Category: Payroll Services

How To Create a Payroll Policy?

A payroll policy explains the process of payment — salary administration, timesheet keeping, wage methods and payment schedules — making employees conscious of what to anticipate on payday.How To Create a Payroll Policy?

Your payroll management system, which details your obligations as an employer, should be such that it avoids costly noncompliance by detailing the payment of the right taxes for each employee and processing claims for expense reimbursements. Your payroll policy must also keep up with local, state and federal employment tax and wage laws. Your payroll system defines the responsibilities and accountabilities of all payroll staff and managers, including access and security levels.

Operations should be certified in detail, covering everything from employee hiring to separation. Procedures should cover payment processing —managing new contracts, time reporting, work changes, outstanding payments, data updates and deductions. Does your company use a payment processing service? You must still be on top of legislative requirements that determine the employment status of workers and need to be complied with.

Your payroll policy ensures that salary processing is executed accurately, consistently and transparently. With standard procedures, compliance and oversight, devise a policy that keeps an eye on government guidelines while adhering to your company’s rules and regulations.

Know the key aspects

Keep the following in mind as you create a payroll policy:

  • Document your payroll policy with approvals and signoffs built in — writing payroll procedures shortens the learning curve when you hire someone or a company to take over payroll responsibilities.
  • Describe how employees document and submit timecards using any timekeeping system that works for your firm.
  • Document how often payroll checks are cut or how to submit payroll information or records to a payroll service so it can print the checks. How are employee wages calculated? How are payment adjustments made? What procedures are needed to deduct a workday wage if an error was made? Write down all the steps involved.
  • Communicate the payroll policy to employees and all internal stakeholders.
  • Maintain the records, such as W-2s, timecards and tax statements, for at least three years. Describe where the records are stored, filed and saved — electronically or on hard copy.
  • Define access and safety levels, differentiating various employee groups.

Once the first draft is written, ask an employee to follow the instructions to see whether the payroll is processed correctly.

Ask for feedback on instructions that had problems or didn’t seem to make sense.

Write the final steps, refining and adjusting procedures into a final format.

Sweat the details

A payroll policy should specify and manage the responsibilities and accountabilities of staff. Since payroll covers sensitive and confidential information, the policy should be certified in detail in your handbook of policies — employee hiring to separation, how you manage new employee contracts, work changes, outstanding payments, data updates and deductions.

You must comply with a wide range of state and federal rules, such as determining the status of workers as part of the process. That’s why clarity in your payroll policy, aside from creating an efficient department, builds a cohesive team and reduces the chances for misunderstandings or conflicts by being transparent.

Ensure all your employees have access to your payroll policy, update it to remain in line with any changes and keep open lines of communication — especially how to process payroll manually in case of emergencies.

The Problems with Incomplete and Disorganized Records

An unorganized and inefficient payroll process is a recipe for eventual disaster. If you rely on paper processes, both manual data entries and a massive number of spreadsheets can yield more errors than most people realize.

Plus, those mistakes may not only take weeks or months to uncover, but they take a long while to fix as well. The importance of maintaining complete and organized records is paramount.

Penalties you can face for filing incorrectly or belatedly

Folders filled with W2 forms have limited value if they are unorganized and haphazardly put together. Maintaining comprehensive records can safeguard your business in the event of an IRS audit. Failing to submit W2s on time can result in penalties imposed by the IRS, amounting to $50 per W2 if the correct form is filed within 30 days of the due date.

In fact, the maximum penalty can reach up to $536,000 per year, or $187,500 for small businesses. However, if the filing is done between 30 days after the due date and Aug. 1 of that same year, then the fine is exacerbated to $100 per form, with a maximum penalty of $536,000 for small businesses.

The issues with manual payroll systems

Relying on manual payroll systems increases your dependence on a single individual to handle all payroll tasks. But what happens when the payroll manager is out of the office for the day or no longer works for the company?

Without an organized payroll system, the next person who takes on the role will likely be bewildered by the chaos that ensues. This situation sets up everyone for failure. Plus, this can potentially lead to significant issues, particularly when facing an audit or dealing with a process review.

Without a comprehensive and well-documented records management strategy, your organization is at risk of data loss as well. Ultimately, this can have far-reaching consequences for you, specifically when it comes to accessing payroll records.

Questions to ask yourself

What is the speed at which you can locate items? Can you effortlessly retrieve the precise location of any record at any given time?

In the event of cluttered and disorganized archives, you can lose a lot of time and compromise your own productivity if you don’t organize your records. Do you have multiple copies of your records?

If revisions and edits have been made by multiple people, remember that inconsistencies can pop up. So, do you have a contingency strategy in place for your records? Consider options like off-site storage, backup tape rotation, cloud storage and backup servers.

Potential consequences of being unorganized

Inadequately tracking records or experiencing oversight can have detrimental consequences. This is particularly true in terms of taxes, budgets and payroll.

Being unorganized could result in a number of complications, including legal repercussions or challenges in promptly producing necessary records. In the event of an IRS audit, it is crucial that you possess precise, comprehensive and well-organized payroll records to avoid fines or penalties.

How to better organize your payroll records

According to the IRS, approximately 40% of small to midsized businesses face penalties due to incorrect payroll filing. Conduct a thorough audit of your system to identify any inefficiencies in your current records management plan. Make necessary updates and improvements to enhance the efficiency of your processes.

When it comes to payroll records, it is crucial to be exceptionally meticulous. Most payroll providers offer efficient systems for recording, storing and maintaining all payroll data generated by your company. Select a payroll specialist that provides solutions that are specifically designed to ensure accurate and compliant recordkeeping.

Even if you have a combination of part-time, full-time and remote workers, you are not immune to the repercussions of payroll errors. Avoid situations where you need to search for the W2s of seasonal employees or misplaced 1099s for independent consultants. It is your responsibility to maintain up-to-date payroll records, including time sheets, for all your workers.

The Small Business Administration recommends holding onto all payroll records for a minimum of six years. But each state has its own storage timeline requirements, so look into the expectations pertaining to your state in particular.

Set aside sufficient time to manage your payroll by running reports in advance of payroll processing deadlines. That way, you can review them, search for any mistakes and then promptly rectify them. Overall, if you notice a payroll error, address it immediately.

How to Improve Your Payroll Process

3D rendered illustration of cabinet with policies folders and files.Many businesses have experienced difficulties with their payroll processes, from lateness to mistakes and complexity. Such errors can hinder employees’ satisfaction and put companies at risk of costly financial penalties – potentially disrupting employer/employee relations in the long run. To help combat these issues, we’ve created a list of recommended best practices for an optimal payroll process!

How to Improve Your Payroll Process:

 Create and maintain a monthly payroll schedule.

To keep operations running smoothly, we recommend establishing a synchronization of your payroll periods. An orderly cycle will streamline compensation and decrease risk for any errors that could occur from multi-timespan processing. Utilizing an Excel calendar with saved dates is an efficient way to set up recurring payments – just be sure to make room for potential delays in the process!

Establishing a reliable payroll schedule is an important step in creating structural certainty and efficiency. Make sure to communicate the finalized calendar to all those involved with processing, so that everyone’s expectations are aligned for timely payments.

State Mandated Payroll Schedules

Keeping track of payments to your employees can be a tricky task. Depending on where you operate, certain regulations may require businesses to follow state-mandated payment schedules. To find out if this applies to your business, consult the U.S Department of Labor website for more information!

Study tax requirements.

To ensure your business is compliant with all relevant regulations, it’s critical to be informed about the ever-evolving payroll laws of both state and federal governments. Appoint a team member who can carry out regular research on this topic and ensure any updates are correctly applied across all related processes within the company. Additionally, staying abreast of deadlines for tax filings or reporting requirements could spare you from costly penalties due to non-compliance.

Areas of emphasis include:

  • Remittance.
  • Payroll deductions.
  • Pension contributions.
  • Employee insurance.
  • Bonuses and salary increases.

For any organization to manage their payroll effectively and efficiently, it’s paramount that both management and HR are fully versed on all relevant obligations.

Payroll Taxes

Understand the importance of taxes in payroll and explore user-friendly resources to calculate Federal Income Tax, FICA, FUTA amongst other taxable deductions – with easy guides on when they’re due.

Create clear and simple payroll policies.

Payroll mistakes cause problems for everyone and can easily be prevented with strategic policy implementation. Comprehensive training and clear, easy-to-follow payroll policies enable employees to understand their wages accurately while also protecting companies from costly errors such as underpaid taxes or misclassifications – which could result in penalties.

Your policy should include:

  • A complete overview of how the payroll process works.
  • Employee classifications (full time, part-time, contractors).
  • Employee reporting requirements.
  • How salaries are set and calculated.
  • How promotions and benefits are calculated and processed.
  • How the company handles payroll errors.

To ensure employees are confident in their understanding of workplace policies, all relevant information should be made readily available. Encouraging questions from staff members is also recommended if any confusion arises regarding the policy to provide clear direction for a successful business environment.

Our Recommendation:

Get your employees involved in improving workplace policies! Take the initiative to host regular staff meetings where you’ll be able to discuss necessary changes and introduce new policies. Utilize these opportunities to distribute surveys, do presentations, and solicit ideas from team members that could help refine policy approaches even further.

Conduct periodic audits.

To optimize existing payroll systems, conducting a detailed workflow analysis is essential. This will identify recurring mistakes and allow you to track their progress over time with regular audits – leading your business towards more efficient operations in the long-term.

Your audit should include:

  • The monitoring of all payroll processes.
  • The testing of payroll software, including integrations, updates, and feature add-ons.
  • Training programs.
  • The implementation of time and attendance software.

 Invest in payroll software.

Outdated payroll processes can result in costly mistakes for businesses. To keep up with modern times, investing in updated software could be a great solution! Not only does it reduce admin time but also offers features like integrated time and attendance as well as direct payments to support tax compliance. Keep in mind that additional training may be needed before implementation – so prepare yourself accordingly when considering installation of such solutions.

Ensure your employees have seamless online access with the help of payroll software. The platform grants round-the-clock power to view digital paystubs, track hours worked, and vacation days used, as well as monitor available sick time – empowering them like never before!

Implement direct deposits.

Employers can save time and money by eliminating the traditional paper check process and directly depositing salaries into employees’ bank accounts. Going digital ensures more accurate payment delivery with fewer risks, so businesses no longer have to worry about costly administrative tasks associated with manual processes.

Outsource your payroll.

When it comes to managing your business’ payroll, taking the time and effort to do the associated tasks can be daunting. For companies of any size looking for a streamlined solution without sacrificing accuracy or data integrity, outsourcing is increasingly becoming an attractive option. UptoDate Bookkeeping has specialized expertise in bookkeeping and accounting processes –you can rest assured that all facets of your salary management are handled effectively.

Payroll Services Outsourcing

payroll services minnesotaIt’s difficult to know whether or not to outsource payroll services. While payroll functionality is critical, other considerations such as cost and compliance play a role in the decision-making process. It’s critical to comprehend the benefits of outsourcing payroll so that you can feel secure in your decision.

What’s the Difference Between Payroll in-House vs. Payroll Outsourcing?

When a company processes all aspects of employee pay in-house, it is known as in-house payroll processing. These responsibilities include:

  • Calculating timesheets and wages
  • Ensuring that the correct amount of payroll taxes is deducted from each payment
  • Check printing and direct deposit setup
  • Deductions and payroll taxes calculations

An individual administrator or a team is in charge of in-house payroll. Controlling sensitive company data and when paychecks are issued are two advantages of in-house payroll processing. However, there are still a few drawbacks to conducting payroll in-house. Payroll problems, erroneous deductions, and noncompliance are all potential hazards.

  • Payroll outsourcing is when a corporation outsources the administrative and compliance activities related with employee pay to a third-party service provider. This may include paying payroll taxes and payments on your behalf, depending on the payroll outsourcing business.
  • Due to the manual and time-consuming nature of these tasks, many businesses opt for outsourced HR and payroll services. This payroll processing automation frees up HR and payroll managers to focus on more strategic duties in their organizations.

What Are the Benefits of Hiring a Payroll Service Provider?

When opting on payroll outsourcing services, numerous considerations must be considered, including implementation time and return on investment. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of potential benefits and drawbacks of outsourcing payroll services that you should think about before making a final decision.

TIME SAVINGS

26 percent of small firms manually manage payroll three to five hours per month. A consolidated database for payroll and attendance data is available in several solutions. From time capture to paycheck, this unified approach automates the process into a closed-loop workflow. Payroll software accomplishes this by using the following methods:

  • Employees use the payroll system to clock in, which causes the hours worked to be automatically recorded.
  • Employees request time off through the same system, which combines attendance and time data.
  • Eliminates onerous Excel spreadsheet formulas by transferring data from hours worked, multiplied by predetermined pay rates.
  • The results of these computations are compared to W-4 withholding information to simplify tax compliance, and each pay period, an employee receives an accurate payment.

You may reclaim significant time in your workday by outsourcing payroll to a supplier. You’ll be more productive and have more time to focus on your company’s strategic initiatives. That enormous to-do list will no longer seem so daunting.

COMPLIANCE

In the first year of operation, business owners spend over $83,000 on regulatory fees. When a firm manages payroll tax compliance in-house, it increases the risk of overpaying or underpaying employer taxes.

When you’re already manually handling payroll and HR, staying on top of ever-changing federal and state rules is difficult. Reduced tax fines and risk of noncompliance provide a huge return on investment.

PTO

Manually processing time-off requests can lead to mistakes. Businesses that conduct payroll in-house, for example, have an average of three unreported PTO days per employee each year. If a company employs 100 people with an average salary of $45,000, that’s $36,900 in unpaid vacation time! PTO requests are streamlined using a payroll and HR solution, so days don’t go unreported, saving your company thousands of dollars.

Adherence

Compliance-related operations in HR and payroll departments take up about 36 hours per week, ranging from tracking regulatory proposals to developing and conveying new policies. That is a full-time position!

Reduced time spent on compliance and risk mitigation are two of the most significant advantages of outsourcing payroll. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) imposes millions of dollars in employment tax penalties each year. It’s critical to have a payroll tax compliance partner and expert on hand to mitigate that risk.

Tax filing and payments can be handled by a professional payroll and HR company. A corporation that follows this type of compliance will also be aware of any changes in tax regulations.

Payroll Outsourcing: How it Can Help Your Business

Even though payroll is time-consuming, it plays an essential role in every operation. Businesses of all sizes opt to outsource their payroll functions to professionals rather than managing payroll functions in-house with manual bookkeeping.

What Exactly is Payroll Outsourcing?

Outsourcing payroll functions allows businesses to save money, time, and effort by outsourcing all payroll functions to an external manager. Comparatively to in-house payroll management, outsourced payroll solutions provide a higher level of accuracy since they are prepared, analysed, and evaluated by qualified professionals.

Ideally, payroll outsourcing achieves three key goals –

  • It allows businesses to focus more on core tasks by freeing up both time and resources.
  • The costs and risks associated with it are reduced.
  • Ensures businesses have access to the latest payroll technology and expertise.

Let us discuss these benefits in more detail and understand what they mean for businesses.

Benefits of Outsourcing Payroll

The following advantages can be gained from outsourcing your payroll process to a qualified service provider.

  • Enhanced Productivity/Time Saving

The process of managing payroll processing in-house is extremely time-consuming and requires a great deal of resources, manpower, and attention to detail, resulting in lost productivity. Furthermore, the time spent on accurate payroll management, involving a great deal of data, diverts time from core business activities.

Businesses and HR departments can devote more time to other important tasks for business growth and expansion by outsource payroll.

  • Reduced Costs

Time is the most important commodity for any business owner. It is linked to the revenue that the business generates from tasks that it handles. Time is money, so the more time they save each day, the more money they earn.

There is a huge value when it comes to calculating employee hours, paid time off, deductions, leaves, printing and distributing paychecks, and completing tax returns.

The outsourcing of payroll processing allows you to ensure all aspects of the payroll process, including handling payroll inquiries, calculating payroll taxes, and filing statutory documents, are handled efficiently and effectively. By outsourcing payroll functions, you can save a lot of money when you compare how much time is spent in-house managing payroll, versus how much you would have paid for those services if you did it internally.

  • Advantage of the Latest Technology

The rapid advancement of technology has led to an increase in global payroll companies using cloud-based systems to manage their business data, give better visibility and transparency to payroll processing, and maintain robust data integrity.

With outsourcing payroll, you can also take advantage of emerging technologies, such as RPA, used by specialist payroll service providers to optimize payroll processing, improving the accuracy and timeliness of the process. Many of the latest payroll technologies are used by professional payroll providers such as UptoDate Bookkeeping to manage payroll outsourcing seamlessly.

  • Compliance

When it comes to handling complicated government tax regulations related to payroll, many small business owners struggle. It becomes difficult to process salaries and reimbursements of every employee in an organization due to a variety of complex rules, employee benefit mistakes, multiple bylaws, PF percentages, and taxes. It is important that businesses avoid mistakes that can lead to audit irregularities and penalties.

Professional payroll service providers, on the other hand, have the required expertise and are always abreast about the latest compliance regulations, and tax rate changes. They also have dedicated staff to help companies meet all the regulatory updates.

  • Enhanced Data Security

Managing payroll in-house entails a number of risks, including the safety of the server/network and embezzlement. There is also always a risk of data mishandling when increasing numbers of employees are working from home these days.

Providers of outsourced payroll services use highly secure cloud-based servers and encryption technology to keep your sensitive information safe.

Conclusion

Despite not directly affecting the business, payroll is one of those critical business functions. However, if it is not done in an efficient manner, it can negatively impact the overall business.

Providers of payroll services specializing in payroll management typically provide many services including compliance, complexities of regulations, tax calculations, and human resource management. UptoDate Bookkeeping, powered by a strong technology backbone, has achieved >99.8% accuracy in managing payroll for our clients. With such trained professionals handling payroll functions, business productivity can be enhanced, and you can focus on the growth of your company.

 

Outsourcing Payroll is a good idea for your business

payroll services minnesota

Payroll is one area of your business that you need to function effectively and efficiently. In the case of a poor performance, fines and penalties may result for your organization. Paying employees incorrectly can lead to disputes and even lawsuits.

Paying staff on time and accurately is part of good payroll practice. Business owners, however, often find it difficult to balance priorities, and payroll is often overlooked in favor of profit-generating activities. The most efficient solution is therefore to always outsource your payroll to a qualified payroll service provider.

What is payroll outsourcing and how does it work?

A payroll outsourcing company essentially provides you with outsourced payroll  services. Payroll companies can handle all your payroll-related obligations, including creating new records, processing terminations, and calculating budget to actual.

This can only be done if you provide the payroll provider with employee and employer information. Usually, that is all you need to do, so you can concentrate on your strengths.

Why use a payroll service?

In order to grow your business, you want to focus your efforts on revenue-generating activities. Nevertheless, you have a responsibility to your employees as an employer. Outsourcing can be useful in this situation.

In any business, payroll is an essential function, but it can also be extremely complex and  time-consuming. Paying incorrectly may also have a domino effect. The result of an incorrectly calculated employee pay may result in a dispute that you must then resolve. In addition to this being a waste of your time, it can also negatively impact employee morale and productivity at work.

Moreover, missing payroll deadlines will result in fines and penalties, which will adversely affect your profit margins and cash flow. You can spend more time concentrating on your core services and lead generation by outsourcing your payroll.

The benefits of outsourcing your payroll function

Payroll operations need to be handled by an employee if you will not be doing them yourself. Your company will have to pay more salaries and benefits by hiring an employee.

It is necessary to purchase payroll software to facilitate payroll activities and deliver them efficiently. An additional cost could be avoided.

In addition, you should always use the latest version of software that  incorporates the new tax rates for the year. You will have to pay advancement costs in addition to your current costs.

Outsourced payroll providers usually offer much more cost-efficient service package fees.

Time saving

Payroll processing can be a huge administrative burden, as you need to consistently devote time to it each pay period, keep track of every payroll change and component, monitor all payroll submission deadlines to ensure timely submission, validate all payroll inputs to ensure an accurate result, and complete all legal paperwork.

These tasks can all be handled by an outsourced payroll company. Payroll outsourcing services require only that you provide the payroll data and approve the pay calculation results for each pay period.

It is unlikely that you’ll have the experience or expertise to run your payroll effectively unless you were a payroll provider previously. That means either you have to spend a significant amount of time learning the basics yourself or you have to train your employee to do so. In-house payroll employees will need regular training as government regulations change.

Outsourced payroll services provide expert advice and service. Eliminate staffing issues

The payroll process needs to be conducted regularly, whether weekly or monthly. You must have an in-house payroll team available every time payroll is due.

In the event that a payroll manager is ill or on annual leave, you’ll need to pick up the task or risk failing to meet payroll deadlines.

You will not only have to pay the costs of recruiting a replacement employee if the employee leaves, but all that knowledge is also lost.

This wouldn’t happen with a payroll service provider. You can be confident that your payroll will always be conducted on time by an expert, regardless of employee movements.

Overall, it may feel like a big decision to outsource your payroll department. However, it is the most cost-efficient and risk free option to ensure your payroll is conducted error free every time.

 

Union Payroll can be tricky. Let us handle it for you.

Quickbooks Training

We specialize in managing payroll for union shops. Using our experience, we provide comprehensive payroll solutions that are affordable for businesses that need to manage complex payroll systems.

Our internal processes and procedures enabled us to manage the complexities and rapid-fire changes unique to union payroll management.

Since union payroll in the Twin Cities is so unique, we are able to help businesses by being able to assist immediately. UptoDate Bookkeeping is dedicated to making the payroll processes seamless whenever management’s in-house person goes out on medical, maternity or disability leave or for an unexpected work influx that necessitates the hiring of new employees.

Employee net wages and payroll taxes are held in escrow separately by a national bank – ensuring you have peace of mind.

Clients can report hours easily by fax, email, text or online.

A Complete Union Payroll Solution

We provide union contractors with accurate, reliable and efficient services. By relying on our expertise, we eliminate the mistakes that cause workers to complain that their paychecks are wrong.

When your payroll is handled by just one person, and that person goes on sick leave, we will make sure payroll and tax payments go out on time.

The transition to our services is easy because we have a process in place. Our services include:

  • Payroll administration; setting all rates, differentials, overtime, assessments, and payroll taxes.
  • Management of fringe benefits.
  • Ensuring readiness for union audits
  • Worker’s compensation audits complete
  • Adjusted premiums verification of accuracy
  • Baseline reports and other payroll reports.

  Fringe benefits for union members

Employee fringe benefits can be tricky to manage since different unions and job classifications have different benefits.

We make sure these items are properly set up into the system so they will be correctly calculated.

Contact UptoDate Bookkeeping in Blaine MN for help with calculating holiday, paid time off, health benefits, training and pension deductions.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Payroll Services

It’s economical

Reduce overhead by removing the need to hire specialized employees by letting us handle payroll and the legal details related to it.

It helps you save time

We take care of payroll preparation, system updating, monitoring and maintenance, so you don’t have to enter data, research new laws, or worry about compliance.

Payroll Tax Filing is Worry Free

Don’t put yourself at risk by calculating and filing your payroll taxes on your own. Have professionals handle it for you. Payroll tax laws in the U.S., state, and local jurisdictions are changing frequently and becoming more complex.  Can you spare the time to learn how to keep up to date with all the rules?

The ability to focus on core competencies

Our team of experts lets you focus on your business’ core competencies.

Detailed Reports

With us, you get a wide variety of convenient and accurate payroll reports. You will get union reports, certified payrolls, workers’ comp reports, and much more for a nominal fee.

Our payroll solutions are designed to meet your needs.

When it comes to payroll service – there isn’t one size fits all.

 

Company Payroll Outsourcing Benefits

payroll services minnesota

Just like marketing campaigns, customer service, and sales; payroll plays an important role in a business. Payroll is not a bookkeeping task or a twice a month annoyance; it dictates how you will retain employees, reward them, or/and compensate them for the work completed. Remember, any miscalculations or errors may affect your business output and have dissatisfied and unmotivated employees.

Calculation errors are not the only concern one has to look at; there are others such as payroll regulations, tax codes, and others. for this reason, when a payroll calculation has errors, other areas will be affected and most likely going to be expensive for your business like the classification of employee and contractor W-2 forms Tax deposit, and its deadlines.

Outsourcing payroll does help small businesses eliminate problems such as mentioned above. Outsourcing offers a lot of benefits to a business and is considered a wise move to shift your business’s payroll task to a knowledgeable and reputable payroll professional.

1. It Saves Time

Handling payroll in-house demands time and attention to details. The demand for time increases when your company’s staff grows. Every pay date becomes a series full of checks and balances filled with sensitive data that demands full attention and varies from one employee to the next; while at the same time ensuring there are no errors. The time needed to handle this task is the time taken away from other important tasks that will help your business grow.

2. Reduces Overhead Costs

All successful business often looks for ways to minimize overhead costs with the aim of increasing profits. As a business owner, your time has a dollar value, which is linked to the revenue generated at any given time. Therefore, the time you are able to save every day, the money you will earn. With this in mind, think of all the time you will be able to save when you delegate payrolls to a third-party company. Doing this will eliminate calculating employee hours, paid time, deductions, sick leave, sign, tax prints, and much more.

3. Increase In Data Security

The truth is that there is a risk that comes with in-house payroll. A good example is identity theft. Employee records viewed by those who handle payroll may lead to identity theft or tamper with records for personal gains. Also, you have to consider the risk of payroll software.

4. Government Compliance Guarantee

A small mistake may leave you open to costly penalties and audits. On the other hand, because these regulations change constantly, the chances of staying up-to-date are low, especially when you are focused on growing the business.

5. Access Various Types Of Services

The truth is that even the most experienced accountants have a limited skill set. However, with outsourced payroll services, a business gets an opportunity to access different types of services and benefits that will help grow a business. For example, apart from tax calculation and standard payroll calculation, you get access to other types of services such as labor laws, contractor services, contract generation, access to health benefits, bookkeeping services, and workers’ compensation payments.

Conclusion

Professional payroll provider companies employ people who are knowledgeable in payroll processing, can handle complex regulations, taxes, government compliance, and more. This is why they are trained to do and the pillar to the service. For this reason, a majority of service providers offer a service guarantee, which leaves business owners worry-free when it comes to payrolls. Therefore, as a business owner, it is wise to save your time, and efforts by outsourcing your payroll. This will give you time to allow your business to grow.

Various Functions Of Payroll Management

Quickbooks Training

Quickbooks TrainingPayroll is an extremely important function of any business – whether you have one employee or an entire workforce. But payroll is a complicated process and involves much more than simply ensuring that each employee is paid on time. Payroll management involves various functions to ensure employees are paid correctly in compliance with government regulations.

1. Processing Paychecks

Processing paychecks is the primary function of payroll management. Make the smallest error in one paycheck and it will quickly become apparent just how negatively this can affect the entire workforce and operation of a business. A payroll manager therefore needs to ensure that each employee’s compensation is calculated correctly in accordance with their employment contract.

Aspects of compensation that need to be verified include:

– The net salary of an employee.
– Their hourly work rate.
– Compensation for overtime
– Commission
– Incentives
– Any other amount that is a form of income

Additional factors that need to be taken into account include:

– Vacation time
– Sick leave
– Maternity leave
– Compassionate leave
– Holiday pay

Common deductions that need to be factored in include”

– Federal income tax
– Health or dental insurance contributions.
– Pension fund contributions
– Repayment of a company loan
– Any other deductions or contributions that have been agreed upon between employer and employee.

Additional Bonuses And Perks

– A car allowance
– Housing allowance
– Mobile phone allowance
– Clothing allowance
– Entertainment allowance
– Any other perk or added incentive offered to the employee by the company.

2. Payroll Taxes

It’s not just your employees who are going to be seriously unhappy when your payroll is not processed correctly. The IRS receives 70% of its annual revenue from payroll taxes. Your company can face severe penalties that could be very costly for failure to pay payroll taxes or by paying erroneous taxes. The IRS penalizes businesses with billions of dollars every year.

A payroll manager needs to be aware of the different tax rates that apply to different regions in the country and make the correct deductions from an employee’s income. They also need to fill in various forms to record and document payroll taxes including W-2’s for every employee by the end of January each year. Form 941 also needs to be completed and submitted every quarter detailing employment taxes that are withheld for contributions. These documents need to be completed accurately and on time to avoid penalties. Training, skills and experience are therefore critical in a payroll manager.

3. Record Keeping

The Fair Labor Act requires that an employer keep accurate records for each employee that is not exempt. The following information in employee and payroll records are required:

– Full name and surname of employee and social security number
– Physical or residential address including the zip code
– Date of birth for employees under the age of 19 years
– Gender and occupation
– The day of the week and time when an employee’s work week starts
– The hours that are worked every day
– Total work hours that are completed each workweek
– Rate at which the employee is paid – hourly, daily, weekly or monthly including the amount.
– The regular pay rate per hour
– The total weekly or daily straight-time earnings.
– The total overtime income for each workweek.
– All deductions from and additions to employee’s wages or income.
– The total wages that are paid over each pay period.
– The date when payment is made and the pay period that is covered by that payment.

The FLSA regulations also require that all payroll records should be kept for a period of at least three years. Records showing wage calculations need to be held for two years – for example, work timetables, time cards and other relevant documents. The payroll manager should ensure that these documents are stored electronically and backed up to be inspected by the Department of Labor at any time.

4. Employee Accessibility

While it is a legal requirement for payroll records to be made available to the DOL, employees should also be granted access to their personal payroll information upon request. A secure online portal provides a means for employees to access their personal information including:

– Summary of benefits
– Summary of pension fund or 401(k)
– Summary of deductions and history
– Details of direct payments
– Time clocks
– Paid leave or time off work

UptoDate Bookkeeping solutions also provides employees with the ability to download and print documents such as W-2s, make changes to tax settings and make online payroll inquiries. This empowers your employees with the knowledge that they need when tax season arrives.

5. Simplifying Payroll Management

Payroll is complicated and a dedicated HR department to handle all the responsibilities that come with payroll simply isn’t in the budget for every company. Outsourcing payroll management and administration with UptoDate Bookkeeping is a convenient and affordable solution to provide business owners with the peace of mind that every aspect of their payroll is being handled expertly and in compliance with the required regulations.

Payroll Services Provide the Necessary Administrative Help to Company Managements

payroll services minnesota

payroll services minnesotaWhen any business is set up that does have many employees, these persons will all need to be paid at fixed intervals that are normally weekly or monthly. For making these payments payrolls must be made detailing the number of days worked, the payments due based on agreed salaries, and deductions made for taxes or any other dues.

The preparation of payrolls requires a fair amount of work that must be accurate, based on attendance and other records. Businesses find that this requires deputing personnel to the required work, for a few days in a month. Keeping personnel specifically for this job may not keep them fully occupied, and if they are diverted from other work, those jobs may suffer. This is where payroll services that are outside companies can undertake, for a fee, all the work that is required.

In a basic payroll service, the outside company that has been given the work will collect all wage information including days worked and wages agreed on and will make all the necessary calculations, including required tax deductions, and any other deductions, and prepare the payroll. Their services can also include printing and delivering checks, or paying directly into bank accounts, and paying any required taxes to government bodies.

Taxes are often calculated based on the number of dependents a person has, and this requires the payroll services provider to be given the personal information about each employee. These can be federal, state, local, social security and any taxes for medical care. Some of the deductions require a matching contribution from the employer, and it can be the responsibility of the payroll service provider to maintain the records for each employee and make the required contributions to the designated authorities. Many people set up retirement funds as per any rules that a company may have in place and maintaining the records for this and making the needed payments may also be part of the services that they offer.

Payroll services can also offer to take over responsibilities that are normally handled by human resources staff, like administrating leave records and any benefits or retirement programs. While earlier, all the required information needed to be prepared in companies and sent to the payroll services company, the internet has allowed all this to be sent directly through web-based payroll accounts, where the details are constantly being updated by the company and are simultaneously available to the payroll service provider. The introduction of payroll software has made the entire process even simpler.