• Use voicemail creatively. Voicemail isn’t just for taking messages, it can send them too. Changing your outgoing message to include the most frequently asked-for info (what days checks are mailed, deadlines for common forms, etc.) can head off an amazing amount of questions.
• Dedicate different lines for different tasks. If your phone system allows it, set up separate phone lines/voicemail boxes for your different internal and external “customers.” For example, you could direct callers with questions about vendor payments to one line, those looking for T&E reimbursements to another, and employees with questions about payroll or benefits to a third. That way, you can take care of related questions in one swoop, which should save time and mental energy.
• Create a FAQ page for Accounting. If, like most Accounting pros, you get the same few questions over and over, it’s time to create a set list of answers. Posted on the intranet, or even sent as a quarterly “reminder memo,” it’s a quick way to spread need-to-know info that makes everyone’s life easier.
• Maximize your e-payments software. No matter what software you use to process direct deposits, reimbursements and other payments, make sure you’re taking full advantage of its notification tools. Something as small as being able to e-mail folks that their anticipated payment just got processed can reassure them — and save you from having to handle one more phone call later on.

With the amount of financial info you have to track, a spreadsheet is one of your most potent tools. But the more important (and complicated) a spreadsheet is, the more likely it is to have one of these major flaws. The good news: They’re all fixable. And those fixes can help you work more efficiently in the long run. Here’s what to look out for:

1. Hidden errors. No matter how well — or often — you check, a big complicated spreadsheet is bound to have some errors sneak in over time. And it’ll happen twice as fast if it’s a worksheet that multiple people have access to.  The fix: Periodically use one of the many programs that searches spreadsheets for cells that have missing formulas, broken links, references to empty cells, etc.
2. Too many chefs stirring the pot. There may be good reason for a dozen people to have access to see a spreadsheet — but chances are they don’t all need access to input data. Whenever possible, use Excel’s existing features (such as password-protection) to limit access to “read-only” for key files that need to be shared among many people.
3. Not knowing who did what. Even if access to input data into the worksheet is limited to only two trusted people, there may be times when it’s not clear which version of the spreadsheet is the last one. Make sure you have a system in place to track who made what changes and when. (For larger departments, software is available to handle this. For smaller companies, you may be able to get by with a solid naming/”save as” system.)

• 6% for large corporate underpayments
• 4% for underpayments
• 3% for corporate overpayments, and
• 1.5% for the portion of a corporate overpayment that is more than $10,000.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals said that the managers, who were routinely expected to put in shifts totally 60-70 hour per week, were wrongly treated as executive employees exempt from OT.

According to the appeals court, the managers were non-exempt for three main reasons:

1. They spent 80-90% of their time performing non-exempt labor (running cash registers, stocking shelves, etc.)
2. Non-exempt tasks were considered an “essential” part of the managers’ jobs, as opposed to “incidental.”
3. Managers had relatively little freedom. Instead, district managers handled most managerial decisions, such as pricing, choosing inventory, etc.
4. The average manager’s “exempt” salary was barely more than the average assistant manager’s salary.

Cite: Morgan v. Family Dollar Stores, Inc.; 11th Circuit Ct. of Appeals, 12/18/08.

Create mini-goals that are very specific.
Job stress and burnout arise when people feel they have little control over their work and/or few options.

But goals like “be more visible” or “work more efficiently” are hard to measure — and impossible to meet. (No matter how much you improve, theoretically there will be more you can do.)

Instead, try a very specific micro-goal. Instead of the examples above, you might try, “Offer at least one suggestion per meeting” or “Finish my check run before 2 p.m. each week.”

You’ll see tangible results right away, which boosts morale — not to mention that as you meet your goals and swap in new ones, you’re bound to be constantly improving.

Refocus your time

It’s all too easy to get caught up in putting out the most recent fire: There are missing invoices to track down, angry vendors on the phone and employees with questions about their paychecks constantly angling for your attention.

But spending all your time on those tasks leaves precious little time for other activities that can help you work better, save money, etc.

Take a few minutes to jot down your top goals (no more than three) for you and/or your department. Next, think about ways you could be working toward those goals but aren’t — these are the tasks most of us say we’ll get around to “once I have the time.”

Once you’ve established a few concrete steps, make it a goal to work on them at regular intervals. Key step: This should be time you have blocked out on your calendar — and stick to it. For example: Maybe you’ll need to spend 15 minutes a day to attack the pent-up filing pile. Or set aside one afternoon a month to analyze monthly spending in more detail than you can afford to now.

The simple act of putting it on your to-do list, can turn those “someday” tasks into finished projects.

What are some of your tricks for fighting burnout? Let us hear your ideas in the comments.

Here are the key points:

QACAs

• Minimum percentage requirements — Plans must have a schedule of automatic contributions pr “qualified percentages” for eligible employees. They start at 3% for the intial period an employee is in the plan (up to two years). Following the intial period, the minimum qualified percentage increases by 1% point each year, for three years. The qualified percentage can never exceed 10% of an employee’s compensation.
• Uniformity requirement — The qualified percentage has to be applied to all eligible employees.
• Default and/or Affirmative elections — Default elections no longer apply to employees if they make an affirmative election to either not have contributions made or to make contributions at another percentage.

EACAs

• Withdrawal elections — Elections to withdraw contributions made under an EACA must be made within 90 days of the first elective contribution an employee makes.
• Non-universal eligible automatic contribution arrangements — Under an EACA, automatic enrollment doesn’t have to apply to all employees. It can apply only to those employees designated as covered by the company’s specific EACA.

You can download the regulations in their entirety and get all the nitty-gritty details here.

Now, IRS will continue to go after unpaid taxes using internal resources: It plans to hire approximately 1,000 new collection agents this year.

Chances are you’ll face more security threats this year. Are you ready?  Whenever the economy slumps, more would-be fraudsters are minted. Part of it is that people are desperate for money and get tempted by the apparent ease with which they can steal.

Others take advantage of everyone else’s fear, and use seemingly legit offers to con people — and companies — out of their money.

There are signs it’s already happening. The SEC has pursued 88% more enforcement actions related to securities fraud this year than it did in 2006. And the FBI recently said it expects its fraud investigations to increase from 38 cases last year to hundreds in the next year or two.

Internal solutions to internal and external threats

No matter how unlikely it seems that Betty in the next cube could be embezzling, or that a fake vendor could get its invoices approved and paid, it’s smart to take preventative steps now.

Your best bet is a two-prong plan to ensure that:

• no one inside the company has the ability to commit fraud, and
• if anyone from outside attempts financial shenanigans, that you’ll be able to catch it right away before any damage is done.

Start by doing an internal review of procedures to find any weak spots and shore them up first. And if you were debating any changes to procedure that might tighten controls, start implementing them. (Upper management isn’t going to grumble about changes or time lost if you can explain how this will help save money long-term.)

Once Accounting has done its part, there’s still one more step: Explaining the changes to other departments. If they aren’t on board, your controls won’t be fully effective.

Granted, you don’t want to give away too much detail — otherwise, you could actually make some types of internal fraud easier. But there are  a few key things you’ll want to communicate to employees:

• Controls have been made even stronger, and their compliance with new procedures is expected
• A way for them to report any suspicious activity they see so it can be investigated, and
• A list of fraud prevention red flags so they know what to look for when dealing with people outside the company.

Are you worried about more fraud attempts this year? What are you doing to shore up your procedures? Share your ideas in the comments.

Bear in mind: Private letter rulings (PLRs) only apply to the companies seeking them. But they do give you an idea of how IRS looks at certain issues.

In this case, employees sued the company for unpaid leave and vacation time. As part of the settlement, the court ordered the company to pay attorney’s fees for the employees in the suit. According to the PLR, the awarding of attorney’s fees is essentially a reimbursement of an expense. Therefore, it’s not subject to taxes or reporting.

You can the download the PLR here to see all the details.