Keeping up with your employees’ payroll is time-consuming and complicated, and you’re the one on the line if the taxes aren’t calculated correctly. This takes valuable time away from running your business as you concentrate on complying with payroll laws. It doesn’t have to though, because some handy tools can make your payroll duties easier.
Salary
Regardless of how you process your payroll, putting your employees on a salary rather than paying them hourly can make processing the payroll easier. When salaried, employees typically make the same amount every week. This means you can figure their gross pay, tax withholding and net pay once, and then copy it for each payday. Items such as bonuses require additional figuring, but using a salary system for your employees can save you significant time when calculating payroll. This system isn’t right for every business, especially those who employ part-time people, and there are laws regarding who can be paid on a salaried basis, so ask us at Ritzy IT which is the right option for you.
Payroll Software
Using payroll software can significantly decrease the amount of time you spend calculating pay and withholdings. There are many options, Sage Pastel Payroll have many software offerings, convenient online versions as well as easy to use desktop versions. The online version requires a low monthly fee, and the desktop flex version allows you to pay monthly as well, but several useful features can make the fees worthwhile for your company. After you enter your employees’ information, such as how much they make and how much they’ve chosen to withhold, all you do each payday is enter how many hours they worked. Sage Pastel Payroll lets you add other options such as overtime hours, vacation, sick days and commissions. The software calculates the net pay and creates a pay summary for each employee.
Outsourcing
Paying an accountant or payroll services company to do your pay calculations is an easy option. Ritzy IT has an outsourcing department, saving you time and money. Outsourced companies require a monthly fee that’s based on how many employees you have. Ritzy IT has 2 registered Tax Practitioners and stay on top of tax law changes, making sure to adjust your staff’s pay as necessary. Using an outsourced company will free up your time to focus on what’s important in your business.
Keeping Records
Part of the payroll headache is filing and paying your monthly EMP201 and your yearly EMP501. If you calculate your payroll manually, you must keep track of every employee’s withholdings and complete the proper paperwork. Employers should retain these records for three years, so you must be organized and have sufficient storage space. Using payroll software or a payroll services company can help you with this record keeping as well as paying the proper amount in your monthly taxes. You can store your records electronically rather than taking up valuable real estate in your office.
For any payroll advice, whether you are still processing manually, have or are in need of payroll software and possibly looking to outsource your payroll. Call our experienced team and we will be happy to give you payroll advice. We want to make sure you are spending your time on what’s important in your business.
