Virtual Coffee Break - Chat

wanderingotter98 said:Thanks... I'll try Googling it; that's how I found out about Inc... but I also need to include a term for a small business... though "enterprise" or "corporation" sounds much more significant than just a small business setup. :/

Finding the right word for a small business is pretty important to me. I tried using EUdict, and it suggested Trade. But I'm not entirely sure about that one. If anyone could confirm, I'd really appreciate it.

Probably a bit late to the party, but here goes. 🙂

sole proprietorship = proprietorship
LLC = Private limited company

Merry Christmas to you all 🙂

Happy New Year 🙂

I hope you all find some luck, good health, and actually get some decent downtime 😘

It seems like everyone here is eager to share their well-wishes, so I feel a bit out of step showing up this late to the party 🤔

I wanted to reach out to those of you working in accounting—who is actually responsible for maintaining time logs? Isn't that strictly the employer's duty? Specifically, shouldn't the employees themselves be recording their own hours? They are currently trying to force us to take this on as part of our accounting duties, which seems entirely impossible, doesn't it? It feels like they want us to just make things up—and if we dare to push back, they’ll turn on us. What is the best way to handle this? How do I explain to them that this responsibility lies solely with management? To me, it seems logical that when an audit or inspection occurs, the logs should already be completed and ready to go, rather than having them tell us, "Wait, let us find those hours"—isn't that a task for the business owners, not the accountants? Do any of you actually manage these records for your clients? We simply cannot seem to find common ground with this particular client...

Of course you can't be the one keeping track of everyone's hours. First off, under US labor laws, that responsibility falls squarely on the employer—they're the ones who have to maintain those records. Second, you aren't even there to see when people actually clock in 🙂
If they keep pushing, just tell them fine. Go ahead and fill out some spreadsheets showing everyone working a standard 7-to-3 shift and using their PTO in August 😬

Look, I get it. Clients can be incredibly demanding, but I refuse to bend over backward for every little whim they have. If I start catering to every irrational request, I’ll end up being their personal doormat (pardon my bluntness). Once I started telling people they were more than welcome to find another accountant, their "urgent" demands miraculously vanished
Trust me, no legitimate accounting firm in the country is going to take on the task of tracking employee hours for you. 😉

Henry Edwards33 said:Of course you can't be the one keeping track of everyone's hours. First off, under US labor laws, that responsibility falls squarely on the employer—they're the ones who have to maintain those records. Second, you aren't even there to see when people actually clock in 🙂
If they keep pushing, just tell them fine. Go ahead and fill out some spreadsheets showing everyone working a standard 7-to-3 shift and using their PTO in August 😬

Look, I get it. Clients can be incredibly demanding, but I refuse to bend over backward for every little whim they have. If I start catering to every irrational request, I’ll end up being their personal doormat (pardon my bluntness). Once I started telling people they were more than welcome to find another accountant, their "urgent" demands miraculously vanished
Trust me, no legitimate accounting firm in the country is going to take on the task of tracking employee hours for you. 😉

Exactly—I couldn't agree more—but honestly, explaining this to them feels like an impossible task. They seem to think everything is our responsibility... we're the villains when they get a notice from the IRS because they neglected to pay their payroll taxes! Hellooo? We constantly remind them: "Please, just pay these, or you're going to face a levy." And yet, they just don't care. Then, when the levy actually hits, suddenly it's our fault! It's truly unbelievable what people allow themselves to do. They receive their invoices every single month, they know exactly what needs to be paid, yet somehow we are still the ones to blame—and then they act shocked: "Wait, why do we owe so much?!"
aaaaaaaa

These endless record-keeping requests are absolutely exhausting... it is so difficult to explain things to them—they simply refuse to listen, no matter what you do...

Robert Thomas11 said:Exactly—I couldn't agree more—but honestly, explaining this to them feels like an impossible task. They seem to think everything is our responsibility... we're the villains when they get a notice from the IRS because they neglected to pay their payroll taxes! Hellooo? We constantly remind them: "Please, just pay these, or you're going to face a levy." And yet, they just don't care. Then, when the levy actually hits, suddenly it's our fault! It's truly unbelievable what people allow themselves to do. They receive their invoices every single month, they know exactly what needs to be paid, yet somehow we are still the ones to blame—and then they act shocked: "Wait, why do we owe so much?!"
aaaaaaaa

These endless record-keeping requests are absolutely exhausting... it is so difficult to explain things to them—they simply refuse to listen, no matter what you do...

Precisely. I tried explaining it to my own crew, but it just goes in one ear and out the other—except for one person. She actually listened, took it seriously, and now we work together perfectly. I set up a spreadsheet to recap monthly hours so we can process payroll accurately. Since they "manage" their own logs, those hours need to be totaled at the end of the month and sent to me for processing. If an auditor shows up and looks at the payroll, they're going to demand to see the time logs to cross-reference them with the checks. Now, everything runs smoothly with that one woman, but the rest of them? My goodness!!!! 🙏 They send me the exact same spreadsheets every single month with barely any changes, for crying out loud! They work shifts! And the best part? One girl hands me a sheet and tells me: "It doesn't matter, if something looks off, just fix it!" Excuse me? I tell her straight up that I have nothing to "fix"—if she wrote it down and SIGNED it, I am running the payroll based on her numbers, and she can be the one to explain to the auditor why her math doesn't match reality. This happens month after month... it's exhausting!!!

Robert Thomas11 said:I wanted to reach out to those of you working in accounting—who is actually responsible for maintaining time logs? Isn't that strictly the employer's duty? Specifically, shouldn't the employees themselves be recording their own hours? They are currently trying to force us to take this on as part of our accounting duties, which seems entirely impossible, doesn't it? It feels like they want us to just make things up—and if we dare to push back, they’ll turn on us. What is the best way to handle this? How do I explain to them that this responsibility lies solely with management? To me, it seems logical that when an audit or inspection occurs, the logs should already be completed and ready to go, rather than having them tell us, "Wait, let us find those hours"—isn't that a task for the business owners, not the accountants? Do any of you actually manage these records for your clients? We simply cannot seem to find common ground with this particular client...

If they consider themselves professionals, they should already know these basics—these are trivialities, frankly laughable. If they take the hint the first time without being told, sure, you can overlook the error. But if they insist on being dense? Then you can be certain they are cutting corners everywhere else. They’re playing games with their employees, they’re playing games with you, and they’re likely playing games with the government—in ways you aren't even privy to. The fact that they aren't even trying to hide their incompetence is just proof enough of how protected they are. I speak from experience.

P.S. I don't know the scale of this employer, but when I say "protected," I mean they have friends in high places—either at the local municipal level or within the federal political machine.

Just wanted to say hi to ☕ .....I haven't been on the forum for a while

Thomas Vaughn6 said:Maybe this isn't quite the right spot for this topic—hoping the admins can move it if it's out of place.

So, here’s the situation: every accounting firm I’ve reached out to is asking for an absolute fortune, and frankly, I just can't swing it. I'm seriously considering shutting down my small business, though I'd hate to. Last year was a wash—personal issues outside of work meant my revenue was basically non-existent. I had an accountant at first, but given how little business I was actually doing, I decided to try handling the books myself to save money. It hasn't exactly been a game-changer.

Does anyone know of a service that scales their fees based on transaction volume or total invoice amounts? This is more of a hobby for me, and once I pay the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and various taxes, there’s nothing left over.

I'm assuming nobody pays based on the invoice totals. It's usually based on the volume of paperwork, or rather, the actual work and reports the accountants have to generate.
What kind of numbers are we talking about when you say it's too much?

crimsonstag76 said:Just wanted to say hi to ☕ .....I haven't been on the forum for a while

Hey there, 👋

Love the username. It's good to see you back around here 👍

Kimberly Harris6 said:Precisely. I tried explaining it to my own crew, but it just goes in one ear and out the other—except for one person. She actually listened, took it seriously, and now we work together perfectly. I set up a spreadsheet to recap monthly hours so we can process payroll accurately. Since they "manage" their own logs, those hours need to be totaled at the end of the month and sent to me for processing. If an auditor shows up and looks at the payroll, they're going to demand to see the time logs to cross-reference them with the checks. Now, everything runs smoothly with that one woman, but the rest of them? My goodness!!!! 🙏 They send me the exact same spreadsheets every single month with barely any changes, for crying out loud! They work shifts! And the best part? One girl hands me a sheet and tells me: "It doesn't matter, if something looks off, just fix it!" Excuse me? I tell her straight up that I have nothing to "fix"—if she wrote it down and SIGNED it, I am running the payroll based on her numbers, and she can be the one to explain to the auditor why her math doesn't match reality. This happens month after month... it's exhausting!!!

It truly is awful. I was practically interrogated today—it was honestly humiliating. You simply cannot reason with some clients! It’s madness. I completely empathize with you! Honestly, let the inspectors go after those massive corporations where employees are pulling 12-hour shifts without a single day off—they barely get one day off a MONTH!!! I would love to see how they manage to log those hours legally!!! Why don't they target them instead of picking on small businesses and local shops with ten employees? It is always the same story. These huge companies get a free pass, even though it's an open secret that they run people ragged for pennies on the dollar. But of course, nobody wants to audit them! What a disgrace this country can be sometimes!!!!!!!! I am constantly getting a headache from these endless new regulations and "innovative" ideas being pushed on us—all these new fees and paperwork—but what is the actual purpose of this oversight and worker protection? Is this really protecting workers? People are working 12-hour days with zero time off and no one says a word! They should go hunt down those shady outfits—everyone knows which ones they are!

feralcobra46 said:If they consider themselves professionals, they should already know these basics—these are trivialities, frankly laughable. If they take the hint the first time without being told, sure, you can overlook the error. But if they insist on being dense? Then you can be certain they are cutting corners everywhere else. They’re playing games with their employees, they’re playing games with you, and they’re likely playing games with the government—in ways you aren't even privy to. The fact that they aren't even trying to hide their incompetence is just proof enough of how protected they are. I speak from experience.

P.S. I don't know the scale of this employer, but when I say "protected," I mean they have friends in high places—either at the local municipal level or within the federal political machine.

Yes, they are simply foolish. Just plain dim—and clearly, they are cutting corners too.

Ugh... I’m trying to find some info regarding an account freeze, but I have no idea if there’s already a thread about it. I haven't been around for a little while, so I'm totally out of the loop. Can someone just point me toward the right topic so I don't end up repeating things? I tried using the search bar, but it's just throwing everything at me.

Robert Thomas11 said:It truly is awful. I was practically interrogated today—it was honestly humiliating. You simply cannot reason with some clients! It’s madness. I completely empathize with you! Honestly, let the inspectors go after those massive corporations where employees are pulling 12-hour shifts without a single day off—they barely get one day off a MONTH!!! I would love to see how they manage to log those hours legally!!! Why don't they target them instead of picking on small businesses and local shops with ten employees? It is always the same story. These huge companies get a free pass, even though it's an open secret that they run people ragged for pennies on the dollar. But of course, nobody wants to audit them! What a disgrace this country can be sometimes!!!!!!!! I am constantly getting a headache from these endless new regulations and "innovative" ideas being pushed on us—all these new fees and paperwork—but what is the actual purpose of this oversight and worker protection? Is this really protecting workers? People are working 12-hour days with zero time off and no one says a word! They should go hunt down those shady outfits—everyone knows which ones they are!

At this point, we might as well just lose our minds and save whatever we can🙂 and besides, everyone else is an adult; they can face the consequences of their own actions

crimsonstag76 said:Ugh... I’m trying to find some info regarding an account freeze, but I have no idea if there’s already a thread about it. I haven't been around for a little while, so I'm totally out of the loop. Can someone just point me toward the right topic so I don't end up repeating things? I tried using the search bar, but it's just throwing everything at me.

Look, just start your own thread. If it ends up being a duplicate, I'll handle moving it around for you. No big deal. 😉

Thanks so much! I'll

So, why is it so quiet in here?
I have so many questions and things I want to share, so it feels a little weird seeing so few people active right now. Is it always this slow?

They aren't exactly the type to strike up a conversation 😢

It’s all just strict routine and mindless discipline over there 🤣

Of course—what you'd expect from this country and its people! 🙄

Well, what can I tell you... there are always exceptions to the rule...
I spend half my life hanging out on Reddit 🙂 😬