If you’re the owner of a small business, you’ll know just how important finances are in measuring your businesses success. Most financial considerations are kept within the company, and often strictly so, but payroll is one part of the business in which every company member has a vested interest. Often the biggest expense for companies, too, it’s vital that payroll be processed accurately and efficiently.
When you’re researching payroll software systems, it’s important to consider your specific needs and how the different options available to you, weigh up.
Here are some points to consider when you’re searching for payroll software for your small business:
- Be sure to properly evaluate the needs of your business:
The nature of your business, may vary greatly from that of another business, and so what works for one, may not work for another. Payroll software that can be customised to suit your businesses specific needs will make life much simpler all round.
When thinking about the needs of your business, consider the following points, such as: the size of your company, your budget, and what is your level of comfort and familiarity with the legalities, rules and regulations surrounding payroll.
- Look in detail at the features of the payroll software:
TAX FILING
Whatever a businesses’ size, managing and recording taxes can be tricky and time consuming, particularly as state and federal tax rules and regulations change frequently. If a payroll software system offers tax filing features, then this could help you manage the complexities and stay he right side of the law.
EMPLOYEE SELF SERVICE PORTAL
This gives employees the ability to manage their personal payroll data quickly and easily, and helps to keep the data recording process more streamlined, without the need for continued communication between all parties. A self-service payroll portal for small businesses should include information such as pay stubs, W2 forms and paid time off balance.
DIRECT DEPOSIT
This feature is vital for streamlining the payment process for all parties, and this is increasingly being considered as the norm within companies. Paper checks are inconvenient in many ways, for both employer and employee, involving trips to banks to withdraw funds and the physical act of handing out paper checks. Cutting them out of the process saves time and resources, and direct deposits are now a key feature of most payroll software systems.
HR INTEGRATION
There are myriad benefits of HR integration in small business payroll software, and these include streamlining the way in which departments communicate and organize between each other, and in the long run, will reduce time and resources, and often costs, too.
- Look closely at the cost versus how it functions:
Opting for the cheapest payroll solution may seem tempting, particularly if you’re used to dealing with it all yourself, but it’s usually not the most sensible decision, and will often require more manual work.
Spending a little more may well end up saving you money in the long run, as a good payroll software system will provide you with more accuracy and enable you to be fully tax compliant, therefore avoiding potentially costly penalties.
If choosing the right payroll software system for your small business is too baffling or time consuming, why not consult the advice of a payroll company who specialize in working with such systems and who can help you to manage it better?