More secure website portal nonsense

[PATAX]

First it was brokers asking us to go onto their secure website and jump through hoops to get 1099s. Now it is payroll (workers comp insurance) audit companies, for us to get payroll audit questionnaire, etc. I tried, but I cant get it done. They have to email or mail directly to me. I urge all other CPAs and tax pros to do the same. This nonsense has to stop. 

[Jim-from-Ohio]

Ohio workers comp is going to some MFA log in now.. each client has to sign a form allowing me to access the site. government excess. 

[PATAX]

@Jim-from-Ohio Thanks Jim for that info. More and more mfa bs every time I turn around. If I could find someone like you around here to sell my business to, then I would consider retiring early. No one left around here. Who in their right mind wants to put up with never ending bs.

[sjrcpa]

I understand the frustration. But email is not secure.

[Just-Lisa-Now- · Accepted solution]

those stupid work comp audits, No I'm not tailoring the payroll reports for Feb 3rd to Feb 3rd each year heres the annual payroll reports, MAKE IT F'N WORK!

[IRonMaN]

As much as you mention that you would like to retire early, you can't.  Heidi e-mailed me the other day and mentioned that she is really afraid of the thought of you retiring.  She is afraid that you will lay around the house all day in your underwear watching old Hee Haw reruns while drinking Fireball.

[PATAX]

@IRonMaN 👍🤣 there is no Fireball Supply this far east of the Mississippi. Our two friends in Illinois have cornered the market.

[Skylane]

@PATAX …. My favorite topic du jour…..

as an insurance agent i deal with at least a dozen w/comp carriers. Each has its own annoying  proprietary system or portal, or subs the audit out to a contractor with something else…. BUT….. 

if you request, they should send paper forms that you can complete and fax back w 941s, etc…. 

if they give you a hard time, threaten them with a complaint to the state department of ins…. @Just-Lisa-Now-   5 q’s if 941s is sufficient for auditor to interpolate, but the point to point payroll report is more accurate and better for you client…

also, fwiw, most common accountant  audit issues

[Skylane]

… 

1. Is S corp or election and owners receive w2, be sure to identify the owners and separate their payroll… many states allow owners to opt out.

2. For policies with multiple employee classifications, be sure to confirm with client…. 
3. If you’re issuing 1099s try to include COIs that cover the policy period

4.ENCOURAGE your client to get a Pay As You Go policy… makes audits relatively painless… they generally  the audit paperwork are authorized to send an estimated audit….. 

5. in some states if audit is not received, companies are authorized to send ‘estimated’ audits up to 150% of payroll…. It can get ugly fast

[PATAX]

Thanks Bruce for that information. Here is just one story on what kind of joke this is. Years ago I had a client who did a little consulting work for his prior employer. He set up a corporation and he was the only employee and he did White Collar paperwork and so forth. I think his worker comp fee for the year was about $150 or so. Can you believe that they did an annual workers comp payroll audit on this and sent an auditor to his office to conduct the audit, which he handled himself. What a joke. How much did someone pay this auditor? More than $150?

[PATAX]

@Just-Lisa-Now- 👍👍👍 you hit the nail on the head Lisa. And they do many of these audits during tax season. I asked them one time why they use these stupid odd dates instead of just going to the end of a quarter to match up to the quarterly returns. They said it was based on when the policy was started. What a joke.

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

I think here in CA they've got a $500 minimum to even write the policy, I had a part time receptionist that made $4000 a year and my premium was $500 a year.  Last year my front desk receptionist made $9000, $535 a year.

[Skylane]

Not many physical audits any more…. Last year I saw an audit for a mds office that looked extraordinarily high. When i looked into it, CPA had been ignoring the audits for the past 5 yrs or so…. The ins company was estimating audits (higher and higher) and the MDs office was simply paying the bills…..

i had a heart to heart with the accountant…. When the audits were corrected the md got back over 20k. 

[Skylane]

@Just-Lisa-Now- W/comp rules and rate vary by state but yes, expense constants taxes and fees can  account for $500 cost on a small policy… it’s all controlled by the states… NY has the most onerous employer rules I’ve seen… don’t know much about Cali

[PATAX]

@Skylane Bruce you are exactly right. There are very few in person audits anymore. Also many of the entities that are auditing companies are now based far away, many out of state. The auditor that I talked to today said that they are having a very hard time finding qualified people and that she is doing audits now for out of state companies and everywhere.

[Frustrated-in-IL]

@PATAX 

We don’t share our Fireball here in IL.  Don’t get any ideas!