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Employee toolkit for common payroll questions

6 payroll questions your workers are asking

And how to be prepared to answer them

Read or download our handy ebook designed to help you set up payroll policies and profiles for your employees.

Free ebook with top payroll questions and answers for workers

Explore the payroll ebook

How important is seamless payroll?

When is payday?

This is one of the first payroll-related questions your workers will ask. But it involves more than just the day their checks go out.

Here’s some additional information you can share with employees and contractors when they ask this question:

The payday schedule
Time tracking practices
Paycheck distribution options

When you clearly communicate what needs to happen and when, you can manage expectations, anticipate questions that might otherwise lead to frustration, and build their confidence in the process. Here’s a look at common payroll practices of other small businesses.

Payday best practices

We recently surveyed 1,000 U.S. employees over the age of 18 about all things payroll. Use these insights to make the best payroll decisions for your small business.

44% of workers get paid every other week

Time tracking tips

Whether manual, electronic, or automated, it’s a good idea to create clear expectations on how workers track their time, and put processes into place to ensure it’s done accurately.

45% of businesses uses electronic employee time tracking

As a small business owner, you need to define a process and communicate those expectations to your workers so they understand how to accurately report their time worked.

35% of employers provide little or no training to help employees track their time.
74% of employees aren’t given the chance to review their own time cards.
Employees using a traditional punch clock or paper timesheet were more likely to feel micromanaged.

Communicate pay periods to employees for accurate time tracking

What to look for in a payroll solution

At the end of the day, the most important consideration is to find a low-stress and accurate process that works for you and your workers. An automated payroll tool that can seamlessly integrate with your other bookkeeping tasks can help you:

Enable workers to track their own time and change their withholding information
Give workers access to their paycheck information 24-7
Easily add workers to payroll without additional manual work
Automatically run payroll and enable direct deposits

What benefits are available to me?

Am I eligible for overtime pay?

This is a straightforward question from a worker’s point of view, but when it comes to answering with confidence, there are a number of additional considerations to keep in mind.

56% of employees are eligible for overtime pay

Being clear and managing overtime pay properly is a step in the right direction, but confusion, misclassifications, and human errors can lead to mistakes. Unfortunately, misclassification and employer errors are common when it comes to overtime pay:

25% of workers eligible for overtime said their employer refuses to pay it.
16% say they have been wrongly classified as exempt from overtime when they should be eligible for it.

Managing employment classification: Exempt vs. non-exempt

When managing employment classification, the first step is to determine which type is right for your staff. To be considered an exempt employee, both of these requirements must be met, according to the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA).

Salary requirements:

$455 per week gross pay (minimum)
Paid on a salary (non-hourly) basis.

Job duties performed:

Exempt employees must perform exempt job duties in one of three categories:
- Executive
- Professional
- Administrative

The importance of compliance

Accurately paying your workers for time worked is a huge part of managing employment classifications, but there are larger considerations to keep in mind. Compliance with state and federal laws helps you avoid expensive penalties and fees.

The FLSA clearly states what is and is not a violation. Common violations include:

Misclassifying employees
Overlooking off-the-clock work
Failing to pay unauthorized overtime
Not tracking breaks properly
Keeping inaccurate or incomplete records
Not compensating interns or volunteers
Failing to stay up-to-date with regulations

Small payroll mistakes can lead to heavy fines that add up

Employers who violate overtime laws must pay back wages as well as civil penalties and legal fees

Stay compliant with payroll tools

When researching payroll solutions, look for options that allow you to properly classify workers right from the start, and make changes when needed—all in a way that’s easily visible to your staff. Payroll solutions with reporting capabilities make it easy for you to find and manage the information you need to stay compliant. You should be able to:

View and distribute paystubs with the information workers need
Document employment status information so that workers can see and review it
Generate reports for things like payroll process gaps, payroll accuracy, and benefits reporting (e.g., workers’ comp, insurance, etc.)

There’s something wrong with my paycheck, how can I fix this?

When will I receive my W-2 or 1099?

Workers are often eager to get a head start on filing their taxes in the new year. You may face this common question as early as January 1, and January 31 is your deadline for providing W-2s and 1099s to your staff and independent contractors. Let them know where to find their information, and learn how to prepare W-2s so you’re ready when the time comes.

The W-2 form is an employee’s record of employment compensation. It reports:

Paid wages
State and federal deductions

The 1099 form is a contract worker’s record of compensation. It reports:

A record of payments to an independent contractor so they can file with the IRS.

The importance of staying compliant

You’ll find the current version of these forms on the IRS website. You can order them from the IRS directly, or you can fill them out online.

Take this quiz to decide which kind of employee to hire

Tax challenges for small businesses

A year after the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, we surveyed 600 small business owners, accountants, and bookkeepers across the U.S. to find out how they have responded to tax reform. Explore how other small business owners feel about common business challenges.

The most stressful part of tax season

According to the same survey, when asked what aspects of tax season are most challenging, business owners responded:

42%: Planning for what they’ll owe
24%: Complying with new and changing regulations

Built-in tax support

A payroll tool that allows you to fill out and distribute completed W-2s can save you a lot of time. Here are a few additional ways a good payroll solution can prepare you for tax season:

Enabling your workers to view their paycheck information on their own, any time. Making it possible for you to set up digital processes to pay taxes and automatically deposit what you owe to relevant entities.
Tracking taxes and scheduling reminders for what you need to pay, and to whom.

How can I change my address?

Workers will occasionally need to update their personal information that is required for payroll. Onboarding an employee correctly is the first step toward managing payroll with ease.

Follow this guide when you hire an employee:

Set up your Employer Identification Number online.
Decide if you’re going to hire full time, part time, or a contractor.
Verify that they can legally work for you.
Report your hire to the state government within the first 20 days of employment.
Know employee rights (workers comp, post labor law posters, medical leave, etc.).
Fill out the required tax forms (W-4 or W-9)
Determine how you’ll track hours worked and run payroll.
Make sure to file the right forms with the IRS and your state government and to pay payroll and income taxes on time, or choose a tool to help you do so.

Once you’ve correctly entered the information in your payroll system, you can let your workers know which information they can update themselves. Common information updates include:

Address or other contact information
Marital status
Withholding amounts (such as 401(k) contributions)

Choose a tool that’s there every step of the way

Getting payroll set up quickly and easily, with the added benefit of ongoing support and automation, is a huge part of choosing the right payroll tool. Find a solution that:

Allows for easy and accurate set-up, reducing the need for you to go back in and make changes.
Provides automated payroll to save time in the future.
Lets employees retrieve their paycheck, view and download their W2s, and view their paid time off balances.

Sources

“7 Things you need to know about the all-American payday,” 2018, QuickBooks Payroll

“The true cause of timesheet errors and how to avoid them,” 2018, QuickBooks Time

“How to use payroll software to effectively manage payroll,” QuickBooks

“Guide to employee benefits for small business,” QuickBooks

“FLSA wage and hour lawsuits are up 417%,” QuickBooks Time, data from the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

“What does the IRS look for in an audit?” QuickBooks

“New survey reveals small business reaction to tax reform,” 2018, QuickBooks Payroll

Find a solution that helps address workers’ concerns

Payroll can be complex, but tackling your workers’ questions should be easy. Prepare yourself with the knowledge you need to answer their questions, and partner with a payroll solution that’s there with you every step of the way.

QuickBooks provides a payroll platform that automates every element of the payroll process, so you can focus on growing your business.

Looking for more resources to help answer your workers’ payroll questions? Check out our free downloadable guides on the following topics to distribute to your workers and help make the payroll process easier for everyone.

Want to keep a copy for yourself?

Download payroll ebook

Provide clarity with a time off policy

It’s no secret, employees work to get paid. But they also love taking time off. Having established guidelines for when they’ll get paid and how much they’ll earn, if any, is important.

As an employer, you’ll need to have a plan for:

Paid Time Off (PTO) policy
Holiday pay
Jury duty pay
Overtime pay

To help your employees understand how each of these can affect payday, download and fill out our free employee pay guide. Be sure to include how and when payments are processed.

Download the guide

How PTO, holidays, jury duty and more can affect payday

Employee time tracking to-do list

Clock in; clock out. It sounds simple enough, but for employees, it’s easy to incorrectly input time card information, or to forget to submit a timesheet altogether.

Share this checklist to help your team submit accurate time and attendance, emphasizing that doing so will help you provide accurate and timely paychecks.

Download the guide

Downloadable checklist: employee time tracking and submitting timesheets

New employee forms: What’s needed on day 1?

Every new hire means a stack of new hire paperwork. Using this guide, you’ll be able to streamline the onboarding process and check multiple boxes off your new hire checklist.

In this guide, you’ll find important forms for new employees to fill out, along with the personal information they’ll be expected to provide. Consider sending the applicable forms to new hires before their start date so they can come ready to work on their first day.

Download the guide

Set up direct deposit and banking information

Employees want to get paid accurately and on time, and you want the payroll process to be as smooth as possible.

This downloadable direct deposit checklist allows you to:

Share direct deposit information with employees when they’re deciding how they want to get paid
Manage and authorize employee payment details if they need to make a change to their banking information.

Download the guide

New-hire direct deposit and banking info checklist

How to read a W-2 Form: A breakdown for employees

Letters and numbers, boxes and codes.It’s no wonder employers get a lot of questions about how to read W-2 forms. Well, now you can help your employees understand them.

As an employer, you’ll need to have a plan for:
This guide helps explain wages and tips and all the W-2 deductions that come with them, including federal income withholdings, social security and medicare taxes, state income taxes, and more.

Download the guide

How to read a w-2 form: a breakdown for employees

Understanding paycheck deductions

Employees often want help understanding pay stub deductions, especially how much is taken out of their paycheck for taxes. With this guide, they’ll have it laid out clearly and concisely – important pay stub definitions all in one place.

Download the guide

Understanding paycheck deductions for employees

† Accuracy Guaranteed: We assume responsibility for federal and state payroll filings and payments directly from your account(s) based on the data you supply. As long as the information you provide us is correct and on time, and you have sufficient funds in your account, we’ll file your tax forms and payments accurately and on time or we’ll pay the resulting payroll tax penalties. Guarantee terms and conditions are subject to change at any time without notice.