Business filings, licences and permits

The Business tab holds what the company itself files and renews: tax filings, the annual report, a business licence, a sales tax permit, the fleet policy. A library of federal and state filings, with reminders to check your own city and county, is matched to your state and your answers, and each one you switch on becomes a reminder with its due date.

Set it up

1. Make sure the company address is filled in under Settings, System, Company. Its state decides the state filings.
2. Open Compliance and pick the Business tab. Scroll to The compliance library.
3. Choose Who does the filings. They get the reminders.
4. Under About the company, answer what you know: what kind of company, when and where it was formed, whether you have W-2 employees, whether your payroll provider files the payroll taxes, how often you file sales tax and withholding, and so on. Under What your crews do, tick what applies (tents, staking, heaters and generators, forklifts, heavy trucks) and list any other states your crews work in.
5. Press Save answers. The checklist below follows your answers.
6. Go through the groups (Federal, State, Local, Fleet, Per person, Per job) and switch on each filing that is yours.

Day to day

• Filings coming due lists each switched-on filing with its owner, its date and a link to the official page.
• Licences, permits and company renewals is your own list. Type a date on a row, or press Mark done to move it on. Press Edit the list to add one, change it or say it does not apply.
• Your own repeating tasks (a monthly cash check, a payroll approval) are on Tasks, Ownership. See Tasks.

Good to know

• A question left unanswered switches nothing on, so a new system starts empty.
• An item marked Check this date has not been confirmed on an official page. It is never switched on for you; check it, then switch it on.
• An item marked When it happens (a new hire form, for example) is shown but not scheduled.
• Open How, and the source on any item for how it is done, the penalty if late, and the official page with the day it was last checked.
• Where your payroll provider files for you, payroll items become "confirm your provider filed" tasks.
• This list is a starting point, not everything. It is drawn from public sources, checked on the date shown. It is not legal, tax or safety advice and it is not complete: laws change and your city, county, state, industry and customers can add more. You are responsible for knowing and meeting every requirement that applies to your business. Check with the agency, your accountant or your attorney. Nothing here files anything or works out an amount.
• Per job items (a tent permit, an 811 ticket before staking, the flame resistance certificate on site) belong to one order, not the company calendar. They are listed for your state and the states your crews work in, and are never scheduled.
• Local holds reminders only (business license, fire inspection, zoning, signs, propane permit, local taxes), on for every company unless you untick the local reminders. Each one says to check with your city or county. No city's or county's own rules are listed: they differ too much from town to town. Add the ones that apply to you under Tasks, Ownership.

If something goes wrong

• The state says "No state yet". Add the company address under Settings, System, Company.
• "Nothing here applies to your answers." Check your answers under About the company, or open "more that do not apply" to see the rest.
• The library is missing. The Compliance library module is switched off under Settings, System, Modules. Switch it on to bring it back.