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Box 174 SINGAPORE 129809 North Ryde, NSW 2113 Phone: 65 463 2400 AUSTRALIA Fax: 65 463 4605; 65 463 4604 Phone: (02) 805-1100 wiley@singnet.com.sg Fax: (02) 805-1597 headoffice@jacwiley.com.au fm_01_4260.qxd 4/23/04 9:08 AM Page v fm_01_4260.qxd 4/23/04 9:08 AM Page vi Dedication To Andrea, whose enhanced communication skills will undoubtedly land her in either a human resources or payroll department. fm_01_4260.qxd 4/23/04 9:08 AM Page vii fm_01_4260.qxd 4/23/04 9:08 AM Page viii [...]... processing, general payroll information, payroll- related trade organizations, and the complete or summarized texts of numerous payroll- related laws Appendix B: Dictionary of Payroll Terms This appendix contains definitions for almost 100 payroll terms For those new to the payroll function, this book is best read in sequential order from cover to cover For those who are implementing a new payroll system,... good feel for how a payroll is completed The steps: 1 Set up new employees New employees must fill out payroll- specific information as part of the hiring process, such as the W-4 form and medical insurance forms that may require payroll deductions Copies of this information should be set aside in the payroll department in anticipation of its inclusion in the next payroll 2 Collect timecard information... 181 Chapter 12 Payroll Recordkeeping 197 Chapter 13 Payroll Journal Entries 203 Chapter 14 Payroll- Related Laws 215 Chapter 15 Outsourcing Payroll 227 Chapter 16 International Payroll Issues 237 xi 1 xii / Contents Chapter 17 Setting Up the Payroll Department 251 Chapter 18 Government Payroll Publications and Forms 263 Appendix A Sources of Payroll Information 269 Appendix B Dictionary of Payroll Terms... General Payroll Process The next three sections describe how the payroll process flows for specific types of systems—outsourced payroll, in-house computerized payroll, and in-house manual payroll In this section, we cover the general beginning-to-end processing of payroll, step-by-step, irrespective of the specific payroll system, in order to show the general process flow Though some of these steps will... now include payroll measurements and reports, record keeping, journal entries, payroll- related laws, outsourcing, and international payroll issues, plus coverage of how to create a payroll department from scratch, government payroll- related publications and tax forms, Internet payroll sources, and a dictionary of payroll terms This book is designed for accountants who are setting up a payroll system,... information is needed in order to compute their income tax withholdings Turn to Chapter 8, Payroll Taxes and Remittances,” for a more in-depth discussion of this form Form I-9 The Immigration and Naturalization Service requires all new employees to fill out the Form I-9, the Employment Eligibility Verification form A sample copy of the form and its instruction sheet are shown in Exhibit 1.7 This form... in the regular payroll, at least so that it can be included in the formal payroll register for reporting purposes, and sometimes to ensure that the proper amount of employer-specific taxes are also withheld to accompany the amounts deducted for the employee Creating a Payroll System / 3 9 Create a payroll register Summarize the wage and deduction information for each employee on a payroll register,... (month/day/year) Form I-9 (Rev 1 1-2 1-9 1)N Page 2 To fill out the I-9 form, have the employee fill out the “Employee Information and Verification” information in Section 1 This section must be signed by the employee and may require a preparer’s or translator’s signature as well if such a person assisted with the document The employer fills out Section 2, which requires 16 / Accounting for Payroll the examination... fine tune the payroll department Chapter 18: Government Payroll Publications and Forms This chapter notes the primary IRS publications and forms that a payroll department is most likely to use, as well as the lesser requirements imposed by several other government agencies Appendix A: Sources of Payroll Information This appendix contains several dozen information sources on the Internet for payroll processing,... Outsourced Payroll Process Outsourcing the payroll processing function shifts a number of key payroll processing tasks to a supplier, resulting in a significant drop in the payroll depart- 4 / Accounting for Payroll ment’s workload, its required level of expertise in operating computer software, and in the risk that payroll taxes will not be remitted to the government in a timely manner For these and . government agencies. Appendix A: Sources of Payroll Information. This appendix contains several dozen information sources on the Internet for payroll processing, general pay- roll information, payroll- related trade organizations,. 1L1 West Sussex, PO19 1UD CANADA ENGLAND (416) 67 5-3 580 Phone: (44) 1243 779777 Phone: 1-8 0 0-5 6 7-4 797 Fax: (44) 1243 770638 Fax: 1-8 0 0-5 6 5-6 802 cs-books@wiley.co.uk canada@jwiley.com Jacaranda Wiley. government payroll- related publications and tax forms, Internet payroll sources, and a dictionary of payroll terms. This book is designed for accountants who are setting up a payroll system, im- proving