Automatic Payroll Systems, Inc. (APS), a provider of best-in-class workforce management technology, announced the release of its FFCRA and CARES Act offerings. These system enhancements simplify and automate FFCRA and CARES Act compliance processes to reduce the burden placed on businesses hrtech news.
The passing of the FFCRA and CARES Act challenged organizations to decipher complex and unprecedented pieces of legislation, all while coping with operational difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic. APS began working to gain a better understanding of the regulations and how this would impact customers. Developed in-house on APS’ proprietary all-in-one platform, these new FFCRA and CARES Act offerings streamline compliance for businesses.
FFCRA Credit Tracking and Management
For qualified sick payments under the FFCRA, APS has developed and released FFCRA Credit Tracking and Management. This new solution includes the following features to help manage FFCRA compliance:
- Four new income type options to make it clearer and easier for clients to manage employee paid sick leave. These income types support the payment of wages under the FFCRA that are exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes.
- Automated capping of the credit amount based on the maximum aggregate as defined by the FFCRA on a per employee, per qualified sick payment basis. This eliminates the need for clients to manually track credit amounts claimed per employee.
- Adjusted tax payment and processing system to reduce tax drafts to customer accounts by the qualified payment amounts.
- FFCRA employee certification forms for emergency leave requests which adhere to IRS guidelines on what information is required to be collected for employers to claim a tax credit for reimbursement of paid leave they provide their employees.
CARES Act
PPP Loan Export
To help businesses with PPP loan applications, APS has developed and released the Paycheck Protection Program Export. The data provided in this report is intended to assist clients in the calculation of the PPP loan amount and includes information like employee name, employee number, gross pay, and deductions.
CARES Act Credit Tracking
APS has developed CARES Act Credit Tracking that will automatically monitor deferrals of employer Social Security payments and the Employer Retention credit. This will ensure businesses cannot inadvertently claim both the CARES Act credit for compliance.
COVID-19 Dashboard Tile
APS has also created a COVID-19 static dashboard tile to display important COVID-19 tools and resources in a central location for easier management of FFCRA and CARES Act compliance, including:
- Links to COVID-19 Help Center information
- Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) export link
- Additional resources as they become available
Making FFCRA and CARES Act Compliance Easier
These recent system developments were released prior to the FFCRA April 1, 2020 compliance deadline as part of APS’ effort to ease the burden of FFCRA and CARES Act requirements so organizations can focus more on their businesses and employees. The FFCRA and CARES Act offerings eliminate manual tracking and calculations, reducing the potential for errors and eliminating time-consuming processes.
Businesses have already been enjoying the benefits of APS’ prompt development of COVID-19 support offerings, including Eileen Austin of Bird Dog Media, LLC. “APS has been a great help in getting us set up for the FFCRA,” said Austin. “They have worked very hard to make this process easier for us.”
COVID-19 Product Roadmap
APS is working to adapt to clients’ needs surrounding FFCRA and CARES Act compliance. Future developments include:
- FFCRA Sick Pay Dashboard: This dashboard will display important FFCRA information to help further streamline compliance.
- PPP Forgiveness Report: This report will provide detailed information that may be used to validate eligibility for PPP loan forgiveness.
This roadmap is a reflection of APS’ mission to make payroll and HR easier for its clients. APS President, Aaron Johnson, specifically recognized the need to eliminate confusion around the FFCRA and CARES Act and make these adjustments as painless for customers as possible.
“Our overall objective when we looked at the implications of the FFCRA and CARES Act was to break them down separately and simplify them for the easiest way to manage individual customer needs through our platform,” said Aaron Johnson, President and CEO at APS.