If you’re a small business owner with employees, running payroll is an essential step in your operations and there are several ways for you to process your payroll. Though seemingly simple and straightforward, payroll is actually quite complex and requires a number of moving parts for successful processing. You have a choice of:
Manual, do-it-yourself payroll is a common choice for many small businesses, but the process can be time-consuming. You’ll have to calculate everything by hand, keep track of records and file your taxes. Should you decide to do payroll yourself, you can purchase standard time sheets for documentation and ask your employees to complete them. With the completed timesheets, you can then perform the appropriate wage and tax calculations. Not to mention retaining & keeping those records safe and secure for a period of 7 years which is going to take up a lot of storage space.
It is worth noting that manual payroll processing requires a number of involved steps that may be more time consuming than you might think. Payroll can be a complicated process and making mistakes can be costly. Doing your payroll manually may not be the best long-term payroll solution these days.
You may outsource payroll to an Accountant, Bookkeeping firm, BAS Agent or payroll service provider. Outsourcing your company’s payroll to a professional is a cost-effective and time-saving option. Doing so takes the burden off your shoulders and puts your payroll into trusted, experienced hands. Payroll service professionals can do everything from collecting employee information and setting up direct deposit to handling payslips and filing tax payments. With a professional, you can expect to pay a fixed rate for the service, which eliminates the need to hire a full-time worker.
Paying someone to run your payroll will free up some of your time and having an outsourced payroll specialist allows you to rest easier, knowing that you have experts on your side. Keep in mind that outsourcing payroll or hiring an in-house accountant can be expensive, not to mention that accessing payroll reports when and if you need them may not be instantaneous.
In some cases, payroll software is cheaper than hiring someone and can help you save time when processing payroll. The right payroll service software will let you access and run payroll from anywhere. Other benefits of payroll software include:
Adding an element of automation, payroll software programs make tracking, maintaining, and delivering employee compensation simple and efficient.
Although payroll software can be considerably more expensive than manually running payroll, it’s far more dependable, secure and accurate. Without any dependence on honour systems or manual calculations, you can rest assured knowing specialised payroll software gets it right, every time.
QuickBooks Payroll makes managing payroll easier for everyone from small business owners to larger-scale organisations. Sign up today to see how you can get started managing employee payroll for your enterprise with much more efficiency. For tips on setting up QuickBooks Payroll, head to the Payroll Resource Hub for articles and guides to help you get started.
Disclaimer: Intuit does not provide professional advice. We may provide you with information that may be of use to you, however this is not to be considered as a substitute for getting your own professional advice. Intuit is not liable to you for your use or reliance on the information provided by it.
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