payroll help!

When shopping for a payroll service company, you should ask if they offer the features listed below.  Paying the highest price does not guarantee the best service in the payroll business.  If you are a small or medium sized business, the large national payroll firms should be your last choice!

Payroll Features with no additional fees!

Not all payroll service companies offer the things your company should expect.

Payroll services don’t just process checks, they perform a whole host of other services. Here are the most common services a payroll service should offer as part of there services:

Tax Computation
Most payroll companies compile employment taxes, such as social security (FICA), unemployment, and state and federal income tax amounts.  Some state and federal tax laws are more complex, depending on the employee’s financial situation.  For example, employees can take an “advance” on the earned income tax credit in some cases, or have amounts withheld for pre-tax savings accounts.  A payroll company can handle almost any situation that could arise with respect to tax computation and payment.

Reporting
Payroll services should be able to compute costs by employee, by project, by client - all based on the number of hours each employee worked or billed for time.  If you pay employees overtime, holiday pay, or sick leave, you know that these costs can add up quickly.  Reporting functions are an easy way to see where most of your employee costs are being distributed so you can plan better for the future and save costs where appropriate. 

Free Direct Deposit
This feature is usually standard in a payroll processing package.  Most employees that have worked for large companies have gotten used to the idea that funds will be available immediately on payday.  The lag time created by cashing checks can be a big inconvenience.  Direct deposit is a great feature that your employees will appreciate.

Free Pay Cards
Some businesses employee individuals that might have challenges with a banking relationship.  Traditionally these employees opt to get a paper check.  Paper checks mean you have to pay a delivery fee to your payroll company and must be available to sign checks.  Pay Cards replace paper checks.  Employees get a Visa/Mastercard debit card that allows them to have money deposited to the card.  They can then take the card to a bank to get their money without having to pay a check cashing fee. 

Free Online Payroll Access - Employees
Employee records can be accessed electronically.  This is also a great feature for any business, eliminating the need to save pay stubs, receipts, or cost reports in paper format.  Employees appreciate easy access to information.  A payroll service should give employees more control over their information and a less wasteful storage mechanism for documents.

Free Online Payroll Access - Employers
Employers should have access to all payroll information at their finger tips.  The ability to go online and simply input payroll information without having to fax, call or email information to your payroll service is a very modern expectation from all small and medium sized business owners that demand flexibility.  Information should be easy to obtain and print.  Some payroll services will let you see the information online, but not allow you to print or save as a spreadsheet. 

Free GL Interface
You should expect your payroll service to provide you with a file that you can upload to your accounting software.  Using a GL interface saves you lots of time having to re-enter your payroll information into your accounting software and guarantees accuracy.  Your accountant will thank you.  He/she might even lower your accounting fees because they will have this information at their finger tips.   

Strong Customer Service
When you call your payroll service, do you wait on hold for 5 minutes trying to get redirected to the right department?  Do you have a dedicated person assigned to your account offering continuity of service, or do you introduce yourself every time you need help?  It is really important that you feel comfortable with the staff of the payroll service that you choose.  If you needed to call a member of senior management, will you know who to call and will you get through?  Big payroll companies have a place on this earth.. they service the needs of big companies.  Find a payroll service that values you as a small or medium sized business owner and depends on your growth as part of their growth.