December 2011 Newsletter

How will it work? It’s easy. The Procare W2 program will import your payroll data for the year so you can review it and make any necessary adjustments. Then with one button click you’ll create an export file that can be uploaded to the SSA Website. You’ll just need to register at the SSA Business Services page and log in to your account to upload the file.

Learn more about ordering Procare W2 / 1099 Software and Tax Table formulas for the New Year – See: W2s Frequent Questions

By Phil Eschtruth Harrison

Recently I was having dinner at my daughter’s house, and I experienced the Conversation Jar for the first time. My grandchildren, ages 2, 4 and 7, were all bubbling over with excitement when my daughter brought the jar out – I couldn't believe it!

If you aren’t familiar with the Conversation Jar, it’s a simple idea and is easy to implement in your home or center. It gives each child the time to express themselves with questions and subjects that are written on paper and placed in a jar, (which the kids can decorate). It keeps the kids on task and entertained at the dinner table.

I first noticed the calmness that comes naturally from structure and taking turns. They love knowing who will be next, and getting to pick their questions from the jar.

I highly recommend getting started with your Conversation Jar at home or in your center, it can take a stressful time in a household - parents are tired from working all day, kids are hungry - and turn it into a positive family building experience.

By Dawn Rowan

Many of you may already be on track with this process.  If that’s the case, you know that in order for parents to register at TuitionExpress.com, they need two pieces of information; their Tuition Express ID number and their Registration Code (last 4 digits of their bank account or credit card number used for Tuition Express).  I’ve found a terrific way to communicate this information is to utilize your Letter-Merge feature in Procare.  By creating a letter template, you can quickly send an email, right from Procare. For new parents, that includes all the information necessary for them to register at TuitionExpress.com.

The following is an example of what your template may look like:

<Payr-Full>
<Payr-Address1>
<Payr-City>, <Payr-State> <Payr-Zip>

RE:  Tuition Express Registration

Dear <Payr-First>,

Thank you for submitting your Tuition Express enrollment information.  Your participation in this automated payment process has helped us to reach a level of efficiency that we could not achieve any other way. 

To help you stay connected with your account activity, review all payments made from your account and to receive free emailed receipts, please be sure to register at TuitionExpress.com.  You will be asked for your Tuition Express Account number which is:  <Payr-TE-ID>.  Your registration code is the last 4 digits of the account (or Credit Card) number you have set up for payments.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Betty O. Smith

Director
ABC Child Care

• 1 ½ cup sugar
• 1 2/3 cup flour (unsifted)
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin
• ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• Butter and flour for the pans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the eggs, oil, water, pumpkin and beat until well blended. Add the nuts. Pour the batter into two buttered and floured 7 inch loaf pans. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for five minutes in the pans, then remove break onto the rack. This recipe can be doubled or tripled and can be frozen beautifully.

By Priscilla Schmidt

 

I was recently contacted by a Procare client in Indiana who had written a new General Formula (retire) to calculate retirement withholdings for their payroll system. The results of the new retirement formula were to be exempt from the Taxable Amount used in the General Formula named Indiana County Only Income Tax. The process of exempting one General Formula (retire) from another General Formula (Indiana County Only Income Tax) requires manually modifying the second formula (Indiana County Only Income Tax). While this may sound complex, the process is really not difficult and can be accomplished in just a few minutes.

Here is the original formula for the Indiana County Only Income Tax.

Figure 1

In this case, we only need to be concerned with two lines in the formula. First, the (Annual Estimated) Gross Wages is calculated on Line 4 by multiplying the gross for this paycheck by the number of pay periods in the year. Second, the line 4 result is used on line 8 to calculate the actual Taxable Income.
While there are many ways to produce the desired result, one simple solution to the problem is:

1. Right Mouse click on line 5 and select “Insert a new line above”.

   
   
   Figure 2
   

   This action gives you a new blank line between line 4 and line 5 as shown below in
   Figure 3.

   
   Figure 3

2. Now write code for Line 5 to reduce the result of Line 4 by the (Estimated Annual) retirement withholding.  This is a matter of using the Fun[retire] function to obtain the results of the retirement withholdings for this paycheck and multiplying by the number of annual pay periods (Fun[retire] * (pp)). This amount is then subtracted from the amount on line 4 as shown below on line 5 of Figure 4.  

   
   Figure 4

3. Finally, the Taxable Income line is changed from Max[(Line[4] - Line[8]), 0] to Max[(Line[5] - Line[8]), 0]. This will cause the Taxable Income to be based on the new adjusted Gross Wage on line 5 instead of the original line 4 value. Note that in this case, the Indiana County Only Income Tax has now been reduced from 7.93 as seen in Figure 1 and to 6.68 as shown below in Figure 5

Figure 5

For more information see Payroll Formula Examples and the Payroll Formula Builder.

By Chuck Bailey
Procare Software Developer

 

click here to read more about our program and order your "Powered by Procare" stickers. See the gallery.

Sincerely,

Procare Community Team