor economic realities test still govern FLSA worker classification in private lawsuits despite the May 2025 enforcement pause. Small businesses that misclassify employees face back wages of two to three years, liquidated damages, civil penalties above $2,300 per violation, and IRS payroll tax exposure—risks that clean bookkeeping and contemporaneous documentation are built to defend against.
A practical 2026 guide for businesses with ERC exposure — the closed voluntary disclosure window, the OBBBA six-year statute on Q3/Q4 2021 claims, the categorical disallowance of late filings after January 31 2024, the promoter penalties reaching back to March 12 2020, and the audit file examiners actually request.
With the second ERC Voluntary Disclosure Program closed since November 2024, small businesses with overstated Employee Retention Credit claims still have three remedies in 2026: claim withdrawal, self-amendment via Form 941-X, or responding to an IRS recapture letter. The IRS has a six-year audit window open through April 15, 2027 for Q3 and Q4 2021 claims, plus a 20% accuracy-related penalty for erroneous refunds.
For 2026, ALEs face a $3,340 per-employee 4980H(a) penalty and a $5,010 per-employee 4980H(b) penalty, with affordability set at 9.96 percent of pay. This guide covers the FPL, W-2, and rate-of-pay safe harbors, line-by-line Form 1095-C coding, and the errors that drive Letter 226-J assessments.
How Form 3800 aggregates 40-plus business tax credits into one limitation, why the 25/75 tentative minimum tax floor matters, and how eligible small businesses (≤$50M gross receipts) can offset AMT with R&D, WOTC, FICA Tip, and other specified credits.
How small businesses should choose between a PEO, CPEO, ASO, or EOR—covering co-employment mechanics, the FICA wage base restart trap that doubles Social Security tax on a mid-year switch, joint-employer lawsuits under the FLSA and Title VII, and the contract terms to verify before signing.
Pooled Employer Plans let unrelated small businesses share a single 401(k) under SECURE Act 2.0, cutting all-in fees from roughly 0.80% to 0.35% and shifting plan-document, investment, and Form 5500 duties to a Pooled Plan Provider while leaving employers with a narrow duty to prudently select and monitor the PPP.
How restaurant, bar, and hospitality employers compute the Section 45B FICA tip credit on Form 8846, using the frozen $5.15 minimum wage floor and the 7.65 percent multiplier — including the 280C add-back, common audit pitfalls around service charges, and how to recover up to three years of unclaimed credit through amended returns.
Section 4960 imposes a 21% excise tax when a tax-exempt organization pays a covered employee more than $1 million. The 2025 OBBBA expansion redefines "covered employee" as anyone employed since 2017, widening the tax base for hospitals, universities, and foundations filing Form 4720 in 2026.
SECURE 2.0 Section 101 requires new 401(k) and 403(b) plans established after December 29, 2022 to auto-enroll employees at a 3-10% default deferral with 1% annual escalation. A 2026 compliance guide covering EACA notices, the four exemptions, QDIA selection, the 90-day permissible withdrawal, and the December 31, 2026 plan amendment deadline.
