Instructor
Elizabeth Bystrom
Instructor
Elizabeth Bystrom CPA - Tax geek who will research tax questions when she thinks no one is looking. Loves to talk payroll tax, writes original content, gives payroll training and offers payroll CPE to help spread the word that payroll isn't the black box eveyone things it is.
My superhero skill is I can explain taxes to people in such a way that they actually understand what I am saying. I can also tell you that you owe taxes without making you cry, but that is just a bonus skill.
I've been licensed in the State of Minnesota as a CPA since 2003 and have been in public practice for over twenty years. I spent the first ten years of my career working for a mid-size regional firm located in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN. I started at the ground level as a bookkeeper while studying for the CPA exam. It was here I first learned how to run payroll. In the years after I passed the exam, I spent time working in various departments within the firm, gathering experience in the accounting, business, and individual tax departments.
In 2010, I jumped ship from all that was familiar in order to try my hand at running my own gig. I opened Elizabeth Bystrom CPA, Ltd., a boutique tax and accounting firm located in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, where I live and raised my two daughters.
Along with providing my clients with services designed to assist with their business and individual taxes, I've found a niche in talking payroll. Over the years, payroll has remained my first love. I see a constant need for payroll training and consulting, both at the individual and business level.
A common misconception is that because payroll is so common, it must be easy to do. But what people don't realize is that it is also easy to mess up. That's where I come in. I've assembled a webinar series designed to pull the basics of payroll together in one place.
Designed to be taken stand-alone, or as a series, Payroll Essentials goes far beyond just giving you a bunch of forms and facts, and develops for the attendee the theory of exactly how payroll really does affect everyone.
After attending this subscription, you will be able to...
The major topics that will be covered in this course include:
Course 1: Payroll Essentials: Getting to Know Payroll Taxes
CPE: 2
Description: This course will provide a general introduction to the inner workings of payroll and payroll taxes. We will introduce you to the various types of payroll statutory and withholding taxes, under what conditions and which employees these various types of taxes apply, how to calculate, withhold and deposit those taxes and the related due date requirements that apply to payroll taxes. This course will include real-life examples of how to process payroll, the withholding and payroll tax deposit regime, familiar payroll forms, and tips and tricks for tying it all together.
Course 2: Payroll Essentials: Ethics in Payroll
CPE: 2
Description: Ethics in payroll is present in every step in the payroll process, from handling employee confidential information and dealing with pay, compensation and fringe benefits, to acting as an intermediary on behalf of federal, state, and local governments in the collection and remittance of payroll taxes. All levels of payroll staff
Course 3: Payroll Essentials: The Payroll Cycle of Life
CPE: 2
Description: This course will provide a general introduction to the payroll cycle of life, including real life examples of how to process payroll, the withholding and payroll tax deposit regime, common payroll forms, and tips and tricks for tying it all together.
Course 4: Payroll Essentials: Demystifying Form W-4
CPE: 2
Description: This course will review the Form W-4 in all its glory, including all the changes that were made to the format and substance of the form, understanding what an employer can and cannot do, and how to actually fill out the Form W-4.
Course 5: Payroll Essentials: Fringe Benefits: Taxable or Not?
CPE: 2
Description: Do you know how to correctly track fringe benefits, as well as apply and report the various withholding tax rules for those fringe benefits? The IRS says fringe benefits must be included in and reported as a part of employee pay, but with any good tax law, there are always exclusions to that rule. Knowing how to handle fringe benefits can be complicated, especially in an area that changes on an annual basis. Attendees will leave with an understanding of what the requirements are around fringe benefits, what constitutes a fringe benefit, and whether it is taxable or not.
Course 6: Payroll Essentials: Payroll Returns Done Right
CPE: 2
Description: This course will provide a general introduction to the workings of the payroll returns an employer is required to file. We will cover the various types of federal and state payroll taxes, what various payroll returns an employer may need to file, how to complete the most common types of payroll returns accurately, and real-life illustrations for reconciling at year end and ensuring your payroll returns are correct.