News From GMS - November 2017Current and back issues are provided in Adobe Acrobat format. (Requires the free Adobe Acrobat reader.)
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The GMS offices will be closed Thursday November 23rd and Friday, November 24th for the Thanksgiving holiday.
We will resume normal business hours Monday, November 27th.
We will resume normal business hours Monday, November 27th.
Tax Form Season is Upon Us
For those of you who have ordered your 2017 tax forms from GMS, we thank you for your order and encourage you to check your order confirmations to ensure that all of the proper forms and services ordered from GMS are correct. The appropriate W2, 1099, 1095B, 1095C, and 1098 procedures will be included in the December 2017 GMS software revisions. Remember, do not run the Edit/Prepare W2 step or the Save/Prepare 1099 step until the December 2017 accounting revisions have been installed.
For clients who have requested that GMS print their forms, the normal turn-around time is one week once we have received your database. This service will begin in January, 2018. Once you have completed Editing/Preparing W2's and verified that your W2 Proof listing is correct, your database is to be zipped up with a password and an email sent to service@gmsactg.com that your database is ready to upload. We will then send you an email with instructions for submitting your database. Note: It is extremely important that when you are filling out the GMS transmittal form that gets sent to GMS, you are accurate in identifying the password used (if any) to zip the database. If an incorrect or misspelled password is sent to us it can delay the processing and increase the time in which the completed forms will be sent to your office.
If you have requested GMS to print 1099 or 1098 forms, you must use Supplement #330 Complete 1099's or Supplement #804 RLSS 1098's to prepare the file you send to GMS. Most orders will be shipped via UPS unless otherwise specified, and the shipping fee will be applied to the total of your tax form order. UPS delivery usually ranges from 3-5 days.
The Help Manual also includes all instructions for those clients who have requested that GMS prepare the file for electronic filing to the IRS. The prepared file will be emailed to the contact person you have specified.
If you haven’t placed your order yet, it is still not too late to order your tax forms. GMS will accept all tax form orders up until December 1, 2017. Note: Additional charges may be incurred for orders received after December 1st, based on availability.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at service@gmsactg.com or call 800.933.3501 ext 1.
For clients who have requested that GMS print their forms, the normal turn-around time is one week once we have received your database. This service will begin in January, 2018. Once you have completed Editing/Preparing W2's and verified that your W2 Proof listing is correct, your database is to be zipped up with a password and an email sent to service@gmsactg.com that your database is ready to upload. We will then send you an email with instructions for submitting your database. Note: It is extremely important that when you are filling out the GMS transmittal form that gets sent to GMS, you are accurate in identifying the password used (if any) to zip the database. If an incorrect or misspelled password is sent to us it can delay the processing and increase the time in which the completed forms will be sent to your office.
If you have requested GMS to print 1099 or 1098 forms, you must use Supplement #330 Complete 1099's or Supplement #804 RLSS 1098's to prepare the file you send to GMS. Most orders will be shipped via UPS unless otherwise specified, and the shipping fee will be applied to the total of your tax form order. UPS delivery usually ranges from 3-5 days.
The Help Manual also includes all instructions for those clients who have requested that GMS prepare the file for electronic filing to the IRS. The prepared file will be emailed to the contact person you have specified.
If you haven’t placed your order yet, it is still not too late to order your tax forms. GMS will accept all tax form orders up until December 1, 2017. Note: Additional charges may be incurred for orders received after December 1st, based on availability.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at service@gmsactg.com or call 800.933.3501 ext 1.
Finance Director Job Opening
Northeast Florida Community Action Agency, Inc. (NFCAA) is looking to fill the position of Finance Director. The Finance Director will be responsible to the Executive Director for effectively managing the success of the Agency’s financial activities. This position will have direct responsibility and supervision over financial accounting and reporting, budget preparation, procurement, inventory, and payroll preparation and administration. Salary range: $60,000 - $65,000 annually.
Required Education and Experience: Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and five years of progressively responsible management accounting experience with a community action agency or private non-profit organization or a combination of education and experience. This job announcement will close on December 1, 2017. Interested individuals should email a resume and cover letter to NFCAA’s Human Resources Specialist, Cassandra Smith, at csmith@nfcaa.org by 5:00 p.m. on December 1. |
Electronic W2 Filing Requirements to States
Make sure you know what your state requirements are for filing electronic W2 forms. Most states have a requirement that W2s must be reported electronically when you have a certain number of employees to report. In some states, this number is being reduced each year. Be sure to check your current filing requirements and find out if your state accepts the SSA format or requires a special format. All requests for adding special state file formats must be received in our office prior to November 30, 2017. In addition to the states that have electronic filing requirements, for most states the electronic filing method is the recommended procedure. Please make sure you are familiar with your state(s) filing procedures as well as any requirements for local taxing jurisdictions.
Supplement #400 W2 Electronic File Reporting, can help you meet your electronic filing needs. In addition to the file that is transmitted to the Social Security Administration, the supplement creates the electronic file for various state submissions that won’t accept the same format as the SSA.
As of 2017, states that have special formats, meaning they differ from the standard SSA format, are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah and Vermont. There are also special electronic reporting needs for the cities of Dayton, Warren and Ravenna, Ohio, PA Berkheimer and RITA. Our E-filing supplement will meet all of those needs.
Orders for this supplement may be placed via our website at http://www.gmsactg.com/w2-electronic-file-reporting.html
The purchase price is:
1-2 users: $120.00/$40.00 annual license/maintenance
3-4 users: $150.00/$50.00 annual license/maintenance
5+ users: $190.00/$63.00 annual license/maintenance
Supplement #400 W2 Electronic File Reporting, can help you meet your electronic filing needs. In addition to the file that is transmitted to the Social Security Administration, the supplement creates the electronic file for various state submissions that won’t accept the same format as the SSA.
As of 2017, states that have special formats, meaning they differ from the standard SSA format, are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah and Vermont. There are also special electronic reporting needs for the cities of Dayton, Warren and Ravenna, Ohio, PA Berkheimer and RITA. Our E-filing supplement will meet all of those needs.
Orders for this supplement may be placed via our website at http://www.gmsactg.com/w2-electronic-file-reporting.html
The purchase price is:
1-2 users: $120.00/$40.00 annual license/maintenance
3-4 users: $150.00/$50.00 annual license/maintenance
5+ users: $190.00/$63.00 annual license/maintenance
Watch for Next Month's Emails
When we revise our software, we send an email notice that the current revision to the GMS Accounting software and/or Revolving Loan Servicing software are available on our website. It is important that everyone download and install these revisions in a timely manner, but this is especially important in December when the updates for W2, 1095B, 1095C, 1099 and 1098 forms are included. Also included in the revision will be an updated Help Manual containing instructions for these forms. If we do not receive the 2017 tax changes in time to include them in the December revision, a separate email will be sent notifying you when these changes become available.
New! RLSS Summit
We are excited to announce a new summit for agencies using the GMS Revolving Loan Servicing Software (RLSS). Many clients use both our accounting and revolving loan software. When they attend our annual summits, they must choose between participating in an accounting session or RLSS session as both are offered in the same time slots. This has caused our clients to miss valuable training opportunities. We will continue to offer our Accounting Summit the third week of May and now will offer an RLSS Summit the third week of September each year so no one will have to choose between training sessions any longer.
Our first annual RLSS Summit will be held September 20-21, 2018 in San Antonio, TX. Our Summit hotel will be the Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Riverwalk Downtown. This lovely all-suites hotel is located right on the Riverwalk, offering many options for things to do and places to eat. We will provide more information later so please Reserve the Dates now! |
Special Pay and How It Can Affect Payroll Processing and the Employee Files
Special Pay is a feature within Payroll Processing in the GMS Accounting System where the main purpose is to have an effect on gross pay or taxes by something that is not timesheet driven. Two (of many) examples of this would be payment to an employee in lieu of health insurance which would affect gross wages or recording a car allowance for personal use of a company vehicle which would not affect gross wages but is taxable to an employee.
There are various questions that need to be answered when setting up a special pay such as the taxability for all levels as well as whether or not this pay affects Unemployment, Workers Comp or Retirement eligible wages. Please see the Help Manual for further details. Another very important question is whether or not the special pay affects net pay. What this means very simply is whether or not the employee actually receives the money as an addition to the regular pay check.
Our first example is payment in lieu of health insurance. Typically, this is a payment to an employee because he/she is waiving membership to the employer’s health insurance coverage due to spousal coverage or another health plan the employee already has in place. In this case, you want the amount of the special pay to be added to gross wages and the employee’s check, so you would check the Aff Net Pay box. The employee will then receive this amount as part of the payroll check.
Our second example is recording of a car allowance for personal use of a company vehicle. This is typically a result of an employee that has access to an agency vehicle and not only does the employee use it for business functions, he/she also drives it back and forth from home to the office. The cost of driving to and from home, as well as any personal errands the car may be used for, can be calculated on a cost per mile basis and is considered taxable income to the employee. This amount is then entered as Special Pay. In this case, the actual cash is not added to the employee’s paycheck, however, the amount needs to be added to the employee file so it will appear as taxable income on their W2. So in this example when setting up the special pay the box Aff Net Pay will not be checked.
Another item to consider when setting up special pay is whether or not this amount is to be taken into consideration when percentage based deductions are calculated. The default in the system is to include special pay as part of the gross pay to which a percentage deduction is applied. If, however, you have a case where a special pay amount is not to be included in the base for a percentage based deduction, go to Payroll\Set Up and select Deduction. On the bottom of the form select Wage Base and then the appropriate deduction from the combo box. At that point you can unselect the Include All Wages box, then select Regular Salaries, Overtime Salaries and/or any appropriate Special Pay amounts to be included in the base for this deduction.
For more detailed information about Special Pay and its characteristics, please see the Help Manual under Payroll\Payroll Set Up\Special Pay.
There are various questions that need to be answered when setting up a special pay such as the taxability for all levels as well as whether or not this pay affects Unemployment, Workers Comp or Retirement eligible wages. Please see the Help Manual for further details. Another very important question is whether or not the special pay affects net pay. What this means very simply is whether or not the employee actually receives the money as an addition to the regular pay check.
Our first example is payment in lieu of health insurance. Typically, this is a payment to an employee because he/she is waiving membership to the employer’s health insurance coverage due to spousal coverage or another health plan the employee already has in place. In this case, you want the amount of the special pay to be added to gross wages and the employee’s check, so you would check the Aff Net Pay box. The employee will then receive this amount as part of the payroll check.
Our second example is recording of a car allowance for personal use of a company vehicle. This is typically a result of an employee that has access to an agency vehicle and not only does the employee use it for business functions, he/she also drives it back and forth from home to the office. The cost of driving to and from home, as well as any personal errands the car may be used for, can be calculated on a cost per mile basis and is considered taxable income to the employee. This amount is then entered as Special Pay. In this case, the actual cash is not added to the employee’s paycheck, however, the amount needs to be added to the employee file so it will appear as taxable income on their W2. So in this example when setting up the special pay the box Aff Net Pay will not be checked.
Another item to consider when setting up special pay is whether or not this amount is to be taken into consideration when percentage based deductions are calculated. The default in the system is to include special pay as part of the gross pay to which a percentage deduction is applied. If, however, you have a case where a special pay amount is not to be included in the base for a percentage based deduction, go to Payroll\Set Up and select Deduction. On the bottom of the form select Wage Base and then the appropriate deduction from the combo box. At that point you can unselect the Include All Wages box, then select Regular Salaries, Overtime Salaries and/or any appropriate Special Pay amounts to be included in the base for this deduction.
For more detailed information about Special Pay and its characteristics, please see the Help Manual under Payroll\Payroll Set Up\Special Pay.
Welcome to the InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza.
We are delighted to host the GMS 2018 Accounting Summit.
We are delighted to host the GMS 2018 Accounting Summit.

The InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza (proud recipient of the 2017 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence) is an iconic hotel located on the corner of one of Kansas City’s most stylish and historic shopping, dining and entertainment districts, the Country Club Plaza. The Plaza is fifteen blocks of Seville, Spain-inspired architecture and site of quiet courtyards, stunning sculptures and remarkable annual festivals.
What you will love...
We look forward to your arrival in May 2018.
Charlie Hughes
Director of Conference Services
InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza
What you will love...
- Spectacular Country Club Plaza location
- Proximity to area attractions, shopping, dining and more
- Total hotel renovation, completed in June, 2017
- Friendly, personable hotel associates
- Warm, first-class service scores that exceed IHG brand average
- Guest room/suite private balconies
- Outstanding concierge floor experience/lounge
- 29,000 square feet of beautifully designed event spaces, including an awesome Rooftop Ballroom with the best views of the Country Club Plaza
- Brand new signature restaurant – American Slang Modern Brasserie
- On-site fitness center and outdoor pool, sundeck
We look forward to your arrival in May 2018.
Charlie Hughes
Director of Conference Services
InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza