Doesn’t It Really Pay to Find the Right Payroll Provider?
What is your greatest fear running a small business in today’s world?
For some business owners, it can be not meeting customer needs. Others, meantime, may fear that they do not have enough funds in place should a rainy day arrive. Still others worry about being squeezed out by the bigger chains.
You may be surprised to hear, but there really are those running companies who worry about keeping their employees happy, specifically making sure that they get paid on time.
As too many small business owners have discovered over time, not meeting the payroll needs of employees can quickly lead to an unhappy office. In the event the compensation amounts are incorrect, including tax reporting to the IRS, the business owner will join that list of unhappy campers.
One of the ways to lessen the chances of having your in-house payroll wrongly calculated is by outsourcing it in the first place.
There are countless payroll companies on the market, it comes down to finding the right one to handle your needs.
So, how can you go online and find the right one for your small business, including those providers that handle online payroll needs for companies?
Among the steps to take are:
* Online research – Much can be learned about a company (including payroll providers) in today’s electronic information age. Review each provider’s website to see what they offer, then Google their name. If you come up with a number of customer complaints against the company for how they handle payroll matters, give yourself pause before possibly doing business with them. You can also check online forums to see if the company’s name is coming up and sending out red flags. Lastly, go online and check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if a provider you are considering has a troubled past;
* Online payroll – Do they offer the ability to run payroll online or via your mobile phone (iPhone, Android for instance)? More and more providers are seeing the sense it makes to do such things, so it can be a benefit to you and your employees, allowing them to be paid anytime. Another benefit is you can get electronic tax notification reminders, along with payroll notifications, including E-pay taxes and e-file forms nationwide. If you want to go the online payroll route, look for providers that have the ability to input payroll hours and money, adjust rates, post voids and manual payroll checks and more;
* Social media – How active is the payroll provider on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter? While it is not a prerequisite for them to be overly involved in social media, it certainly can’t hurt. If they offer relevant and updated comments on social media, that is a good sign. If they offer links to payroll blogging information (either written by them or others in the industry) and/or payroll videos, that is good too. According to a 2012 SocialMediaExaminer survey of more than 3,500 marketers, nearly three-fourths of those responding indicated they saw more traffic taking place with only six hours per week put towards social media marketing. As more companies get a handle on social media, it behooves them to use it wisely;
* Experience counts – Last but not least, how much payroll experience does the provider you are considering have? As already noted, tax penalties can be substantial for a small business if their payroll is incorrectly reported. Of equal importance, find out what kind of software the provider uses, along with how secure their system is. Given the fact you will be using online transmission in all likelihood of employee salaries, Social Security numbers, and home addresses, you need to make sure such information is properly encrypted.
When all is said and done, finding the right payroll company for your small business doesn’t have to be difficult.
In fact, taking the time to find the right one the first time around will pay off in a number of ways.
Photo credit: payroll.intuit.com
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