Category

MIP Fund Accounting

Nov 10
0

The Washington Cares Fund: Making Long Term Care Affordable

By | Accounting, MIP Fund Accounting, Nonprofit | No Comments

Organizations located in Washington state have another benefit they can offer to their employees: the WA Cares fund. This fund, created and managed by the state itself, provides long-term care options to all residents in the state. Residents contribute to the fund while they are working and can access the benefits if they meet certain criteria for long-term care needs.

How Does the WA Cares Fund Work?

In 2019, Governor Inslee signed the LTSS Trust Act into law. Through this act, Washingtonians will begin contributing .58 cents out of every $100 earned into the WA Cares fund starting in 2022. By 2025, those eligible for benefits may tap into them for long term care needs.

Why the WA Cares Fund?

Only about 7.5 million Americans have long-term care insurance, but more than 52% of people age 65 and older are likely to need long-term care at some point in their lives. And, with costs exceeding $300,000 on average over the course of a person’s lifetime, the expenses can be devastating to older Americans.

Washington is now the first state to offer long-term care insurance at an affordable rate for residents who meet eligibility criteria.

What Nonprofit Employers Need to Know

Employers do not need to contribute to the new fund. They do, however, have to track employee hours and wages, and report them to the state. Starting January 1, 2022, you will be required to report employees’ wages and hours worked, as well as collect WA Cares premiums from your employees’ wages. This is the same as you do now for Paid Leave.

You will not need to file a report during any quarters in which your employees have no hours or wages to report.

Are there exemptions?

Employees who wish to be exempt from the WA Cares premium may apply for an exemption. It is their responsibility to apply and to provide you with proof that their exemption was approved. Proof consists of a letter issued by the Employment Security Department (ESD). Once approved, exemptions are permanent, and employees cannot opt back in.

If you are notified that an employee has received approval for an exemption, you must keep a copy of the exemption letter on file and omit collecting the premium from the employee’s wages.

What if my organization offers long-term care insurance?

You may continue offering long-term care insurance to your employees, but it is up to them (not you) whether they should apply for exemption from the WA Cares coverage. There is no organization-wide exemption, so you are still responsible for monitoring wages and hours worked and deducting the appropriate amount of premiums from employees’ wages and reporting them.

You can learn more at: wacaresfund.wa.gov

MIP Fund Accounting Can Help You Track WA Cares Fund Premiums

For nonprofits running MIP Fund Accounting, setting up tracking of the WA Cares premiums is identical to the setup in the system for tracking WA Paid Family and Medical Leave. The only difference is that the setup for WA Cares should deduct .58 cents per every $100 of wages.

Washington is now the first state to offer this important coverage to employees. It’s one more benefit you can use to attract great employees to your organization and to provide your employees with peace of mind for their futures.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.

Sep 11
0

MIP Fund Accounting 2019.3 Releases on September 19, 2019

By | MIP Fund Accounting | No Comments

Here’s what you need to know about the MIP Fund Accounting update, v2019.3.

This release contains high-quality updates, expanded reporting capabilities, more flexibility and usability and a number of improvements within the Payroll module.
Improvements in the release:
  • Reports:
    • Financial Statements – Statement of Cash Flows – added the default format for the indirect method
    • Financial Statements – Statement of Activities – added option ‘Include Unposted Transactions’ in the report
    • Accounts Payable – Vendor Activity – added filter ‘Zero Activity’ to get vendors with no activity
  • Payroll:
    • Added additional columns for more flexibility in reporting within payroll module
  • Organization:
    • Data Integrity Checks – Removed exclusive access requirement and replaced with a system lock search (disallowed when posting or close-year is in progress)
  • Improved Help experience:
    • Changed Help to be accessible via the web, enabling us to provide documentation updates between releases
  • Enhanced audit trail:
    • Activities – Reconcile Cash Accounts - added logging to the Summary Organization Audit when an existing Reconciliation ID is deleted
  • Quality improvements across MIP
Microsoft Support Changes

Please note the MIP v19.3 workstation installation will take additional time due to Microsoft .Net 4.8 framework being required. If your machine already has .Net 4.8 installed or your IT professional installs .Net 4.8 prior to the MIP workstation installation, please disregard this message.

Windows Versions of MIP released after January 31, 2020 will no longer be supported on Windows 7 SP1.

Support trending topics:

Ready to move your MIP to the cloud?

Even if you haven’t joined the group of cloud adopters, you’ve probably considered it, researched it, or discussed it with your peers. If your organization is ready for a deep dive, now is a good time to check out the benefits of MIP Cloud. Or, request a custom demo with us now.
Jul 30
0

5 Tips to Squeeze More Life Out of Your Nonprofit Accounting Software

By | Accounting, Accounting Software, Data, Fiscal, MIP Fund Accounting, Nonprofit | No Comments

With more and more nonprofits embracing fund accounting as a strategy for growth, combined with the ever-changing reporting requirements from fund agencies, getting the most from your technology investment makes its way to the top of the priority list. Organizations need to be proactive when maximizing the returns on fund accounting investment.

Find out if you have you outgrown your accounting software by conducting a software review.

Start with a thorough review of your system’s processes. Next, conduct an in-depth analysis of the chart of accounts’ structure and financial statement formatting as they relate to supporting the organization’s reporting and tracking requirements. Finally, talk with your staff and key stakeholders  who use the system to find out what’s working, and what’s not.

The revelations may surprise you.The results of these three steps will create a roadmap to refresh your system.

Don’t have time for a thorough system review? There are some steps you can take right now to expedite your system and get more life out of it.

  1. Re-order chart of accounts. Remove unused segment values to make data entry and reporting more logical.
  2. Clean up and archive. Start with the Accounts Payable vendor and Accounts Receivable customer rosters, then tackle the register histories. This will speed up the system while reducing staff time sifting through obsolete information.
  3. Close, optimize, or delete old fiscal years. This will expedite report generation and system inquiries.
  4. Identify additional modules that can create efficiencies for staff. Contact your technology consultant to learn about modules that can be added to automate manual tasks like spreadsheet schedules, purchasing and reconciliations.
  5. Train & Re-Train. You can’t learn all there is to know during your initial software training session. Underutilized modules that your team revisits can streamline processes significantly.

Welter Consulting helps nonprofits get more out of their accounting software. We find the most affordable technology, the most powerful solution, and providing expert support. We are dedicated to assist you in achieving your mission by leveraging technology and superior reporting. If you’re needing technology help, we’d love to talk to you about your specific needs.  Contact us online or call 206-605-3113.

Jun 18
0

Feeling – and Dealing – with Being Overwhelmed

By | Abila, Accounting, Accounting Software, Budget, Cloud, Corporate Culture, Fiscal, MIP Fund Accounting, Nonprofit, Professional Development, Technology | No Comments

It’s not confined to tax season. A look at why you’re feeling overwhelmed, and how to deal with it.

In the book “Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time”, authors Jeff and J.J. Sutherland have an interesting chart on page 91. In this chart, they cite statistics that indicate that as one’s attention is divided, productivity decreases. Working on two projects at once means a 20% loss in productivity due to switching gears; three projects at once, and you lose about 40% due to context switching.

Accountants and financial managers at nonprofits aren’t immune to this loss, due to context switching. In fact, we’re probably more vulnerable to it due to the focused nature of our work. Dealing with financial issues, accounting questions, and understanding complex financial information requires quiet, focused time. The barrage of instant messenger apps, phone calls, emails, texts and myriad information streams in today’s connected world increases the loss due to context switching. Multi-tasking for greater productivity is a myth.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Nearly all professionals are feeling overwhelmed these days. It’s as if the crunch before tax season never ends. Researchers point to the common culprits – instant messengers, instant news, instant everything – as a big part of the problem. The human brain isn’t wired to deal with this level of intensity, and we haven’t had time to adapt to the rapid pace of change that technology has wrought in our personal and business lives.

Although we cannot fully shut the world out and switch off the phones, there are ways to improve productivity. These include avoiding context or task switching, single-tasking instead of multi-tasking, and establishing boundaries around office times.

Single-Tasking for Greater Productivity

Multi-tasking does not improve productivity. Instead, it diminishes productivity because the mind needs time to acclimate to the second task. As we focus on one task, our attention is fixed on that task; switching to a second task takes brain power to establish focus, change direction, and process new information.

Don’t buy into the myth of multi-tasking. Instead, turn off the music or the television while you work. Shut the door to your office. Switch off the instant messages and turn your cell phone to mute while you work on a project. Allow yourself the space to focus, rather than trying to cram as many tasks as you can into the same amount of time.

Set Office Rules

Another tip to improve productivity and avoid feeling overwhelmed is to set some basic ground rules around your time in the office. While many managers prefer an ‘open door’ policy and make themselves available to their staff at any time, you may need to establish some basic policies around availability.

Some managers have ‘office hours’ when they leave their door open as a clear signal to their teams that they can drop in and ask any questions they wish. Others block out time on their calendar for quiet, focused work. Either method works fine. The point is to ensure that you have adequate quiet time for focused work and additional time blocked out for your teams.

Switch Off the Mobile Phone

 Cellphones are a great convenience, but their buzzing, shrilling, vibrating presence has ruined many a meeting, family dinner, or quiet time. Shut off the mobile phone when you aren’t at work or when you need some space. Texts are rarely as urgent as we make them out to be, and your brain needs a break from the constant stream of messages and information it’s trying to process.

Give Yourself Permission to Rest

 Lastly, give yourself permission to rest on the weekends, vacations and holidays. When you’re behind schedule on projects, it is tempting to trying to bring work home or devote a few extra hours in the evening to finishing up a project. Occasionally burning the midnight oil doesn’t hurt  but making it a habit can cut into your overall productivity. Ensuring balance in all things takes time, practice and effort, but it helps your overall productivity.

Everyone feels overwhelmed at times by work. If it becomes chronic, however, it’s time to take steps to safeguard your time. Burnout happens in all professions, including accounting and finance, nonprofit and for-profit companies.

 

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.