Archive for June, 2008

The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued an opinion letter on the topic of pro-rated salaries for exempt employees.

An employer inquired whether it is an acceptable practice to pro-rate the minimum allowable salary of an exempt employee to reflect his 20 hour per week part-time status, by paying the worker $15,000. In a letter dated February 14, 2008, the DOL responded that salary pro-ration is not allowed.

The rule applies to all exempt classifications subject to the salary test. The most common exempt classifications are executive, administrative, and professional. Properly classified exempt employees are not entitled to overtime and are exempt from various other wage and hour rules. To qualify, exempt workers must be paid a minimum salary set by law, and also perform certain defined duties.

Under federal law, exempt employees must be paid a minimum salary of $23,660 annually, or $455 per week. This minimum amount must be paid even if the employee works part time. An employer wishing to pay an employee less than the minimum would have to classify the worker as a regular hourly non-exempt employee.

The minimum may be higher in some states. For example, in California the minimum salary is higher: $33,280 or $640 per week. As under federal law, payment below the statutory minimum would cause the employee to lose exempt status.

Employers are reminded that paying the minimum salary does not necessarily qualify employees for exempt status. Under both state and federal law, the employee must also meet a “duties test” that focuses on the job duties of the employee.

For more details, here’s the link to the DOL opinion letter.

The article presented herein is intended as a brief overview of the law and is not intended to substitute as legal advice. Any questions or concerns regarding any statute or case law should be addressed to a licensed attorney.

Over the next few months I’m going to give quick tips about the bank reconciliation feature in QuickBooksTM. There are a lot of wonderful tools that are part of the bank reconciliation feature and learning just a couple of them can make your life a little easier.

One of the little known features in the bank reconciliation feature of QuickBooksTM is the “Locate Discrepancies” button that you see when you are entering your bank statement information. It’s in the first screen, at the bottom, after clicking on “Bank Reconciliation” from the Home Page or from the Banking Menu.

Since it is so easy to delete or change transactions in QuickBooksTM, this button can come in very handy. You would want to click on this button if the beginning balance from your bank statement does not match the beginning balance when you begin your bank reconciliation. If you click on this button, it will alert you to what has changed, in your records, since you last reconciled your bank statement in QuickBooksTM. Using this information, you can re-input the deleted/changed items and clear them through your current bank reconciliation, which will get your back on track.

If what is showing in the discrepancies window is something that really should not be part of your records, then re-input the data as stated above and then correct it in the current period so that your bank reconciliations for past periods always remain correct.

Every economy and every business has its ups and downs. The trick to weathering the storms successfully is to be prepared for them.

Reactivate Dormant Accounts
The quickest and easiest way to do this is to sit down with your list of past customers, call them, say hello, and see what’s going on. Don’t make this a hard sell call, just a reminder that you have done business before and you are interested in working with them again. You don’t have to ask for work directly but when you end the conversation you might say something like, “Well, it’s been good talking with you. Keep in touch, and if there’s anything I can ever help you with, don’t hesitate to give me a call.” If you are uncomfortable about phoning, send a letter, flyer or brochure that mentions new products or services and includes testimonials from other customers.

Provide Superior Service To Current Customers
When business is slow you want to do everything you can to hold on to your existing customers. The best way to hold on to them is to give them not just their money’s worth, but more than their money’s worth. Now is the time to go the extra distance, give that little bit of extra service that can mean the difference between dazzling them and merely satisfying them. The best protection against a downturn in business is an active list of delighted customers.

Have Existing Customers Drum Up New Business For You
It’s probably fair to say that the customers you’re currently dealing with associate with like-minded people - people who are in a similar income bracket, have similar interests, hobbies, and buying habits. And therein lies your sleeping giant. A referral system can harness this giant by encouraging existing customers to refer these people to you. If it’s true that most of your customers are happy with your business and the products and services you sell, then it follows that most would be quite happy to refer you given an easy way to do so, such as displaying your brochures in their business. Slow times also provide the opportunity for more active networking, looking for opportunities that may only present themselves when talking to people.

Plan An Ongoing Marketing Campaign
Slow business presents an opportunity to increase the amount of your time spent on prospecting for new business. During a lull in business you need to make this extra effort to attract clients or customers, follow up on leads and close sales. What types of marketing work best in slow times? Use a combination that includes direct marketing (direct response print ads, sales letters, self mailers, postcards, special offers) plus low-cost/no-cost visibility enhancing publicity techniques (press releases, articles, speeches, booklets, seminars, newsletters). Avoid costly image building marketing such as large space ads, slick corporate brochures, expensive annual reports and other marketing communications that can drain your budget without producing sales.

Add Value To Your Existing Services
In a slow economy customers are more concerned with price than ever before. Actually, their real concern is making sure they get the best value for their money. You can win new customers and retain existing ones by enhancing your services and providing your customers with more value for their money. For instance, if you are selling a commodity item you could add value by offering faster delivery than your competitors. Or a wider selection. Or easier payment terms. Or a better guarantee. There is no need to give away the store and promise an excessive amount of extra service. The extras you provide need not take a lot of time or cost a lot of money.

Keep Busy By Working ON Your Business
A slow period in your business is a good time to busy yourself with internal projects that will improve the business, such as developing a new marketing strategy, making technical improvements to an existing product, auditing and improving your customer service procedures, revising your newsletter or website, or any of a hundred things that you couldn’t find the time for previously. Now you have the time. So do them.

Information for this article is sourced from RAN ONE.

Graduations, weddings and vacations are usually associated with June. But it’s also the time of year when painting contractors are as busy as ever. Learning to delegate involves being a very effective communicator in order to develop the employee without frustrating them or yourself, while still getting the results you want.

Here are your productivity tips for this month:

1. Learn to delegate. This is a key time management principle. If you have been reluctant to do so, consider that this is the one way to leverage your time. So go on, learn the basics, find the right person and go for it.

2. Guidelines for giving the assignment. Share with the employee the details of what you need done in an organized way. Remember-they may be watching you as a role model. Once you have reviewed what you need done and the timelines involved, have them repeat back to you what they heard. It helps clarify before any is wasted working on the wrong thing or in the wrong order or at the wrong time.

3. Remember to delegate, not micro-manage. You probably learned by making mistakes - so will the employee. It’s part of being human. But you can minimize the mistakes by periodic check-ins, remaining open to questions and communicating effectively.