Hayes CPA PLLC

10/10/2026

How To Fix Common QuickBooks Online Problems Wilmington Small Business Owners Face

Staring at QuickBooks Online problems like phantom income or wrong categories? Here is how to spot software blind spots and clean up your ledger.

10/09/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀?

Your payroll clearing account can give you a quick indication that something isn’t matching correctly.

In a clean set of books, that account should return to $0 after each payroll run.

If you see a balance sitting there and growing from one payroll to the next, your payroll processor may be pulling funds that aren’t properly matching the liabilities recorded in your general ledger.

𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 $0 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?
𝘈) 𝘠𝘦𝘴
𝘉) 𝘕𝘰
𝘊) 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢

10/08/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀?

We can take the day-to-day bookkeeping off your plate so you’re not spending your nights and weekends buried in admin work.

And when you need to decide whether you can afford to hire someone or take an owner’s draw, you’re not digging through spreadsheets or guessing.

Keeping transactions categorized and accounts reconciled is what we do every day. If you’re ready to get that work off your plate, send us a message.

10/07/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀?

Pull a year-to-date payroll summary and your general ledger report.

Then compare:
• Gross wages: Make sure total gross pay on your payroll summary equals the wage expense accounts in your GL.
• Payroll liabilities: Check that unpaid employee tax withholdings and deductions on your balance sheet match the outstanding balances on your payroll report.
• Employer payroll expenses: Verify that employer-paid taxes (F**A, FUTA, SUTA) and company contributions on your GL match your payroll summary totals.

Also watch for manual checks, voided paychecks, third-party sick pay, or unrecorded fringe benefits. (These are common culprits behind unexpected mismatches.)

If the numbers don’t line up, investigate now. Waiting until year-end leaves you digging through 12 months of historical data right when W-2 deadlines hit.

10/06/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹?

Turns out, some entrepreneurs are building pretty big businesses with very small teams.

𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭?

https://www.inc.com/kaylawebster/ai-layoffs-fast-growing-companies-hiring-talent/91382822

10/05/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮 𝗪-𝟵 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿?

You should collect a signed W-9 while you’re still actively paying the contractor, rather than trying to track them down afterward.

One practical approach you could implement is a no W-9, no check policy once a contractor reaches $500 in payments.

You can also run a year-to-date vendor payment report to see which contractors are getting close to $600 and check whether you already have their W-9s on file.

If you’re finding gaps in your contractor records, don’t wait until year-end to deal with them. DM us 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 and we can help you get everything organized.

10/02/2026

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗿?

Your payroll total can get out of sync with your books when certain transactions aren’t recorded correctly.

A few places to look for the mistake:
• Manual checks
• Voided paychecks
• Third-party sick pay
• Unrecorded fringe benefits

Pull your year-to-date payroll summary and general ledger report and compare them side by side.

If you find a difference, just don’t carry it forward. Make it a habit to check your payroll summary against your general ledger regularly.

𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴: 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦?

10/01/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀?

If cash feels tight in your business, start by collecting money that's already owed to you.

Here are three places you can start:
1. Audit monthly software and vendor subscriptions, and cancel whatever isn't bringing in revenue or saving time.
2. Send follow-ups on overdue invoices past 15 days (uncollected money is an interest-free loan you're giving away).
3. Offer an add-on service to active clients, which takes less effort than landing a new customer.

Cash flow problems are usually a system issue, not a personal failure.

Send us a DM if you want another set of eyes on your expenses and unpaid invoices.

09/30/2026

The Wilmington Small Business Q3 Payroll Checklist for a Painless Year-End Close

Beat the holiday rush with this Q3 payroll checklist. Learn how to fix 2026 OBBBA tracking and ledger errors early for a stress-free year-end.

09/30/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗲𝗻𝗱?

You should start reviewing your payroll records before Q3 closes so that you have time to catch problems while you can still address them.

A few things to check now:
1. Do your payroll reports match your general ledger?
2. Are any manual or voided checks creating discrepancies?
3. Do you have the right information on file for your contractors?
4. Are your payroll wage categories recorded correctly?

You have a three-month buffer to get those records cleaned up before December 31.

And if you want help reviewing the numbers, don’t hesitate to reach out (especially before Q4 gets too far along).