Mistakes made during the processing of payroll can be some of the costliest for a company, and when a business struggles to perform its own payroll duties due to lack of training, knowledge or experience, mistakes will almost certainly occur, some of which can result in a loss of finances, not to mention, credibility. One way straightforward and cost-effective solution to this is to outsource payroll to a professional company who will deal with everything efficiently and ensure that payroll is conducted within the confines of tax laws and other IRS requirements.
The continuity plans of businesses large and small have been consistently challenged over the past 6 months, and with no definite end to the pandemic in sight, they remain a challenge. With more employees choosing (or being instructed) to work from home, business and their workers have been forced to rethink many of their duties and responsibilities, payroll included.
More and more businesses are being forced to close temporarily, or have their employees work from home due to the current health crisis. There are fraudulent scams and phishing emails to watch out for, not to mention employee uncertainty and having to strictly adhere to the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act). The ‘Families First Coronavirus Response Act’ has also been introduced on March 18th, and all these things combined have created a lot of pressure on payroll departments all over the country.
While it can be easy to look at outsourcing payroll duties as an extra expense you could do without, this is a rather simplistic way of viewing it, and does nothing to explore or explain the amount of money that a small business can save in the long term if payroll is outsourced. In fact, when you examine outsourcing in closer detail – in particular, payroll – many of the direct costs associated with processing payroll internally, can be massively reduced when working with an outside provider. Let’s look at this in closer detail:
While spending time processing payroll is not exactly time wasted, it is however, time that as a business owner or manager, you could put to more constructive use, such as promoting and marketing your business or interacting with customers. One simple and effective way of ensuring that your employees are paid properly each week or month, yet without having to do it yourself, is to make the switch to an online HR and payroll processing program. Here are some of the advantages of using an online payroll system for your small business:
With the impact of the global health pandemic being felt by thousands of industries the world over, many companies have faced operational and financial challenges, the likes of which they have never experienced before. Desperately searching for ways to deal with these challenges while continuing to meet the needs of their customers, clients and employees, has been tough for them, and decisions have had to be made with respect to cutting costs wherever possible.
In days of old, payroll involved a whole lot of manual calculations on ledgers and employees were all paid in cash. Gradually, as time progressed, pay checks were introduced and workers often waited up to a month to receive their pay. Then, when federal withholding taxes made their merry way into the equation, things got a whole lot more complicated.
Payroll is perhaps one of the most important elements of a successful business, as precious few companies exist without the help of a team of employees, and when they are not paid on time or their salary is not accurate, you stand a good chance of them either leaving their employ or threatening to take legal action against you.
If you’re a business owner, you may have made the choice to handle your company’s payroll functions yourself, or at the very least, internally. While this may be the right decision for you and your company, it could prove damaging for others.
One of a bookkeeper’s many roles is to help organize a business’s finances, and they do this by managing and recording financial statements, tax receipts, payroll and cash flow. If you’re a business owner, seasoned or new, and you don’t already have a bookkeeper, you’re probably struggling to know exactly where your finances stand, or where the funds are going. With no background in finance, most business owners without a bookkeeper, have no option but to try and manage their money themselves, which can have disastrous and costly consequences.
Outsourcing your accounting needs is one surefire way of gaining access to a whole team of qualified and experienced accounting professionals, but what other qualities should a good accountant possess?
Throughout the United States, outsourcing has been a hugely popular and effective way of managing work for many, many years, with companies quickly discovering its cost-effective advantages and productivity gains. When it comes to veterinary practices, however, outsourcing’s many opportunities for increased revenue and efficiency are frequently overlooked, and the practice of outsourcing continues to be a rarity. But if you’re running a busy veterinary practice and are struggling to maintain your accountancy commitments, outsourcing could help you relieve the burden considerably, just as it does in many other industries.
Many Americans are completely unprepared for their retirement, having put nothing aside over the years, and with pensions on the decline and Social Security at risk of becoming insolvent by 2034, 401(k)’s, are becoming ever more important as a retirement tool.
Group health insurance policies are seen to be growing in popularity across the country, and this may be because there are some serious advantages to these policies rather than individual ones. Not only are they often cheaper than individual coverage in many states, but small company’s find them easier to manage. For example, there will be a monthly combined bill, uniform and regulated coverage for each employee along with many tax benefits. This ease of coverage is encouraging more and more small businesses to find out if they qualify for group health insurance:
For new business owners or anyone entering the corporate world for the first time, corporate income tax can seem like a minefield. Let’s look at it in a little more detail:
Tax savings are on all our minds, whatever type of business we’re involved in, and making them is made more achievable with some advanced planning, a lot of expertise and some specialized, up to date knowledge. However, the average business owner doesn’t have those attributes, so it makes sense to work with someone who does; an EA, or enrolled agent.
If you’re a dental professional, then you doubtless pay out a lot in taxes every year, and you may be asking yourself if there are any legitimate ways to save on the cost of this. Fortunately, there are several strategies that you can adopt to save money on your taxes legally, and here are the top tax tips:
Dade County Federal Credit Union BY: ALEXANDRA GONZALEZ BRIEF History Established May 1st, 1939 Why? To offer financial independence and security to the county ...
All small business owners know that time is their greatest asset, as while money or even business can be lost and gained, time, once expended, is gone for good. Managing time then becomes one of the greatest challenges and responsibilities of a conscientious and profit minded business owner - both for themselves and their employees - and here are a few tips on how best to achieve it:
Every employee who has any form of complaint in relation to their regular pay, overtime wages or vacation pay, has the right to take their complaint to the appropriate state employment agency. Oftentimes, this will result in an investigation by the employment agency, and in some cases, can even lead to a lawsuit against the employer or a loss of business license. Some consequences of action taken by an employee can include payments of back pay owed, and fines and costly penalties.
Time theft is a very real problem for many businesses, large and small alike, and is said to be an act frequently committed by up to 80% of the current workforce. Over time, such theft can have a real impact on a company’s bottom line and it brings to light how simple it can be for employees to be dishonest about their time spent doing the job they are paid to do.
As a business owner, paying your employees accurately and in a timely manner is a top priority and an important legal obligation. It can be tempting – especially when times are tough – to delay staff payments or avoid paying terminated employees, but in doing so, you leave yourself open to costly lawsuits and potential fines.
If you’re in the fortunate (and frankly, exciting) position of owning a small or mid-sized business that is expanding, then you might be noticing that not only is there a lot more accounting work to be taken care of, but that you have less time available to complete it all. Even if you already employ a part time bookkeeper and accountant, they may be struggling to keep up with the workload, and if this continues, your business will ultimately suffer.
If any of your employees are showing reduced productivity while at work, there could be several reasons behind this, and any one of them could be related to their working environment or conditions. The job may be proving too stressful for them, they may have financial worries, personal problems, or may even be sick but cannot afford to take the time off work.
Your company is potentially making a risky investment each time it hires new employees, and recruiting costs can be high. Research has shown that a staff member at mid-range, doesn’t come close to giving a return on investment until they’ve been employed for at least 6 months, highlighting the need to hire the right staff from the get go. Avoiding commonly made background mistakes when hiring, can help you to minimize the risk and get you a return upon your investment far quicker:
Accounting strategies that can help reduce a tax burden are welcomed by all small business owners, and while the following tips are all viable, you’d be wise to discuss them in detail with your tax advisor, as naturally, each business has its own unique requirements:
For all companies, saving money on their taxes forms an essential part of their overall business strategy, but for small businesses, what they can save in taxes, could be the difference between success and failure.
If you’re the owner of a busy law firm, you’ll know only too well how many daily, weekly and monthly bookkeeping and accounting tasks need to be completed, and in a timely, accurate and professional manner. Perhaps, to accomplish this, you’ve employed a full-time bookkeeper, and are paying them upwards of $50k a year? Or maybe, like many other busy CPA’s, attorneys and owners of multi-lawyer practices, you’ve discovered the convenience and efficiency of outsourcing, and are paying them around a fifth of the cost?