It’s that time of year again! You guessed it: spring cleaning. Spring cleaning isn’t just for your home, it’s a great time to refresh your digital spaces as well. For payroll professionals, no database could be more important to keep clean than your employee database. As a payroll specialist, your job is to pay and file things correctly and on time. Accomplishing this is made much easier when your data is clean and organized. Each week in April we will be talking about a different area of your database and how to keep it sparkling! Today we’re talking about Correct Social Security Numbers and Bank Account Numbers.
Data Polish #2: Correct Numbers
Social Security Numbers: Sensitive information should always be verified with the source. You can file away a copy of an employee’s Social Security Card in a safe and secure location for your records. A passport can also be used to establish identity and employment authorization. Just be sure the Form I-9 submitted matches the document you have on file.
To further verify that the identification document and Form I-9 submitted are not fraudulent, you can verify a Social Security Number online with the Social Security Administration only. They have two different online verification methods. You can get immediate results for 10 employees through your business’s Business Services Online account with the SSA or upload an overnight file with up to 250,000 names and social security numbers to this same account to be verified by the next government business day.
If you are unsure if your business has an account with the Social Security Administration, you can register HERE.
For more information on the Social Security Administration’s Social Security Number Verification Service click HERE.
Bank Account Numbers: This means all bank account numbers, not just employer bank account numbers! If you have employees on direct deposit, verify that the accounts are up to date and attached to the correct employee in the system.
A Helpful Trick
Here’s a trick to make sure the numbers match! When you input SSN or bank account #s, take whatever source document you had and enter the number on a calculator. Then minus what you have in the system. If the answer isn’t zero, then the numbers don’t match. If the answer is zero, then the numbers are the same.
For example, if a worker’s bank account number is 1234567 and the number you have on file that you’re double checking is 1234576, open your calculator and put in 1234567 MINUS 1234576. It equals -9, indicating that the numbers do not match and you need to check each individual digit again. Better to do it now than after a payment goes through, or worse after a payment goes through to the wrong account!
At The End Of The Day
Getting bank account numbers and social security numbers correct is essential. Keeping this kind of data clean is important for any payroll specialist but it is especially important for those dealing with construction payroll. Many additional regulations are placed on contractors and construction companies that make processing payroll complex, inefficient, and burdensome. ConstructionPayroll.com is designed to address the unique needs of construction business owners, with multi-state, multi-rate, and multi-trade wage calculation capabilities, flexible employee pay options, and the ability to capture job costs, labor assignments, and worker compensation classifications with precision and accuracy.
Book a meeting today and see for yourself how fast and easy construction payroll can be with ConstructionPayroll.com!