Home
Professional payroll assistance can be a rescue boat for small businesses trying to navigate the legal seas of payroll. Certified payroll specialists, certified public accountants and bookkeepers can help you with the most complex parts of the process. As a business owner, you’re responsible for making sure your payroll is accurate, but that doesn’t mean you need to manage all aspects of the process yourself. In fact, 45% of small businesses use a payroll service, according to a 2021 report by the National Small Business Association. To establish a good system, determine which parts of the payroll process you want to manage in-house and which parts you want to outsource. Then, stay on top of your payroll by regularly updating records and tracking employee hours so that when it comes time to run payroll it can be a smooth, accurate process.
Explore the features
You can use whatever method works best for this, as long as it shows a complete record. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. Save time and make bookkeeping easy by syncing your data automatically with QuickBooks Online. Get help with the hard stuff like filing taxes, staying up to date on compliance, and managing HR.
How To Manage Payroll
Small business owners can pay and manage their teams with integrated payroll, and access HR, health benefits, and more. Our payroll software also includes same-day direct deposit and automatic tax filing, which is backed by tax penalty protection. A payroll management system is software technology designed to make running payroll easier for businesses. It automates many of the most labor-intensive processes, such as calculations, deductions and payments, and in some cases, includes tax reporting services and compliance support.
What payroll reports do employers need to file?
Comparing the current payroll to the prior period can also help you spot anything out of the ordinary. Reconciling is a good practice to do every pay period, before provision accounting filing quarterly taxes and before sending out W-2s to employees. Many payroll products offer integrations with time-tracking apps or include time-tracking features, sometimes at an additional cost. Start by ensuring employees know how to update their information, whether via an employee portal or paper form. If your software features an employee portal, you’ll likely be notified of the change automatically.
The IRS says to store payroll records for at least four years from the date when the taxes are due or from the date that you made the payment―whichever is later. This means that you need to keep time cards, spreadsheets and copies of checks and deposits for this period of time should an audit or a discrepancy arise. Choosing a payroll system is critical for bad debt expense setting up payroll, because it’s the method that will guide your process each pay period.
Costs range from $40 per month and up plus additional fees per employee. Many companies will require you to contact them for a quote, as they will tailor their services for your unique needs. If you manage benefits such additional accounting student resources as health insurance or retirement plans through a payroll service, it might also be able to make payments to those providers for your business. Or, if you’re managing benefits in-house, you’ll have to make benefit payments on behalf of your employees. Regardless of who makes the payments, timeliness is important to avoid issues with employee coverage.
- Reconciling is a good practice to do every pay period, before filing quarterly taxes and before sending out W-2s to employees.
- It is important to know that ignorance or honest mistakes are not justification for errors in taxes or withholding.
- Many companies will require you to contact them for a quote, as they will tailor their services for your unique needs.
With QuickBooks Payroll Premium, you’ll transfer your own data but we’ll review to make sure everything is correct. Jeff is a writer, founder, and small business expert that focuses on educating founders on the ins and outs of running their business. Square Staff tools work together seamlessly so your team can, too. Choose medical, dental, and vision plans with no-hassle enrollment for you and your team.