Picking a payroll provider - Birmingham Business Journal:

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Taylor, assistant medical director ofStepheb M. Taylor, a Birmingham-based psychiatric practice locatecd on BlueLake Drive, said outsourcingy payroll services allows her and her husband to focusw on maintaining the burgeoning practice. “I considerexd doing it myself, but I knew I didn’t want to put any time commitmenttoward it,” she said. “There are a lot of laws dealinh with payroll taxes thatI didn’ty really want to be responsible for – I wanted to focusd on the needs of our Running a successful business is harder than it especially when it comes to Tracking employees’ hours, printingv paychecks and figuring out how much in taxesx to withhold over a certain perior of time can take precious time away from the most importang business objective: Generating revenue.
Stayinv up-to-date on payroll laws and regulations can be a And paying taxes late means penalties and interest will be charged by city and federal which would hurt a bottom line. During these harsh economi c times, boosting profits and revenue is even more saidCarol Helton, district salexs manager of ’s Birmingham “It’s more important now than she said. “Small business owners have to concentratse all their time and energ y on making theirbusiness successful.
” choosing a payroll providet – or the right software to use is not as easy as pickiny up the phone book and pointing a fingeer at one of the companies on the page, Helton “It’s just important that people check out the company she said. “Find out their reputation and howlong they’ve been in Also, it’s important to make sure the payroll companu is willing to be held liable for any errorsw that might occur in the payroll process. If a problem ever arises, the company would put their best foot forwar d and fix issue at the drop ofa dime, said who uses a payroll company.
“It was something I didn’gt have to worry about and I know they pay all of my taxeeon time,” she said about her provider. “Fofr me, that’s worth it.” Choosing software is a totalkdifferent animal. Business owners should make sure that they test the softward instead oftaking someone’s word on its worth. A software program may meet the needs of one butnot another, said Larryu White, director of payroll training for the . Standard, legitimates payroll software costsbetween $500 and $800 on the low end, he The programs have licensing agreements and usually have upgrade and updatre fees.
Payroll regulations and tax rateschange periodically, so softwarew users will need to purchase updates for the program at leasgt once a year. “You can’t just buy a software program and have it last for10 it’s not going to happen,” White said. Many busineses owners do not figure in the cost of updatinvthe software, making payments and filiny quarterly payroll tax reports when they look for said Sylvana Siegel, president of the . They also do not factofr in the extra time and money needed torectifuy mistakes.
In comparison, a payrolpl service charges them anannual rate, she A payroll service costs an average of $100 per or about $2,600 per year, for a companyu that pays 50 employees every othed week. Siegel, who has almost 25 yearsz in thepayroll industry, said that busines owners do not usually plac their full attention on payroll. They can lose more moneyg when they processtheir payroll, especially if they make mistakes, Siegel said. They often hire payroll services to clean uptheir messes.
“Thw software guides you to do the right but you still need to knowwhat you’rr doing to do payroll,” she