About This Course:
A payroll audit can occur for many reasons: someone from the government comes calling because you may have done something wrong; an employee makes a claim of unfair pay practices, or; you simply decide to review your own procedures, either internally or by using and independent third party such as an accountant.
Generally speaking, the processing of payroll can produce errors in several places, which calls for a detailed process flow that also incorporates several controls. This procedure can be used to ensure that payroll is handled consistently on a repetitive basis.
Why Do A Payroll Audit?Payroll tax audits are increasing at both the state and federal levels. Unfortunately, many employers are simply unprepared for an audit.
Get ahead of potential trouble with this training session from Mark Schwartz, a former payroll tax auditor who will give you a proactive review of how your payroll department can catch some potential mistakes - and save your organization from fines or penalties!
This training session will teach you where to start, what to look for, common mistakes, and what you should do once you find a mistake!
What You'll Learn:In this webinar, Mark will help you evaluate and adjust you payroll operations to minimize exposure in an audit. Among other things, you will learn:
- The IRS' directives to auditors on what to focus on during payroll audits
- How the IRS determines issues for your company
- How to conduct yourself if you are audited
- Responsible parties
- Common areas that you can fix in advance where mistakes or issues are normally found during an audit
- How an independent internal review can help you detect internal control issues
- How to identify any areas of concern prior to an external audit or an audit by another group within your company
- Where to go to for assistance so you are not re-creating the wheel
- How to devise a game plan for what you want to review, and how to divide and conquer
...and as always, this session will be interactive, so we'll be able to answer your questions on this topic throughout the presentation!
Bottom line, payroll audits are good in that they can help fix problems before they are discovered by the government, can help re-assign tasks as needed, and can help determine if an outside source by used to provide payroll services. Act now by ordering today!
Top FAQs
Definitely! An audit can be done either by an internal person or outsourced to an expert, with the expectation of fixing or updating any issues to avoid fines, penalties, etc.
In business since the mid-1990's, we have over 25 years of experience delivering high-quality training content via seminar, webinar, online, and other formats. Each of our courses are delivered by an industry expert who will share his or her years of experience to help you be in compliance, smarter, and more productive, and almost all offer SHRM and HRCI credits.
Payroll Administrators must be able to:
- Properly "classify" workers
- Apply the various exemptions
- Calculate gross pay and properly make deductions
- Correctly identify, pay, and withhold taxes for employees
- Administer deferred compensation, cafeteria plan, sick pay, and other compensation
- Handle stock options, expense reimbursements, relocation, and other "expenses"
- Follow the proper policies, procedures, and documentation requirements for garnishments and levies
- Properly complete and file all required reporting requirements
- Correctly complete year-end requirements and establish year-beginning requirements
- Implement and maintain fraud, audit, disaster recovery, and record retention processes and procedures
A payroll audit is a review of an organization's payroll procedures. It can be done internally for assurance or by an external entity such as the government in reponse to a complaint, lack or inconsistent reporting, etc.
Employees work directly for the company, which controls their work, pays their taxes, and often provides benefits, whereas the Independent Contractor is hired to do a specific job without the employee perks.
Auditors examine financial records and statements to determine the validity of information, and to check for fraud. They also ensure that individuals, companies, and government agencies are compliant with tax laws.
In addition to ensuring that employees are paid correctly and on time, "Payroll" has numerous time and reporting requirements. The primary payroll areas include paychecks, reporting, operations, and management.
A payroll audit typically occurs because either for many reasons: an employee makes a claim of unfair pay practices
While many payroll-related regulations are federally-governed, there also are many state requirements, including those for handling garnishment, final paychecks, and unclaimed paychecks. Each state's requirements differ in the details, so be sure to check your state's requirements by clicking the applicable link(s) at the bottom of this page.
It often depends upon which factors - such as pay, tools, equipment, work hours, manner and means of performing services, etc,) the worker has control over.
The company withholds income tax, Social Security, and Medicare from wages paid for employees, but none for Independent Consultants.
An audit is a systematic and independent examination of books, accounts, statutory records, documents and vouchers of an organization to verify the financial statements and non-financial disclosures. An audit can apply to an entire organization or might be specific to a function, process, or production step, and might include an on-site verification, such as inspection or examination.
Payroll is much more than just handing out paychecks, and includes a variety of responsibilities such as handling garnishments, travel pay, multi-state taxation, unclaimed paychecks, and much more in a timely and accurate fashion.
Types of audits include internal, external, forensic, public, tax, and information systems. Internal auditors typically examine issues related to company business practices and risks.
Among other things, an auditor helps an organization ensure that its financial records are accurate, applicable laws are followed, and taxes are paid properly and timely.
Continuing Education Credits:
Click the 'Credits' tab above for information on PHR/SPHR, PDCs, and other CE credits offered by taking this course.
