Wed.Nov 25, 2020

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Ghost Employees and Other Payroll Scams

RogerRossmeisl

Ghost employees and other payroll scams are trouble for employers. They may be just as fictional as the paranormal activities in your favorite scary book or movie, but if you have ghost employees on your payroll, you have fraud. And if you have fraud, you have potentially significant financial losses. Anatomy of a scheme Ghost employee schemes usually are perpetrated by employees who have easy access to payroll records.

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AI Models Eliminate Bias For Digital ID

PYMNTS

The age of artificial intelligence (AI) is upon us, where data feeds and models are used in the service of everything from verifying the digital identity of remote users to approving or denying a bank loan application. But Labhesh Patel , chief technical officer and chief scientist at real-time identification firm Jumio , told PYMNTS in a recent interview that AI-underpinned models are only as good as their underlying training datasets.

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Trending Sources

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Will COVID-19 bring about an end to the executive pay status quo?

ThomsonReuters

In April, I published a post, The Coronavirus pandemic: Executive pay cuts a sign of the times , highlighting companies across multiple industries that were making downward adjustments to the compensation of their executives and board members to help stay afloat in response to the crisis. The burning question is how will companies approach executive pay after the crisis?

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COVID-19 Health Passes Ignite New Debate On Digital ID

PYMNTS

The push toward digital IDs, toward tracking who’s who – and, in this case, who’s safe – may be getting a tailwind from air travel. To that end, a quintet of airlines is debuting digital health passes that certify travelers do not have the coronavirus. That passport, of a sort, will be known as CommonPass – and will certify negative COVID test results.

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Planning Your Restaurants Path to Profitability

Speaker: James Kahler, COO of Full Course

Ever wondered where to splurge and where to safely conserve when it comes to operating and growing your restaurant? 🤔 Join James Kahler, COO of Full Course and industry visionary, in this new webinar where he'll talk all about best practices to invest in your restaurant's success! Whether you're a new business or an established restaurant, a seasoned pro or a rookie, you'll learn the keys to sustainable success in this competitive industry.

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Advising accounting clients through bankruptcy

ThomsonReuters

Due to the unfortunate circumstances revolving around COVID-19, firms are now dealing with the need to advise accounting clients through bankruptcy. There have been regulation changes around bankruptcy, and as small to medium size businesses face shutdowns and various other factors, indebtedness is a real issue that several businesses are facing. In this episode of Pulse of Practice “Let’s talk bankruptcy” Paul Miller, CPA from Business by Design , and I are joined by Steve Nickles, Law Professo

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FIs Expect Cybersecurity Spending To Increase In 2021, Study Finds

PYMNTS

Financial firms expect that the cost to defend against cyberattacks will continue to increase in 2021, according to Bloomberg , citing a survey done by Deloitte & Touche LLP. The survey, which will be released in December, reports that 64 percent of executives at financial companies ranked cybersecurity as their top concern in expected budget increases.

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Real-Time Data Closes Buyer/Seller B2B Payments Gap

PYMNTS

In B2B payments, the path to making transactions as seamless and invisible as possible is often about closing the gap that separates buyer and supplier. While a growing population of B2B FinTech solutions has helped to connect B2B buyers and sellers, more platforms can create more friction on either end of the equation. According to Greg Bloh, CEO of Transcard , solutions that target the buyer side and then provide elements to integrate with a vendor — or vice versa — can add extra steps for bus

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Where Can Health FSA Participants Use Debit Cards to Pay for Medical Care Expenses?

ThomsonReuters

QUESTION: Our company is thinking about implementing a debit card program for participants in our health FSA. We understand that IRS guidance restricts use of these cards to certain merchants. Where can our health FSA participants use debit cards to pay for medical care expenses? ANSWER: You are correct that IRS guidance restricts the locations at which health FSA debit cards can be used.

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Female FinTech Founders’ Funding Behind Male Counterparts

PYMNTS

Female FinTech entrepreneurs are getting left out of funding even as record venture capital money is being pumped into startups. Just 3.8 percent of FinTech startups with female founders received funding January through October, according to Crunchbase, per a Bloomberg report on Wednesday (Nov. 25). Companies that did get funding received only 0.9 percent of total monies raised. .

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2020 Required Amendments List Includes “Difficulty of Care” Payments Amendment for Some Employers

ThomsonReuters

IRS Notice 2020-83 (Nov. 20, 2020). Available at [link]. The IRS has issued its 2020 Required Amendments List (RA List) for individually designed qualified retirement plans (including 401(k) plans) and 403(b) plans. RA Lists are issued annually to identify changes in the Code’s qualification requirements that may result in “disqualifying provisions” and require a remedial amendment (see our Checkpoint article ).

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How Automation is Driving Efficiency Through the Last Mile of Reporting

Speaker: Jamie Eagan

As organizations strive for agility and efficiency, it's imperative for finance leaders to embrace innovative technologies and redefine traditional processes. Join us as we explore the pivotal role of digitalization and automation in reshaping what is commonly referred to as the “last mile of reporting”. We’ll deep-dive into why digitalization is no longer a choice, but a necessity for finance departments to stay competitive in a fast-paced environment touching on: 2024 trends for the Office of

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Real-Time Payments Move Past Early Adopters

PYMNTS

The tipping point toward real-time payments’ ubiquity might be closer than many observers think, Mark Ranta , payments practice lead at FinTech Alacriti , told PYMNTS in a recent interview. Ranta said RTP is already past the “early adopter” stage and moving into the “fast follower” phase of its evolution. After all, The Clearing House’s RTP infrastructure is already up and running.

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Health Insurer Ordered to Reprocess 67,000 Claims, Follow Independent Claim Guidelines

ThomsonReuters

Wit v. United Behavioral Health, 2020 WL 6479273 (N.D. Cal. 2020). Available at [link]. Following last year’s ruling that an insurer breached its fiduciary duty to health plan participants by using overly restrictive claim guidelines in its administration of mental health and substance use disorder benefits (see our Checkpoint article ), a federal court has granted extensive relief to a class of plan participants.

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AWS Outage Interrupts Web Service for Spotify, Square And Others

PYMNTS

An Amazon Web Services outage affected the digital presence and operations of dozens of companies Wednesday (Nov 25) as one of the subsystems of the massive web operations platform failed. The support page for Amazon Web Services’ status page said it was experiencing problems with Kinesis, its service that processes large streams of data, causing “increased error rates” for a number of websites.

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Miscommunication Between Employer and Insurer About Employee’s Medical Leave Causes Loss of Coverage—and a Lawsuit

ThomsonReuters

Schmidt v. Overland Xpress, LLC, 2020 WL 5760651 (S.D. Ohio 2020). Available at [link]. This case arose when an employee on a medical leave of absence was denied continued coverage under her company’s medical plan. While the company’s employee handbook limited eligibility for benefits to full-time employees working at least 28 hours per week, the plan provided that an employee was deemed actively employed if an absence from work was due to sickness or bodily injury.

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No-Code Technology: The Key to Unlock the Future of Your Business

Global economies are reeling from recent upheavals—pandemic aftershocks, geopolitical conflicts, and a tech sector crunch. Mark Zuckerberg's 2023 "Year of Efficiency" ethos extends into 2024, with leaders seeking cost reductions without stunting growth. No-code technology emerges as a beacon of hope, fostering resilience and adaptability. Platforms like Make.com and Zapier empower even non-technical staff to automate and innovate, freeing IT for strategic tasks.

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Bitcoin Daily: Nigeria Moves To Create Crypto Framework; Australia Holds Blockchain Pilot With Singapore

PYMNTS

The Federal Ministry of Finance in Nigeria is said to be in discussions with the securities watchdog in the country to create a new digital currency and blockchain structure, Cointelegraph reported. The ministry is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission located in Abuja to offer a “regulatory environment for blockchain” and digital assets, Cointelegraph reported, citing local media.

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Advising accounting clients through bankruptcy

ThomsonReuters

Due to the unfortunate circumstances revolving around COVID-19, firms are now dealing with the need to advise accounting clients through bankruptcy. There have been regulation changes around bankruptcy, and as small to medium size businesses face shutdowns and various other factors, indebtedness is a real issue that several businesses are facing. In this episode of Pulse of Practice “Let’s talk bankruptcy” Paul Miller, CPA from Business by Design , and I are joined by Steve Nickles, Law Professo

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Amazon Sellers Report Increases In Shipping Delays

PYMNTS

Amazon sellers say products that normally take one or two days to arrive at customers’ addresses are suddenly taking a week or longer as the holiday shopping season gets going in earnest. Bloomberg News reported that merchant chat rooms are abuzz with talk of delayed shipments, with more than a half-dozen sellers and consultants confirming such issues to the news service.

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Where Can Health FSA Participants Use Debit Cards to Pay for Medical Care Expenses?

ThomsonReuters

QUESTION: Our company is thinking about implementing a debit card program for participants in our health FSA. We understand that IRS guidance restricts use of these cards to certain merchants. Where can our health FSA participants use debit cards to pay for medical care expenses? ANSWER: You are correct that IRS guidance restricts the locations at which health FSA debit cards can be used.

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Register Now: Sneak Peek Into Close Automation SkyStem Web Demo

Technology is rapidly changing the way accountants perform and manage month-end activities. Spreadsheets, email, and shared drives no longer have to slow us down. Join us as we present a "sneak peek" recorded demo of SkyStem's month-end close solution – ART. In under four weeks, your team can start reaping the benefits of month-end close automation by vastly reducing spreadsheets, cut down on reconciliation work, speed up the month-end close, and better manage your remote team.

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Report: Paychex Gives Traditional Payroll Cycle A Real-Time Makeover

PYMNTS

Slow payments have long frustrated businesses and consumers, forcing the former to readjust their timelines as they await funds and prompting the latter to put off purchases as they watch for transactions to finalize. Financial services providers have looked to solve these frictions using real-time payment tools, and their efforts are being realized as businesses and consumers alike grow more comfortable with new banking technologies.

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2020 Required Amendments List Includes “Difficulty of Care” Payments Amendment for Some Employers

ThomsonReuters

IRS Notice 2020-83 (Nov. 20, 2020). Available at [link]. The IRS has issued its 2020 Required Amendments List (RA List) for individually designed qualified retirement plans (including 401(k) plans) and 403(b) plans. RA Lists are issued annually to identify changes in the Code’s qualification requirements that may result in “disqualifying provisions” and require a remedial amendment (see our Checkpoint article ).

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Credit Karma To Divest Tax Unit To Square In $7.1B Merger With Intuit

PYMNTS

The Department of Justice is requiring Credit Karma to divest its tax business to Square as part of Intuit’s $7.1 billion proposed takeover of Credit Karma. On Wednesday (Nov. 25), Intuit and Credit Karma said they had received clearance from the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the merger, and had agreed for Credit Karma to sell its tax business to Square.

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Health Insurer Ordered to Reprocess 67,000 Claims, Follow Independent Claim Guidelines

ThomsonReuters

Wit v. United Behavioral Health, 2020 WL 6479273 (N.D. Cal. 2020). Available at [link]. Following last year’s ruling that an insurer breached its fiduciary duty to health plan participants by using overly restrictive claim guidelines in its administration of mental health and substance use disorder benefits (see our Checkpoint article ), a federal court has granted extensive relief to a class of plan participants.

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Recruit and Retain New Blue-Collar Talent

Blue-collar jobs have a branding problem. One company, GEON, partnered with Paycor to find the solution. Learn how to attract, engage, and retain blue-collar employees, helping them build meaningful careers – and support your company’s goals.

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Bitcoin Daily: Binance Tells US Users To Take Out All Funds; OKEx To Reportedly Restart Withdrawals; S Korea Seeks To Postpone Crypto Tax Law; Coinbase To Only Provide IRS Form 1099-MISC

PYMNTS

Binance has purportedly started notifying U.S. users by email that they have 14 days to shutter their accounts and take out all their money or have their accounts locked, Decrypt reported. The email reportedly told users that the firm found that they were aiming to access the platform while having identified themselves as U.S. persons. “Please note that as per our terms of use, we are unable to service US persons,” the company reportedly said in the email, as per the outlet.

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Miscommunication Between Employer and Insurer About Employee’s Medical Leave Causes Loss of Coverage—and a Lawsuit

ThomsonReuters

Schmidt v. Overland Xpress, LLC, 2020 WL 5760651 (S.D. Ohio 2020). Available at [link]. This case arose when an employee on a medical leave of absence was denied continued coverage under her company’s medical plan. While the company’s employee handbook limited eligibility for benefits to full-time employees working at least 28 hours per week, the plan provided that an employee was deemed actively employed if an absence from work was due to sickness or bodily injury.

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Dell Takes An API-Enabled Approach To Fixing Invoicing Pains

PYMNTS

The COVID-19 pandemic is inspiring many businesses to accelerate their shifts to digital transaction methods as workforces operate remotely from home, and many are finding that doing so is helping them overcome traditional business-to-business (B2B) payment frictions. Companies long-used to sending and receiving paper invoices and checks are finding that digital methods can deliver funds and billing information at a far faster clip.

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Will COVID-19 bring about an end to the executive pay status quo?

ThomsonReuters

In April, I published a post, The Coronavirus pandemic: Executive pay cuts a sign of the times , highlighting companies across multiple industries that were making downward adjustments to the compensation of their executives and board members to help stay afloat in response to the crisis. The burning question is how will companies approach executive pay after the crisis?

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Join the Instant Payment Revolution: Read 7 Must-Know Facts for Small Businesses

Technology evolves at lightning speed, and as finance keeps changing, instant payments emerge as a game-changer for small businesses. By 2030, instant payments are projected to surge by 289% and will become the new norm in financial transactions. Our whitepaper reveals seven must-know facts about instant payments, offering to help you navigate this financial revolution effectively.

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FreshBooks Teams With Barclays To Help UK SMBs With Accounting

PYMNTS

In an effort to assist small business owners in Britian on a greater scale, small business accounting software company FreshBooks has teamed with Barclays to offer joint offerings to customers in the country. The two companies plan to connect Barclaycard Payment offerings with FreshBooks' cloud billing and accounting infrastructure, according to a Wednesday (Nov. 25) announcement.

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How to Apply for PPP Loan Forgiveness: Here’s What We Did

LyfeAccounting

?. Today, we’ll talk about how to apply for PPP Loan Forgiveness. So we’re going to immediately assume that you know what the PPP or the Paycheck Protection Program is and you already have a loan. So now, with the covered period ending for many small businesses, the question is, “How exactly do I go about getting the PPP Loan Forgiveness?”. And that is exactly what I’m going to cover in this post.

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Is ‘Embedded Regulation’ The Key To Stablecoins’ Success?

PYMNTS

The age of digital currencies might be fully upon us, but key questions swirl about how to issue and regulate cryptos – especially stablecoins. To that end, a Bank for International Settlements ( BIS ) study concludes that “embedded regulation” might offer a solution for stablecoins, defined as cryptocurrencies with values tied to fiat currencies or other assets.

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How Custom Reporting Illuminates TBI's Staffing Strategy

IgniteSpot

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How CPA Firms Can Profit From Payroll Services Without the Extra Work

"Offer payroll and do it yourself,” they said. “It’ll be fun!” Spoiler alert: It was not fun. Most CPA firms know that they need to offer payroll services to their clients or risk losing them to another firm that will. However, many don’t really want to. It is often time-consuming and complex due to changing tax laws and regulations, and with the growing staffing shortages, most just don’t have the resources.