Choosing the Right Payroll Service: 6 Important Tips

Tuesday, 28 October 2014
Published in Pink Payroll
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In the beginning, business seemed so simple. It was just you and your best friend selling lemonade. But as your business grew, so did your obligations. One of these obligations was payroll, and if you're like many business owners, you decided to outsource it.

Payroll is a complicated matter for the average business owner: With so many state laws, federal laws and deadlines, it’s easy to see why payroll is a task best left to the professionals. But with so many payroll services out there, it can be hard to choose just one. Picking the wrong payroll company will cause you nightmares down the road, while picking the right one will make payroll a stress free part of your business. There are many important factors to consider when choosing your payroll service. So whether you are outsourcing payroll for the first time, or are looking to change your existing payroll service, here are 6 important factors to consider.

1. Prioritize YOUR Business’s Needs
Consider what exactly you expect from a payroll service. Research around a bit, and come up with a list of your payroll needs. What’s best for the company next door may not be best for your company. Also, knowing what you want will prevent you from being upsold on fancy add-ons you don’t need.

2. Price
Naturally, you will want to price-shop a bit. But it’s important to know that a low price quote usually means a “do-it-yourself” service, and that an overly high quote can mean you are paying for services you don’t need. Also remember that a company’s pricing can change down the road. A payroll company’s initial price quote may look attractive, but some companies quote low with the intent that you will need to add services in the future. Keep an eye out for this.

3. Customer Service
Our clients tell us that customer service is the biggest difference they notice after switching payroll companies. You want your payroll provider to keep track of you - not the other way around. Consider what customer support services different companies offer. When can you contact them? How often will they be contacting you? How prompt are they when responding to problems?

4. Experience In Your Industry
You will also want to choose a provider that has experience doing payroll in your industry. As you may know, each industry has unique payroll requirements and tax obligations. If your payroll company is clueless about your industry, you will have your work cut out for you.

5. Set-up Process
Ask payroll providers about their set-up process. Consider how long it will be before you are fully integrated, and how much time the provider expects on your behalf.

6. Employee Access
You may want your employees to have access to their timekeeping and pay stubs online. Your payroll company should be able to grant your employees personalized access to view their payroll information.

Pink Payroll provides small business payroll service to companies with 1 to 500 employees.

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