An SBDC Success Story: Bella's Beauty Supply

 

Socorro V. Bella, the operator of a small beauty supply store, has been a regular attendee of business seminars sponsored by the Laredo Small Business Development Center (SBDC). With the hiring of an employee, she availed herself of payroll instruction from the SBDC.

SBDC specialist Laura Cantu scheduled several one-on-one counseling sessions with Bella to explain the payroll process in detail. The first step was to make sure Bella had filed the SS-4 form to apply for a Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). After many unsuccessful attempts to fax the number to the IRS, Cantu made calls to IRS until the EIN was obtained over the phone.

Cantu and Bella began to review all payroll processing steps as outlined in the Employment Requirements: Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification, W-4 Form Employees Withholding Allowance, W-5 Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate, Pay Requirements - Workweek Definition, Hours Worked, Overtime Pay, Payroll Calculation, Depositing Taxes - Payroll Tax Deposit Rules, Calculation of Deposits, How to Deposit Payroll Taxes, Quarterly Report Preparation - 941 Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, TWC Form C-3 Texas Workforce Commission (SUTA) Employer's Quarterly Report, Year End Report Preparation - Form 940 Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return, Form W-3 Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, and Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement.

Cantu provided Bella several forms to organize payroll, including time sheets, employee payroll journal, and weekly payroll summary. Soon, Bella processed payroll and made payroll deposits and prepared 941 quarterly reports on her own. She will prepare year-end reports which include 940 FUTA, W-2s, and W-3.

Bella continues to attend SBDC seminars to learn how best to maintain good records and make good decisions.