By October, SSA may have to stop accepting business if there are year 2000 issues attached. Many companies don't take that into account. Grayford Holton, a director at Gas Software, warns that small companies are particularly susceptible. A forum is scheduled for late next month. The bug could affect the payment of salaries and wages, Holton says.
Many small companies use spreadsheets and homegrown accounting packages to work out their wages.
Data may be entered inadvertently in two-digit fields. Leave pay accumulation and tax calculations could be affected. Many companies use spreadsheets for invoicing. Larger organisations may demand to know whether small suppliers are compliant - and stop doing business with them if they are not. But small companies haven't budgeted for this, and some are not even aware of the problem, Holton says.