While I know we are in “false spring” here in the Pacific Northwest, I still enjoy dreaming of summer time zoodles with chive blossoms. A huge favorite. This is Jocelyn, who is always dreaming of food to make, even while doing accounting. This post is about our up and coming workshops for farmers and for any small business owners, plus some WA Cares news at the end.
On Thursday, February 29th (next week!) 6:00 to 8:00 PM (PST) we will be presenting Payroll Requirements and Taxes. It’s just $20 with an easy sign up here: (sign ups are no longer being taken – please email alchemilla services AT gmail DOT com if you would like to purchase the two-hour recording and slides for $20.)
This is the topic our local farmers asked for, and while it has a farm focus, it will still cover all the payroll basics in Washington State, USA, which we think would be useful for any WA State employer.
In case you missed it, the February 29th class will cover the latest about farm overtime, and that pesky IRS payroll tax form that is different for farmers (Form 943 instead of Form 941), plus we’ll quickly review volunteers and/or work-trade help.
The other payroll basics we will cover are:
- federal payroll taxes
- WA State payroll taxes
- contractors versus employees
- payroll software issues and options, plus more.
There will be time for questions and answers, of course, at the end.
This has been an experiment and while we have some registrations, it would help to have more! So please comment, like, share, do all the things, so that we can reach more folks with this content. Accounting topics are rather a snoozefest, so it’s a struggle to make them click-worthy without sounding too silly. And usually, folks do not want a silly accountant!
Also, if we get enough interest, Jocelyn would like to host more online webinars. With topics such as:
- New Business Set Up Considerations
- Farm Bookkeeping Basics
- Migrating from QB Desktop to QBO
- Hands-on: How to Use QBO Bank Feeds, Optimize Bank Rules, etc.
What would be most helpful to your business?
Circling back to a payroll topic that has been in the news these past few weeks. For those new to payroll topics, the WA Cares Fund is long-term care insurance required in Washington State. This is different from Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) and the two are often confused. WA Cares offers coverage for long-term health care expenses such as health care aides, mobility devices, etc. PFML, on the other hand, replaces a portion of wages when on leave for medical or family health issues.
The opting out deadline (long past), and other rules for opting out of WA Cares have meant that this payroll deduction has been required for most employees. Additionally, the policy benefits have had many people very dissatisfied, to say the least.
Last December, a signed petition was submitted to Olympia, the signatures were verified in late January; and now, an initiative to change the law regarding WA Cares, I-2124, will be on the ballot in November 2024. If I-2124 is approved by the voters, it would allow employees to opt out of the WA Cares program without restrictions. This would certainly have an impact on payroll and it will be interesting to see how it pans out.
We are starting a simple email list if you’d like to hear about future webinars. The sign up is here: http://eepurl.com/iJ2tsE or use this QR Code:
and we will never sell or share this list.
Jocelyncampbell.com 