Attention All Startups: Payroll Information You Can’t Miss

Why Payroll Is So Critical

Starting a business is exciting. New opportunities abound as you develop your startup and begin to receive interest from prospective clients. Due to the excitement and busy nature of starting a business, many startup owners overlook one critical aspect of owning a business: how do we manage payroll?

The beginning stages of your startup may allow payroll to be managed internally. Managing the payroll of 5 or less employees isn't too cumbersome. However, as your business grows, you may need to consider outsourcing certain functions of your business to external organizations. Outsourcing your payroll functions allows you to focus on other aspects of your business that need assistance.

What resources are available for payroll outsourcing? How do you know which payroll service to choose? And, what are the benefits of outsourcing functions?

Payroll Subtleties

When most people think of payroll, they typically think of a simple paycheck; money earned for hours worked, but it is much more than that. Payroll is wages; hourly, salary, commission, bonuses. Payroll is benefits; health insurance, dental and vision plans, vacation or sick pay. Payroll is compliance with state and federal legislation; unemployment, workers compensation and disability insurances.

Failure to properly manage your payroll functions can lead to increased employee turnover, headache filled paper trails of inaccurate reporting, and non-compliance notices from state and federal governments. Employee turnover alone is enough to drive a business into the ground, but non-compliance with employment laws will drive the final nail in the coffin of business failures.

Keeping track of these various characteristics of payroll is enough to drive any startup owner a bit cuckoo. Outsourcing payroll to a professional service provider can be beneficial to any company’s bottom line and business owner’s personal stress levels.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Payroll

The benefits of outsourcing payroll functions to a professional provider can do great things for any startup. Here are a few benefits to look forward to if you decide to outsource your payroll:

Scheduled Payments: Late deliveries of paychecks are a big issue for many companies. A business owner often gets caught up in the day to day operations and may simply forget to process payroll on time. A payroll service that specializes in this specific business function ensures that payroll is delivered to employees each and every payroll period.
Reduce Expenditures Related To Payroll: While outsourcing your payroll to a professional provider, you are more likely to reduce expenses associated with payroll. Such expenditures might include the fees associated with the various programs you are currently using, fees or fines for non-compliance notices or minimization of physical paperwork through electronic filings.
Increased Efficiency: Outsourcing payroll functions to a provider allows you to focus on the aspects of your business that need your attention. You will be able to focus on building relationships and maximizing your business’s productivity by allowing your payroll provider to focus on the functions and compliance laws.

How to Choose a Payroll Provider

Choosing the right provider is an important decision. You want to make sure you make the correct choice for your budget, your business and your future. If you are planning to expand your organization, you will want to make sure that the provider chosen is scalable. As discussed above, a payroll provider should also be able to ensure compliance with state and federal employment regulations.

When choosing a payroll provider, be sure to take the following into consideration:

Scalable Growth: Can the provider ensure that your company will be provided for throughout periods of growth? Be sure that the payroll provider you choose is able to grow with you.
Financially Viable: Your payroll provider should be able to provide services based on a reasonable budget. Choose a payroll provider who can meet your needs and allow you to maintain a healthy bottom line.
Compliance Guaranteed: State and federal compliance should be your payroll provider’s number one priority for your business. Non-compliance can result in heavy fines for your business and ultimately could jeopardize your standing as a business owner. Make sure that your payroll provider is maintaining compliance best practices that guarantee compliance with employment laws.

Luckily, there are services that ensure complete compliance, scalable options for growing businesses and numerous other human capital management (HCM) functions. Platinum Group offers iSolved; a cloud-based HCM platform that allows small to medium sized businesses manage important HR functions such as payroll, timekeeping and benefit administration.

Platinum Group isn’t just a payroll provider. We are a full service HCM resource that allows businesses to manage their payroll, benefits, compliance and other various human resources functions in a way that maximizes efficiency and eliminates redundancies.