When it comes to payroll, there is no room for mistakes. It is your responsibility to ensure your employees are being paid accurately and on time, every time.
Payroll is a large undertaking for a small business owner, and you need to make a decision about how you are going to handle it. You can choose to handle payroll yourself, which does require a lot of work, or you can have an experienced third-party handle your payroll for you. Either way, there are five things you need to know when it comes to small business payroll.
Are you ready to hear what they are? Let’s get started!
#1 — Determine Your Payroll Strategy
As I just mentioned, you need a game plan. When it comes to strategy in payroll for small businesses, you have three choices:
- You can do the payroll yourself
- You can hire someone to do it in-house, like a payroll manager
- You can outsource the task to an accountant or online payroll software
Payroll is a tedious and time-consuming task that involves a lot of critical paperwork. You need to ask yourself, “how valuable is my time?” If you are running a small business, you need to focus your time on growing your business, so we do recommend #3.
A payroll specialist has knowledge of the industry as well as tax and employment laws and will make sure you stay in compliance.
#2 — Compliance Is Key
Taxes are a major factor when it comes to small business payroll, and as with any business, you need to comply with local, state, and federal tax laws. Staying in the know with tax laws that are constantly changing can be tricky, and this is where having a payroll specialist can be a valuable resource.
You’ll need a database in order to keep your essential paperwork organized. It is mandatory that W9s, 1099s, and other essential paperwork are kept on file. If you have a payroll audit or fall into tax trouble, you don’t want to be without this information.
Modern solutions can help you stay organized by going paperless. It’s easier than it may sound!
#3 — Automation Is Your Friend
You’ll never miss a payday with automatic, recurring payroll through a cloud-based platform like Gusto.
Gusto is our preferred software as it integrates with QuickBooks and simplifies the new employee onboarding process. Gusto enables new hires to enroll themselves in your company’s payroll and eliminates paper timesheets, paper payslips, and manual paychecks.
Going paperless also reduces the chances that an employee’s paycheck or tax papers get lost in the mail.
There are also other virtual platforms available at a low cost that can help with expense reports and travel expenses. These can save a lot of time and headaches. In our previous blog, we discussed Expensify vs Concur, and how easy it is to use Expensify to organize expenses.
To learn more about Gusto, Expensify, and other accounting software, ask an industry expert — like us!
#4 — Reduced Errors Is Good For Business
Outsourcing payroll reduces errors. With miscalculations avoided, you can be sure that everyone at your company will remain happy on payday, and your company doesn’t get a reputation for being unable to make payments.
#5 – You’ll Save Money With Professional Help
Sure, it may sound like you’ll save money if you handle payroll yourself, but you often don’t. Think about it — your time IS money.
Do you have the time to learn all the ins and outs of payroll and then manage it ongoing? Probably not.
By hiring a payroll specialist, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and be able to devote that time to things such as growing your business.
Contact Redmond Accounting With All Your Small Business Payroll Questions!
Schedule a consultation, and one of our experts will be happy to assist you. It is our mission to help you reduce payroll errors and grow your business.
Over the years, Redmond Accounting has supported small businesses as they modernize their accounting systems and processes. Be sure to check out what services we offer to find out how we can help.
