Category Archives: featured

7 Tips for Smooth Year-End Payroll Processing 2022

We’re rounding the corner to the last few weeks of the year. Don’t leave your Year-End Payroll to the last minute. Even if you’re a Year-End Payroll veteran, it can still be easy to overlook crucial steps. Sitting idle could be a big mistake, make sure you take action.

What is Year-End Payroll?

Year-End Payroll involves a careful review and verification of all your financial information during the fourth quarter of the calendar year through the first quarter of the following year. Businesses are responsible for Year-End Payroll

Year-end processing ensures your company’s Payroll and taxes are compliant with current federal, state, and local regulations. If your organization isn’t compliant, it can lose money to fees and regulatory costs. Therefore, actively participating in Year-End Payroll processing saves you from future headaches and your organization loss in revenue.

As you close out your Payroll activities and set compensation and benefits for 2023, contact CorpStrat Payroll for a comprehensive check list to help you stay on track. To give you an idea, here are our top year end Payroll information to prepare and decisions to make:

1. Verify Tax Form Information

To reduce the possibility of printing W-2s/1099s with incorrect information, and to avoid penalties for missing or invalid data, please take the time to verify your employees’ critical information. Make sure the employee’s name matches their social security number, that their mailing addresses are up to date, and that the employee is coded to the correct state and local tax jurisdiction.

2. Review Employee Data During Open Enrollment

During this time, it is crucial to verify that employee deductions have been updated to payroll once open enrollment closes. If you are utilizing our benefits solution, we have several reports available to assist you in comparing your data. Regardless of your renewal date, year-end is a great time to review all employee pay data, including deductions. Please contact payroll@corpstrat.com if you find any discrepancies.

3. Set-up Bonus Payrolls

If you are planning a bonus payroll this year, please email payroll@corpstrat.com as we will be able to help you determine when you should submit your payroll based upon the total amount of the payroll and the check date. It is always best if you can submit your bonus payroll at least 5 days BEFORE the check date to ensure timely processing of direct deposits and taxes.

4. Add Fringe Benefits

Don’t forget to record any taxable fringe benefits by the end of the year. Email Payroll@corpstrat.com and we can answer any questions you have on this topic.

5. ACA Reporting

Employers with 50 or more full-time equivalents (FTE) are required to complete the mandatory ACA reporting using IRS forms 1094-c and 1095-C. Are you prepared? Remember that 12/23 is the deadline to provide us with this information.

6. Submit Year End Form Amendments, Changes, and Reprints

1/03/2022 by 12 PM PST is the last day to submit 2021 adjustments to ensure accurate filings. Any 2022 adjustment requested after 01/03/2022 will be subject to amendment billing. Please send any questions to payroll@corpstrat.com.

7. Be Aware of Changes Going Into 2023

From Minimum Wage increases to changes in HSA Contribution Limits, so many things are changing in 2023. Contact your CorpStrat Payroll representative to make sure you avoid costly mistakes by missing any of these key changes.

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This is just the tip of the iceberg. If there’s something you’re not sure about, reach out to your CorpStrat Payroll account manager or email us at marketing@corpstrat.com

Inflation’s Impact on 2023 Open Enrollment

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Many employees are currently feeling financially strained because of the impacts of inflation. The cost of everything has gone up in their lives — from the price of a chicken breast to a gallon of gas to healthcare. As Open Enrollment draws near and employees are poised to make their annual selections, we’re starting to see the impact inflation will have on the choices employees make in regards to their benefits.

Employees are feeling the squeeze.

According to The Hartford’s Future of Benefits Pulse Survey, 40% of U.S. workers reported that they will cut back on the Benefits they select during 2023’s Open Enrollment because of inflation. People are really feeling the squeeze on their finances — a lack of pay increases is made even worse by inflation — and as a result, they may make some tough choices to scale back when it comes to their Benefits selections. Without relief in the form of salary increases or help in increased employer contributions, many workers are expected to cut back on their benefits.

The perfect storm.

As an employer, the impact of inflation on their employees’ finances may make Open Enrollment more challenging than usual. Inflation has placed Employee Benefits at the forefront of many employers’ attraction and retention strategies. Employers have worked hard to put together creative offerings that are appealing. However, the combination of employers trying to ramp up Benefit offerings because they’re not able to offer pay increases that keep pace with inflation and employees not having as much spending power for said Benefits is creating the perfect storm.

What can employers do?

It’s important that going into Open Enrollment, employers take steps to help their employees better understand their Benefits options so they can make more informed decisions. This can help employees better protect themselves and their families in the upcoming year. Employers can assist employees this open enrollment season by doing the following:

Use multiple communication channels.
Employ clear language that features personalized messaging. Don’t just throw bullet points at them and expect them to absorb everything. Demonstrate how the insurance products relate to their lifestyle, financial security, and overall wellness.
Highlight the services that come with coverage. Employees often genuinely want to know that they’re choosing the plan that will benefit them the most. Sometimes, even when they choose the right plan, they don’t know how to optimize it. Communicate how they’re actually being covered and educate them on how they can best optimize these benefits.
Help employees look into the future. Finances may be tough right now and there are certain Benefits that they don’t absolutely need in the moment. Employers can help clearly communicate that cutting back on Benefits can actually place them in more financial harm.
Use creative storytelling. A lot of Benefits details can go over the majority of peoples’ heads. Create clear examples of what these Benefits might actually look like in real world situations that are relatable and understandable.
Listen to your employees year round. If your employees have specific feedback, take the time to listen. Try and understand what their pain points are so you can support them and retain your best team members.

Why clear communication matters.

Employers have the opportunity to simplify and personalize their open enrollment this year. This will help employees determine how best to allocate their potentially limited resources strained by inflation.

Let’s take the Health FSA Limit Increase for 2023 as an example. On Oct. 18, 2022, the IRS announced various inflation-adjusted tax limits for 2023, including the limit on employees’ salary reduction contributions to health flexible spending accounts (FSAs) offered under cafeteria plans. Many employees may not fully understand what this will mean for them. Increasing the FSA limit by 7% is meant to alleviate some financial concerns. In short: this increase can be helpful to workers. But without clear communication, many employees may overlook the details of this Benefit entirely.

By communicating effectively and providing employees with Benefits information through multiple communication channels, employers can help them optimize their resources and make the best benefits selections for themselves and their families during this period of financial difficulty.

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If you need help with your Open Enrollment, let’s talk. Email us at marketing@corpstrat.com

Why you need an ERISA Wrap Document today.

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If you’re a business owner, you’ve likely heard of ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which passed in 1974. ERISA is probably one of several acronyms you hear about all the time but likely don’t pay too close attention to. When a business provides Employee Benefit plans to its employees — this means medical, dental, vision — they’re doing so under the protection and guidance of the ERISA act.

What that means is the rules of ERISA need to be adhered to. Whether you like it or not, as an employer, you are a fiduciary. One of the rules under ERISA is fiduciaries are required to have a specific document that outlines employees’ rights. It’s called an ERISA wrap document and it takes all of your benefit plans and wraps them into one document.

What’s the big deal?

Many people think it’s not a big deal. Frankly, most employers don’t do it. But what can become a big deal is the fines you can face for not having an ERISA Wrap document. You might be thinking, “the fines aren’t that bad or “oh, it won’t be that much”. We’re here to give you a little wake up call and share what the fines can be.

Fines for not having an ERISA Wrap Document can cost $110/day, per employee until the document is produced under audit. Let that sink in for a moment. If you’re hit with these fines, they’ll add up very quickly.

You might think, “I’ll never get audited so I don’t mind taking the risk”. But in reality, here’s what can happen: An employee is terminated and they feel they were wrongfully treated or wrongfully terminated. So, said employee hires an attorney and they file a lawsuit. One of the first thing the attorney will do is call the EDD. Then EDD will be obligated to call the employer. And the first thing the EDD will ask for is the ERISA plan document, because they know most employers don’t have it.

The Good News

Fortunately, the cost to prepare these document is very reasonable. If you don’t have your ERISA Wrap documents prepared, reach out to us, we’re happy to talk you through it and help you get one. This simple step will greatly limit your exposure.

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Don’t put yourself at risk. ERISA Wrap docs are easy and affordable to set up. We can help you with them today. Email us at marketing@corpstrat.com for more information

Are You Creating Company Culture That Builds Retention?

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It takes a lot of effort to build culture, and it takes very little to destroy it.

A recent study revealed that 75% of workers cited Company Culture as the primary factor that influenced their decision to work at a company; for many, culture ranked higher than salary. It might be surprising to hear but job seekers are likely to pass on a “perfect job” if the Corporate Culture isn’t a good fit.

So what exactly is Corporate Culture and how do you create culture that builds retention. Read on to learn more.

What is Company Culture?

In short, Company Culture is simply the way things are done in an organization.

Every company has values, rules, and unspoken routines that make it a one-of-a-kind entity. Some are formal and some are informal but your culture bleeds into everything: the way you handle problems, the way employees interact with each other, and the way your leadership team carries itself.

It doesn’t stop there, culture also sets the tone for virtually every interaction your employees have with your customers. From emails to face-to-face interactions, your Company Culture is constantly on display in your employees to your customers. For your clients, it really doesn’t matter what you say to them, what you DO is what they’ll remember. This is why having a motivated workforce that both believes in the company mission and feels supported by their team is so key to building and fostering client relationships.

How do you build positive Company Culture?

Positive Company Culture trickles down to every aspect of your business. It can be seen in communications in your office, the way your team interacts, how your team behaves, and how your people connect with one another.

Good Company Culture will foster both engagement and retention. Conversely, bad Company Culture will emphasize punishment and reward the wrong behaviors. It’s hard to see how far reaching the effect of Company Culture is because its impact is both internal and external; intrinsic and extrinsic.

Signs of a bad Company Culture can look like toxic employee gossip, high turnover rates, and overall poor morale. If you’re noticing the beginnings to these behaviors, now is the time to act. Prioritizing Company Culture is a choice. It starts with hiring the right people to do the right jobs and continues with intentional effort. Building a great Company Culture requires thoughtful leadership, time, attention to details, and is not really based on compensation

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Building culture should be fun and rewarding. If you need help cultivating a positive Company Culture, reach out to us at marketing@corpstrat.com

What’s the hottest, zero cost benefit in Employee Benefit planning today?

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two coworkers meet to discuss voluntary benefits

The answer may surprise you. Hint: AFLAC

58% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck after the inflation spike. This means that most of your employees are relying heavily on their paycheck to keep them from becoming financially vulnerable. If an employee falls ill or gets hurt, they’ll likely have little to no income coming in. On top of that, state Disability is so restrictive and can involve such an arduous process that your employees simply can’t count on it.

Voluntary Benefits

Voluntary Benefits, commonly referred to as AFLAC, can help employees maintain their income by paying cash benefits directly to them. Employees can use these cash benefits to help cover rent, groceries, and other daily living expenses while they’re out of work.

It’s true, major medical policies can be adequate for addressing most of your employees’ direct medical expenses. However, out-of-pocket medical expenses like deductibles, co-insurance, office visits, etc. aren’t covered by a primary healthcare plan and can still present a problem. These expenses add up quickly and can become an insurmountable financial burden for employees.

Voluntary Plans can help cover some of the large financial burdens employees face. Did we mention there’s no cost to you as the employer? Consider offering these plans to your employees on a voluntary basis:

Accident
Short Term Disability
Life, Dental
Vision
Cancer Expense & Critical Illness

Don’t forget, you can offer these programs on a pre-tax basis. This can help lower your FICA and FUTA contributions, making these plans even more affordable to your team.

We think Voluntary Benefits are a win-win for you and your employees and should be a part of any comprehensive Benefits Package. If you have any questions regarding how to get this set up, please contact us at marketing@corpstrat.com