Caputa & Associates professional accounting services

Payroll Tips & Helpful Reminders

To help your payroll stay accurate and on time, we've outlined a few helpful reminders and tips below to keep everything running smoothly.

Managing Your Business Payroll

Sufficient Funds: Always ensure adequate funds are available in your payroll account before payroll is processed.

Insufficient funds can cause serious issues, including frozen ACH accounts and additional bank or service fees, which will be passed on to you.
Service Continuation: If the ACH is frozen multiple times due to insufficient funds, the platform may permanently block the account and refuse to reinstate it.

This process is controlled entirely by the payroll platform, and once an account is permanently frozen, it's out of our control and we may be unable to continue providing payroll services.
Health Insurance Premiums: If you're self-employed and pay for your own health insurance (not through an employer or your spouse's employer), please provide us with the total premiums paid for the year.

This information is critical for compliance so we can report it correctly on your W-2 and make sure you receive the self-employed health insurance deduction on your tax return.

Please send us this information before December 31 so it can be included on your W-2.

Note: Health insurance premiums should be debited from the business bank account. However, even if they weren't, please provide us with the total amount so we can record it correctly.
401(k) Plans: If you're thinking about starting a 401(k) plan, it must be set up before December 31 to count for this year — it can't be done after the year ends. It takes time to plan and set it up so the process needs to start at least a few weeks before deadline.

For existing plans, make sure all 401(k) contributions match what's recorded on payroll.

If contributions are made that don't match the payroll records, it can create compliance and reporting issues. Please let us know right away so we can make any necessary adjustments.

Also, ensure that contributions shown on payroll are funded to the plan on time, as late deposits can cause compliance problems.
Bonuses & Reimbursements: If you issue bonuses or reimbursements outside of regular payroll, please let us know before payment so we can record them properly and ensure tax compliance.
Payroll Deadline: Remember that bank holidays push up the due date for submitting hours and payroll information for your employees. Please send your hours earlier that week to avoid delays in processing paychecks.
New Hires: For new employees, please make sure the entire payroll onboarding packet is completed before the employee begins working.

Do not send forms piecemeal (for example, submitting a W-4 now and direct deposit details a week later). Payroll cannot be processed accurately without all required information.

If direct deposit details are not provided by the payroll due date, the employee's pay will be issued as a manual check.
Security & Privacy: Occasionally, employees contact our office directly regarding payroll questions or personal details. For security and privacy reasons, we cannot communicate directly with employees or share or modify any payroll information without employer authorization.

Our client relationship is with the employer, and we will only communicate with you—not your employee—regarding payroll matters.
Payroll Submissions: When submitting hours, please review them carefully for accuracy. Once payroll is processed, we may be unable to cancel or make changes.
Overtime Reporting: If your employees are paid bi-weekly, please report overtime hours separately for each week within the pay period. Overtime applies to hours worked over 40 in a single week, even if the total hours for the two-week period average under 40 per week.

Other Resources

Account Access & Client Portal

Set up third-party bank access, connect to IL MyTax, and log in to your client portal.

View Guide

Bookkeeping Tips

Best practices for keeping your books clean and your records audit-ready throughout the year.

View Guide

Tax Preparation Tips

How to prepare for tax season, what documents to gather, and what to expect from the process.

View Guide