Essential Payroll Tips All Business Owners Need to Know
Being able to properly manage your company’s payroll is an important skill that will typically take some time and effort to master. After all, even the smallest of payroll mistakes can sometimes have huge consequences for your business, your employees, and their salaries. Even if the consequences are manageable, they could negatively affect your team’s motivation and morale and cause them to lose trust in you as their employer. Payroll management is not always easy and many small business owners make the mistake of underestimating how complicated it can be. So, what are some essential tips that every business owner should know about payroll?
Outsource if Possible
First of all, remember that there’s no need to tackle payroll on your own. Whether you are confused by the payroll process or don’t have the time to dedicate to managing payroll on your own, payroll outsourcing is an ideal option that allows you to sit back and focus on growing your business while the experts take care of payroll on your behalf. This allows you to minimize the risk of mistakes and make sure that your employees are paid correctly and on time. New Horizons Global Partners offers payroll outsourcing that you can take advantage of either at home or if you decide to expand your business internationally. Their global services are the ideal choice for any business considering global expansion since they are knowledgeable about labor laws, regulations, and tax in various locations overseas.
Use Payroll Software
Whether you’ve hired an employee who will have the sole responsibility of looking after payroll or have decided to tackle this important part of business yourself, there are several payroll software options that you can use to make things easier. Web-based check stub maker software solutions are available for businesses of all sizes and in every industry. They provide you with an automated system that you can use to run your payrolls, allowing you to cut back on menial manual tasks and free up more time to focus on other strategic areas of your business. You can also use employee pay stub templates to make sure you make no errors.
Keep Up with Legislation
Changes to laws, legislation, and regulations may have an impact on how you need to run your payroll, so it’s important to ensure that you are keeping up to date with the latest updates. Bear in mind that tax and benefits are often subject to frequent change. While you may not necessarily need to be aware of every single small detail, it’s certainly worth staying informed and seeking out professional advice if there are any changes that you are unsure of.
Integrate with Scheduling and Accounting
If you employ an hourly-paid workforce, it’s important to have an accurate and timely payroll to ensure that your staff is motivated, engaged, and retained. Seamlessly integrating payroll with other systems such as accounting and scheduling will make your payroll management much more accurate, efficient, and quick. An integrated scheduling and payroll system that ensures your employees are paid on time is one of the best investments that you can make in your business.
Paying Your Employees
Businesses have the option of paying their employees either a salary or an hourly wage. Paying your employees a salary can make it much easier to manage your payroll as your employees will always get paid the same amount unless they are able to take on overtime for extra. However, for some business models, paying a salary might not work. For example, employees who work different shifts each week will usually receive an hourly wage. Since paying by the hour is more complex, it’s important to be prepared for keeping track of how many hours each employee has worked for payroll purposes. Outsourcing may be the best idea for companies that pay an hourly wage, or you can take advantage of one of the many timesheet solutions out there that allow your staff to clock in and out and send the information straight to your payroll system.
Have a Clear Payroll Policy
Whether you are tackling payroll yourself or outsourcing it to a professional, it’s a wise idea to have a clear payroll policy that you can ask new employees to review and sign when they begin work. Detail how and when employees will be paid, how much they will be paid, and whether there are any additional considerations such as commission, sick pay, or business expense reimbursement. Having this policy on file can be helpful to ensure that everybody in the company has a clear understanding of how payroll works.
Payroll can be one of the most complex things that you will have to do as a business owner, so never underestimate it. While it’s an essential part of any business, small payroll mistakes could have devastating knock-on effects for your team. That’s why it’s important to be fully aware of what’s involved before deciding whether to manage your own payroll or outsource.
