Essential Payroll Services That Every Small Business Needs

Small businesses have trouble enough sometimes keeping up with larger competitors which is why outsourcing certain jobs can save money, time, and improve the overall quality of your company. Payroll services can offer not only a fuss-free way to ensure wage compensation for your employees, but can be used to install and organize a new time clock system or assist you with screening and hiring new applicants. Instead of wasting you and your employee’s time, or by creating another position entirely, this type of service can make your business services much more cost effective.

If you want to keep your employees happy, you’ll want to offer a variety of payday options as well as easy to understand wage, tax, and hour breakdowns. Most employees as well as employers prefer direct deposit as it saves paper and streamlines the accounting process. A few workers; however, may feel more comfortable with the traditional check system. Some companies are introducing debit cards that can be credited with wages for further convenience. If you choose to outsource a payroll company, it is important to ensure that they can understand any pay stubs received and everything is clearly marked and visible including the occasional sick day, overtime, or other benefits offered. Withholding the correct amount of taxes, Medicare, and social security is also essential as too many errors can create problems and distractions within the office.

How are you going to keep track of your employee’s hours? Is your current system working? Payroll services can offer you timesheet solutions that are more manageable and organized than your current methods. Depending on you and your employee’s needs, in-office systems, such as traditional punch-clocks and bad swiping machines can be installed. For more flexibility, some businesses are computerizing their time clocks so those who work at home can sign in via Internet program or even by phone if necessary. Having more accurate time-keeping methods can help you dramatically reduce wasted minutes as well as improve employee attendance. Workers are more likely to show up and leave on time when their employer can easily monitor their work habits. It can also help reduce waste by tracking overtime hours that may escape you until payday.

Payroll services can also offer help with new hires. Keeping track of resumes and ensuring that background and credit checks are performed before hiring can be an entire position in itself. If your business is not big enough to warrant its own HR department, you don’t want to lose too much time sifting through applicants and keeping tabs on them. Many payroll services have software programs or Internet applications that can help you organize and sort applicants. Depending on the type of employee you are hiring, they can perform drug testing, criminal records checks, and gather other pertinent information such as following up on references. You’ll save time, have a lower turnover, and possibly even avoid dangerous lawsuits and legal issues that can result from a hasty hiring process. Outsourced payroll services can also include checking on employees who previously haven’t been screened and keeping updated information on them bi-annually or as required.

The Advantages of Obtaining Small Business Payroll Services

There are several reasons that can be considered while thinking of your payroll service being outsourced. Let’s have a look at them:
There are several small business payroll services available which, if obtained can help drastically in minimizing the work load your company is faced with.
You will also agree with the fact that since you are a small business owner, a lot of work needs to be done from your side. And while coping up with such huge work pressures, it becomes very difficult to manage the payroll status of the company as well. Hence, the help of a small business payroll service will drastically reduce a lot of load and tension from your shoulders.
There are several other works that are required to be done within a short period of time. Hence, you are required to focus most of your energy and concentration on undergoing those activities that provides direct beneficiary deals to your company. Maintaining and looking after the entire payroll procedure is a time consuming activity. It requires intense dedication and concentration in order to perform this activity accurately.
However, this is one such activity which does not provide any sort of beneficiary deals on a direct basis. And hence, there is no urgency of performing them as in-house activities. This is one such activity which can be easily assigned to a third party business organization. Outsourcing this activity to third party vendors can save a lot of your time and effort. However, there may be some heavy amounts that are required to pay off to the third party providers in order to achieve the task. This requires some quality bargain sessions with the third party professionals.
Outsourcing the activity to some small business payroll services have a number of advantages apart from saving your time and effort. These service providers have enough capabilities and experience to handle several issues related to employee as well customer dealings. They can even handle the state and federal regulatory situations with utmost confidence. Hence, it is absolutely a viable and positive step to approach these institutes to handle these matters with efficiency and help in decreasing your work pressure.

Small Business Payroll - What Do CPAs Recommend?

Payroll services for small business has become big business. Payroll service providers have come out of the woodwork and give business owners a slew of providers and software to choose from. As with most things in life and business, not all payroll service providers are created equal. Business owners and controllers need to be cautious and diligent in the decision to outsource their payroll responsibilities.
The IRS states "Outsourcing payroll duties can be a sound business practice, but employers who outsource some or all of their payroll responsibilities should know the employer is ultimately responsible for the deposit and payment of federal tax liabilities." The employer, not the service provider, is the responsible party for all taxes, penalties and interest. The IRS aggressively goes after payroll related taxes, more so than any other type of tax. Diligence in selecting your payroll service provider is extremely important.
A great place to start your due diligence in selecting a payroll provider is with your Certified Public Accountant. Your CPA works with many business entities and probably knows many payroll providers personally. Your CPA can make solid recommendations to you based on experience and personal knowledge. In fact, your CPA may offer payroll as a service. This has become a trend with CPAs because of the great influx of fly by night payroll service providers that have sprung up across the nation. CPAs are spending more and more time correcting payroll errors made by these payroll services and their clients are paying small fortunes in fees, penalties and interest as a result of mistakes made by the payroll providers.
Partnering with the right payroll provider will give you peace of mind by assuring your compliance with the taxing authorities and will save you both time and money. Business Payroll Solutions is an example of the type of payroll partner CPAs recommend. Over ninety percent of their clients are direct referrals of CPAs. Business Payroll Solutions was developed by a team of Certified Public Accountants and this is one key aspect you want to look for in your search for the right payroll partner for your business. Other key indicators of a CPA involved payroll service provider include:

• You are given a personal dedicated payroll specialist who you will communicate with each pay period. Your payroll specialist will get to know you and your business resulting in superior personal service. Your specialist will be able to recognize problems in your payroll file before they happen.
• You are given access to a Certified Public Accountant. The on staff CPAs provide you with an invaluable resource.
• You are not the only party with "skin in the game". The IRS holds the business owner responsible and the IRS also hold CPAs responsible. CPAs are registered with the IRS and are held to a higher standard by the IRS. The only others held accountable by the IRS to this degree are attorneys and enrolled agents.
• Your payroll taxes are not impounded! A CPA knows the value of your money and the importance of cash flow. (Did you know that the national payroll providers make more money from impounding your payroll taxes than from providing payroll services?)
• You will stay off the IRS radar.

Do your research before you make the important decision of hiring a payroll service. Payroll compliance is serious business and getting it wrong can put you out of business. Be diligent, ask your CPA to personally recommend and introduce you to a payroll service provider.

Rhonda Reed, CPA
Rhonda has worked for local, regional and international accounting firms. Her guiding philosophy is that a CPA should do more than simply keep track of numbers and prepare tax returns, so Rhonda routinely educates and empowers her clients with the financial knowledge and understanding that it takes to grow their business into a success. With 17 years of audit and tax experience, Rhonda is truly an educator and advocate of the small business owner.

Finding a Small Business Payroll Service

Here are some reasons you should consider why you should consider outsourcing your payroll service
Using a small business payroll service can minimize the amount of work you have to do as a small business owner. Your time is very valuable and limited. Focus your energy on activities which provide direct value to your organization. Processes such as payroll are extremely time-consuming however they do not add a direct benefit your company when performed as an in-house function. Consider outsourcing the services to a third-party or integrate your payroll through software such as QuickBooks.
Payroll companies can handle employee related issues along with federal and state regulatory issues as well. It is important to make sure you're filings are done correctly to minimize penalties and amendments to previous tax forms.
Outsourcing your payroll will also eliminate the necessity for you to become an expert on topics such as withholding amounts, FICA, unemployment insurance and other labor laws. Rules are constantly changing, and it can be challenging to stay on top of all these new regulations while running your core business as well. If you have employees in multiple states, you should consider outsourcing payroll. In addition to federal regulations, each state has their own peculiarities when it comes to filing requirements.
Outsourcing your payroll can also help prevent financial penalties from late filings, underpayments, and incorrect paperwork submissions. Small business payroll services will usually guarantee their services, and pay for any errors which result from their mistakes. Payroll companies work by employing economies of scale. A third-party can do this much more efficiently and at a lower cost. One of the things you should do, is add up your time spent on routine administrative tasks. If you are spending more than 20% of your time doing routine tasks you should deftly consider outsourcing. Time spent on non-value added processes can usually be better off spending on projects which will provide direct value to your company.
When you're choosing a payroll service you can search online or ask your accountant or banker. Some of the companies which provide online payroll include Intuit, ADP and others. Be sure to choose a service which allows online payroll management. This can save you time by allowing your employees to directly download their pay stubs and statements such as W-2's at the end of the year. You can also tie this valuable information to an online portal for your employees.