It has been ten years since the Affordable Care Act employer reporting requirements became effective, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) C Forms and Affordable Care Act (ACA) B Forms options were added to the School Accounting System. Although the Affordable Care Act mandate requiring individuals to have health insurance or face a federal tax penalty ended several years ago, the employer reporting requirements for the Affordable Care Act remain in effect.
As part of the Affordable Care Act employer reporting requirements, small employers who are self-insured need to issue and submit the 1095-B and 1094-B forms, while large employers who are either fully-insured or self-insured need to issue and submit the 1095-C and 1094-C forms. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) C Forms and Affordable Care Act (ACA) B Forms options in the School Accounting System are used to generate, validate, print, and submit the applicable 1095 and 1094 forms at the end of calendar year. The process for generating and submitting the 1095 and 1094 forms is detailed in Step 5 on the Payroll End of Calendar Year Checklist.
As a reminder, at the end of December 2024, a law went into effect allowing employers an alternative option for furnishing employees their copies of the 1095 forms. Employers are now able to provide a “clear, conspicuous, and accessible” notice to employees stating a copy of their 1095 form is available upon request. Then if an employee requests a copy, the form must be provided. Keep in mind, the 1095 forms for all the applicable employees must still be submitted to the IRS, along with the 1094 form.
To review the detailed instructions on generating and submitting the 1095 and 1094 forms, click here to request the Payroll End of Calendar Year Checklist for ACA 1095-C and 1094-C Forms Webinar recording, or click here to request the Payroll End of Calendar Year Checklist for ACA 1095-B and 1094-B Forms Webinar recording.
On the topic of the Affordable Care Act employer reporting of 1095 and 1094 forms: Which forms do you issue and submit for the Affordable Care Act? Do you use (or plan to use) the options within the School Accounting System to generate and submit the 1095 and 1094 forms?
Click the Survey Question link to participate in the survey.
Please be sure to submit your response. We look forward to your participation in all our surveys.
The Newsletter Survey questions for the September 2025 issue related to report shortcuts. The survey questions and responses are shown below.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey!
With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) becoming law, employees with qualified overtime compensation (for overtime paid after 40 hours in a week) may deduct the amount of pay exceeding their regular rate of pay (deduct the “half” of the “time-and-a-half” rate) starting in tax year 2025. Although the W2 did not change for 2025, the IRS encourages employers to provide the amounts (or approximate amounts) designated as qualified overtime compensation to employees for 2025. Then starting with tax year 2026, the amount of qualified overtime compensation will be reported in Box 12TT on the W2, as based on the draft form for the 2026 W2.
To provide the approximate amounts of qualified overtime compensation to employees for 2025, generate the Estimated Qualified Overtime Compensation Report, accessed under the Reports menu in Payroll and then Other Reports. The report can be utilized if overtime is defined as a separate pay code within Payroll for the full rate of time and a half, and overtime is calculated after 40 hours per week. When printing the report, select the New Page After field for the second sort listed in the Report Sorting section (for [vprEmployees].[NameLastFirstLegalBusinessID]) to have the information for each employee print on a separate page, or email the report to employees by selecting the Email Recipients Individual Pages option to send the employees only their information on the report. For more information on using the Estimated Qualified Overtime Compensation Report and to see a sample of the report, click here to refer to the appropriate Training Tidbit.
For 2026, be sure the overtime pay codes are set up correctly. To ensure the qualified overtime compensation will be able to post properly on the 2026 W2s, overtime must be set up as a separate pay code (separate from regular rate pay codes), and a separate overtime pay code must be defined for each of the following: for overtime paid using the full overtime rate of time and a half, for overtime paid as just the “half” amount of the time and a half rate, and for overtime paid as double time (if applicable). To help distinguish overtime pay codes from regular rate pay codes, select the Overtime field in the Pay Codes option for all the overtime pay codes. Additionally, if needed, use the Prorate Overtime field with the Time Cards option to eliminate having to manually calculate a blended overtime rate, as the Prorate Overtime option calculates the overtime proportionately to the hours worked at the various pay codes for employees who are paid with multiple pay codes. For example, if an employee worked 30 hours as a cook, 10 hours as a library assistant, and also had 10 hours of overtime, the Prorate Overtime option calculates 7.5 hours of overtime using the overtime pay code for cook and 2.5 hours using the overtime pay code for library assistant. For more information on setting up overtime pay codes correctly for 2026, click here to view the appropriate Training Tidbit; and for more information on prorating overtime with entering or importing time cards, click here to view the Prorate Overtime Tutorial.
As you complete the end of calendar year tasks to prepare and submit 1099s, W2s, and 1095s, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
To review all the steps on the end of calendar year checklists, click here to request the end of calendar year webinar recordings.
With the recently posted update to the School Accounting System, emails are now automatically sent to employees, vendors, and payees if there are direct deposit or email address changes if the Email Manager option is completed (the Enable Email Manager field is selected on the General Options tab). Additionally, emails to employees for user password changes are also sent. The new automatic notification emails were added as a way to help prevent fraudulent activities from occurring at your organization.
Employees, vendors, and payees will be notified by email if the direct deposit bank ID and/or account number are changed for their direct deposit, a new direct deposit item is added, or the routing number is changed for an assigned direct deposit bank; emails are not sent if direct deposit is removed for an employee, vendor, or payee, or a direct deposit split is inactivated for an employee. Employees, vendors, and payees will also be notified by email if an email address is changed or deleted; emails are not sent if a new email address is added or the usage fields are changed for an existing email address. Employees will also be notified by email if their user password is changed. For organizations with the Web Link module licensed, emails are also sent to employees for pending personal information changes to direct deposit or email addresses, if editing of contact information and direct deposit are allowed (as defined within the Web Link Setup Options) and the changes require review.
The notification emails are sent to all the email addresses previously saved for the employee, vendor, or payee. (Tip: It is recommended to enter multiple email addresses for an employee, vendor, or payee, to help ensure communication in case one of their email accounts is also hacked.) The verbiage included as the subject line and message for the notification emails is pre-defined in the software, and uses the organization name and phone number from the System File. See below for an example of the notification email sent to an employee for a direct deposit change.
A Year in Review: Customer Support Highlights
As we reflect on the past year, we are proud to look back on another strong chapter for the Customer Support team. Supporting school districts is at the heart of what we do, and this year reaffirmed our commitment to delivering timely, knowledgeable, and genuinely helpful service.
Over the course of the year, our team handled more than 33,000 support inquiries across all channels. We know that no matter how you reach out, you are often in the middle of a busy day — and getting real help quickly matters.
The ways customers contact support continues to evolve:
The continued growth of Request Support shows how valuable this tool has become — giving customers a convenient, efficient way to get help with a few clicks from within the software. While calling is not the most popular way to contact customer support, when customers do choose to call, over half of all incoming calls were answered by a live support representative, helping ensure questions are addressed quickly.
We are incredibly grateful to everyone who took a moment to share feedback after a support interaction. Your responses help us continue improving — and your kind words mean more to our team than you might realize.
Here are just a few highlights from feedback we received this year:
“Your customer service is the best by far! Thank you!”
“Customer Service was amazing!! I thought my payroll issue was going to take a long time to resolve and be super complex, but it was solved within a couple simple steps.”
“I am less than a year using Software Unlimited. When I make a mistake that needs fixed, customer support is always extremely helpful. They have been so patient with me even when it is probably the most ridiculous mistake ever. They have always made me feel like I am not alone in my errors and have been very informative. If I am having trouble understanding something, they are very patient and will work with me until I do.”
As we head into the new year, our focus remains the same: providing dependable, knowledgeable, and approachable support you can count on. We will continue refining our tools, processes, and training so we can meet your needs — whether you reach out online or pick up the phone.
Thank you for trusting Software Unlimited, Inc. We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a successful year ahead.
Our team is making rapid progress on the next generation of the School Accounting System, and now is the time to get in on the ground floor. Upgraded features in the Web Link module interface are ready, and we invite you to experience the fresh, modern look and updated functionality at no additional cost.
New enhancements will be rolling out in Web Link over the coming months—enable the ‘New Experience’ now to ensure your organization benefits from every update the moment it’s released!
Don’t miss out—contact sales@su-inc.com to enable the ‘New Experience’ in Web Link today! Click the image below to watch a brief overview of the updated features.
Each quarter the Training Snippets tutorial covers topics for new options or changes included in recent updates, along with a quick tip for an option or shortcut.
A few of the topics included in the Training Snippets tutorial for December 2025 are: new Payroll report called Estimated Qualified Overtime Compensation; Payment Method added to vendor information displayed when entering requisitions, purchase orders, receiving, and invoices; several changes to the Email Manager option; Web Link updated to allow beta testing for Cash Receipts and Purchase Orders; Document Inquiry changes; prompt to update vendor direct deposit information if an employee flagged as a vendor changes their direct deposit with a type of balance; new Payroll informational message for missing total payments for unit pay code for use with Negotiations; and lastly a reminder of inactivating employees once they have received their final paycheck.
Click here (or on the image) to watch the 9-minute tutorial. To review all the changes and enhancements included in recent updates, click here to view the release notes.
It is time for another Software Unlimited, Inc. Trivia Challenge. In each newsletter, we will test your knowledge by asking a question on various topics ranging from options in the School Accounting System to information about the company of Software Unlimited, Inc. If you are up to the challenge, try to answer the question and you may be eligible to win a USB flash drive.
Q. What field can be used with entering or importing time cards to calculate overtime proportionately to the hours worked at various pay codes for employees who are paid with multiple pay codes? Click to answer
A winner will be selected at random from the list of correct respondents. Don’t forget to read the Trivia Challenge article in the next newsletter to see the winner and correct answer. Good luck!
In last quarter’s newsletter, the Trivia Challenge asked, How do you add an option to the lists of Common Tasks which appear on the main screens? The answer is by selecting the Pin To menu on the screen (option) for which to add to a common tasks list and then selecting the desired list. Congratulations to Stefany Lovercamp from Concordia R-II School District for being selected at random from the list of correct respondents and winning a USB flash drive.
Software Unlimited, Inc. will be closed on:
December 24 (12 to 5 p.m. CT), December 25 (all day), and December 26 (all day) for Christmas
January 1 (all day) for New Year’s Day
I started with Software Unlimited, Inc. (SUI) in January 2024 as a New School Coordinator, and I have also had the privilege of assisting the Support Team during busy times. Before joining SUI, I worked for a southeast Kansas school district as a Payroll Specialist for five years.
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my five nephews and serving as chairman of a local committee that is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year. Our committee hosts a downtown street festival featuring over 100 craft and food vendors. I also love spending time on the lake and camping with my family.
Each quarter we are excited to feature one of our customers who was selected randomly to be highlighted in our Customer Showcase. The customer being showcased this quarter is Jenna Kirchmeier who is the Business Manager at Wilton Public School District in North Dakota. We had these questions for her:
How long have you been using the School Accounting System?
• I have been at Wilton for 12 years.
What module do you spend most of your time working in?
• I spend most of my time working in Payroll. We pay our employees twice per month.
What is your favorite feature in the School Accounting System?
• I really like the Optional Check Entry feature within the Check Reconciliation option to key in the check numbers to select checks as cleared. Also, several years ago, the Cash Receipts option changed and at first, I really didn’t like it; but after spending time using it, I realized the changes were actually time saving.
What are three words you would use to describe the School Accounting System?
• Great support, user-friendly, and fixable.
What is your favorite part of working at your organization?
• The people I work with and hugs from the kids. It is a smaller district, so I get to see the kids and they brighten my day. My office staff is like family to me.
What are your hobbies?
• I like to scrapbook, do garden (dirt) therapy with flowers, and make my yard look cute with junk. I love spending time outdoors, like fishing. I do DIY projects around the house in the winter when it’s cold.
If you could meet or interview one person (dead or alive), who would it be, and why?
• My dad. He passed away 7 years ago. I have a sign in my house that says “I wish heaven had visiting hours.”
What is one piece of advice you would give someone who is new to using the School Accounting System?
• Software Unlimited Support and other business managers are your best friends. Don’t feel too proud to ask for assistance. No one should ever feel like they can’t reach out for help.
