Payroll Basics For New Businesses

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Payroll Basics For New Businesses
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• While the process itself may seem easy youve
  just hired your first employee and you need to
  pay them if youre new to business and payroll,
  you may find that its not clear exactly what you
  should be doing and how to go about it. There may
  be many words and phrases that youre not
  familiar with, such as pay periods,
  unemployment tax and Form 941 to name but a
  few.
• So, if youre a newly formed business who has
  taken on their first employees, here are a few
  basics to help you get started

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• Pay periods and pay days
• Firstly, youll need to determine your pay
  schedule, which is when you pay your employees
  for work carried out, and the beginning and end
  of this schedule becomes the pay period. Pay day
  is the date upon which your employees are paid,
  and this is usually a fixed number of days after
  the pay period has ended.
• Employee and employer taxes
• Employers and employees are required by law to
  pay taxes on wages, and these are owed to the
  federal government and the state.

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• In most cases, the employer will be responsible
  for collecting federal income tax, Social
  Security and Medicare tax from their employees
  pay checks based upon what employees have marked
  on their W-4 form.
• Employers must also match an amount to pay into
  Social Security and Medicare tax, as well as
  Federal Unemployment tax or FUTA. This is a
  federal employer tax that provides workers who
  have lost their job, with unemployment
  compensation. Depending on where you live, as an
  employer you may also be required to collect and
  pay state income tax.

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• Paying and filing taxes
• Most federal and state income taxes must be paid
  monthly, while other types of taxes are usually
  paid quarterly, but it may depend on the size of
  your business. In general, most employers must
  pay taxes monthly and they will receive
  notifications from the state and federal
  government if they are required to pay them more
  often. If you are using the services of a paid
  payroll provider, then they will usually withhold
  these taxes every pay period and release them to
  the government only when theyre due.
• Where filing taxes is concerned, a federal form
  941 must be filed quarterly, while Form 940 must
  be filed annually.

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• Similar forms may also need to be filed to the
  state, while Forms W-3 and W-2 must go to the SSA
  every year.
• The laws that must be adhered to when setting up
  payroll can be complex and adhering to them is
  can be tricky if youre tackling payroll alone.
• Timekeeping
• Most workers are classed as either exempt or
  non-exempt employees relative to their salary
  and the type of work they are employed in, and as
  an employer, you must keep track of the hours
  worked for non-exempt employees who are paid by
  the hour.

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• As a new employer, youd be wise to do some
  research into the requirements you must meet when
  paying your staff, or better yet, seek
  professional help and guidance from a firm who
  specialize in offering payroll solutions to
  businesses, or outsource your requirements to
  avoid any costly errors and to satisfy your newly
  formed workforce.
• Apollo Payroll is one of the premier small
  business payroll companies in Miami Beach and
  Coral Gables. Apollo Payroll is dedicated to
  delivering expert advice, responsive service, and
  highly accurate payroll processing and reporting
  to ensure the success and growth of the business
  that we serve. Our services include comprehensive
  payroll service in Miami and other cities in
  Miami-Dade County, employee background check and
  group health insurance in Coral Gables Miami.