Welcome to the Year-End Edition of NannyPay News
Volume 1, Issue 3 (December 2004)
It is intended to provide household employers and NannyPay users with information about employment issues, tax tips, NannyPay software tips, and other items of interest in a brief, easy-to-read format.
If you have any comments or suggestions about our newsletter, please let us know by emailing us at: newsletter@essentia-soft.com. We look forward to your feedback.
NannyPay Tip — Closing out the Year
As this year ends you may be wondering about how to close your 2004 payroll records. When the calendar turns to 2005, NannyPay 2004 will automatically "lock" your 2004 payroll transactions, that is, NannyPay 2004 will not permit you to enter any transaction dated "2005" in your 2004 payroll file. This will ensure the integrity and accuracy of your 2004 records.
In 2005, the federal government requires you, among other things, to prepare and give your employee(s) a 2004 Form W-2 (by January 31, 2005). By February 28, 2005, you must also file a W-3 with copies of all W-2s with the Social Security Administration. Your 2004 Schedule H should be included with your personal tax return when you file it (typically, by April 15th). Be sure not to forget your state filing and reporting obligations, if any.
To assist you with these tasks, the latest release of NannyPay 2004, which is now available, contains two updated reports for the 2004 tax season: Schedule H and Form W-2. These reports are not essential, but will conveniently summarize your payroll data for manual completion of the forms. The Schedule H report will also provide you with a more accurate calculation of your FUTA liability than does the FUTA estimate generated by NannyPay's "Employer Liability Report." The latest release of NannyPay also permits you to print a completed Schedule H, which you may file with your federal tax return. You must have Adobe's free, Acrobat® Reader (version 4.0 or higher) installed in your system for this feature to work. You may obtain the free reader from www.adobe.com. The latest release of NannyPay 2004 will also permit you to print federal forms W-2 and W-3 on IRS approved, machine-readable forms, which may be purchased by visiting Essentia's web site or most stationery stores or form suppliers. Please understand that we have only tested our forms to be completely compatible with NannyPay software.
You may download the last, free interim update to NannyPay 2004 from Essentia's web site. Remember, you must have the full version of NannyPay 2004 already installed on your system before installing this update.
If you purchase NannyPay 2005 when it is released, we strongly recommend that you do not uninstall NannyPay 2004 until you have completed your 2004 tax filings (typically, before April 15, 2005) and reporting. NannyPay 2005 will have a new file structure that will not permit you to open your 2004 payroll records. It is, therefore, handy to have NannyPay 2004 and NannyPay 2005 installed side-by-side until tax time is over.
Before uninstalling NannyPay 2004 we also recommend that you preserve your 2004 records by printing copies of all the reports and your individual payroll transactions ("Print Registers" under the "File" menu). Alternatively, you can archive your 2004 records by securely backing up your payroll files along with a copy of the NannyPay 2004 full installation package (so that you can read the files in the future, if necessary).
Remember to contact your tax professional if you have tax related questions. We, of course, are always available to answer NannyPay software related questions and inquiries. E-mail Technical Support with your questions.
We expect to post NannyPay 2005 on our web site before January 2, 2005 for those of you who have a payroll due that Friday. We will notify you by e-mail when it is available.
Thanks for using NannyPay and have a happy and prosperous New Year.
Form W-2s in Household Quantities — We Sell Them
NannyPay compatible Year 2004 W-2s and W-3s are now available for purchase in "household" quantities. Although you can buy IRS approved form W-2s and W-3s in office supply stores, you probably will not find them in quantities of less than 25 and at a reasonable cost.
Essentia Software Corporation is committed to making life just a little easier and less expensive for household employers. So, as a convenience (and savings) to our customers, you can now buy blank IRS approved, and NannyPay compatible, Form W-2s and W-3s from us, and have the forms shipped directly to your home.
Our IRS approved forms package includes everything you need for up to two employees: one Form W-2 form set, which consists of two W-2 forms; one Form W-3; and two compatible mailing envelopes. Shipping and handling is included in the price of our forms. For more information, or to order, visit our Tax Forms page.
What's New for NannyPay 2005
NannyPay 2005 will be available for download by the end of this month. The 2005 edition of NannyPay will include updated tax tables for 2005 and some minor improvements and fixes. Although NannyPay will remain largely unchanged, our method of distributing NannyPay will be different. By popular demand, NannyPay will be -- at last -- available on a subscription basis. That is, when you purchase NannyPay, its license will expire and will be renewable one-year from the date of purchase, rather than every January. Although, this change will have little effect on our current users, it will insure that new users receive a full year's license no matter when they purchase NannyPay. As before, interim updates will be available at no additional cost. In addition, all our customers will be pleased to learn that user names and registration codes will be included in their electronic Kagi sales invoices. Hurray! No more delays and no more separate unlock code requests.
Also, going forward, NannyPay will be licensed according to a new pricing model. Beginning in 2005, new and "upgrade" licenses will cost the same. For 2005, the cost will be $69.95 per year for both new and renewal customers. This brings NannyPay's pricing structure in line with that of other personal financial software distributors, while still maintaining a significant price advantage over competing payroll applications and, in particular, expensive household payroll accounting services. Doing it yourself is still cost effective. Please email Sales if you questions about any of these changes.
Lastly, many of our customers frequently ask us about an enhanced version of NannyPay, one which will easily handle multiple employees, print checks, and have more flexible reporting. As many of you know, we have had an enhanced version of NannyPay on the drawing board for some time. Well, it looks like 2005 will be the year it happens! We're reluctant to give an exact availability date; however, it looks good for the second quarter of 2005. If you would like to volunteer as a beta tester, please email us at beta@nannypay.com. We will get back to you when the new enhanced version is ready for testing. Essentia Software has not determined the pricing or name of the enhanced version of NannyPay.