Payroll Administration Services for Small Businesses
Traditionally, acquiring payroll administration services for small businesses was hard. A lot of payroll companies used to choose to work only with clients which can give them high profits and it is hard to find a company who will work for smaller businesses for smaller fees. Nowadays though, pricing is more competitive. Payroll companies want and need the business of smaller companies. When choosing a company which would administer your payroll administration needs, here are the key things you need to consider.
Your payroll service provider should provide options about how you can pay your employees. The most common pay option is direct deposit. While it is true that over 90% of employees in the United States are using direct deposit as an employee pay option, you should always check for other options. Some states prohibit the employees barring the participation of employees in direct deposit systems. Some may have stipulations about payment options. A good payroll outsourcing company should have astute knowledge about payroll related state laws anyway and you should be presented with an option that would be in compliance with regulations.
Direct deposit remains the best choice in pay options because of its potential for cost reduction as well as the security and convenience. However, if you choose paper checks over direct deposit, you should ask whether the company provides such first. Most will. Find out whether they have a system in reconciling payroll checks and find about your options as well. Some would debit your account the entire amount and draw checks through a system utilized specifically by the payroll service provider where they get the checks pre-signed and ready for distribution. Some has the option where individual checks are drawn against your funds, and are pre-signed, pre-inserted and sealed, ready for distribution, by mail or on-site.
Payroll companies generally take care of calculations which involve taking into consideration withholding tax deductions. You should ask them about the features of their remittance service and whether they will take care of the entire tax filing and compliance aspect. You also need to know about whether they will pay for penalties resulting to tax compliance problems or whether you would have to take care of it. Some companies will even assist you in maintaining business licenses.
Most payroll service providers also provide excellent reporting service. They will either file weekly, bi-monthly, monthly or quarterly reports. Some payroll outsourcing companies even provide real-time data over the internet.
Other payroll options you may want to have is employee accessibility, that way, they can track historical data and you gain transparency. Some even provide a general ledger software which can be integrate with popular existing bookkeeping programs. That way, your data entry is more streamlined. A majority of payroll administration service providers also furnish government forms and you also get to access payroll-related documents and resources.
All these features and aspects of payroll administration services for small businesses should help you gain more efficiency for your operations and cut on costs. However, it will come to naught if the payroll service provider is unresponsive and if turnaround time for taking care of and resolving issues is too long.
