We have been interviewing our clients to learn more about their industries and how they became successful. See what small business owners have to say about Pink Payroll and listen as they give key advice about their industry!

Meet Andy Haenfler, owner of Cafe on Park. Cafe on Park is a cafe located in the North Park/ Hillcrest area of San Diego. Listen to what Andy has to say about Pink Payroll, and his other experiences as a small business owner.

Visit their website at www.cafeonpark.com. Also, follow our blog for more small business payroll information!

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.

Owning a coffee shop is one of the most rewarding careers if you have the passion for it. Cafes give owners a chance to create their own atmosphere while pursuing something they care about - but this job is not right for everyone. A coffee shop is like a restaurant on a smaller scale, and require similar management skills.

Become an Expert

You can’t expect to go into the coffee industry without some solid knowledge, just like you wouldn’t open a clothing store without having a clue about fashion trends. Learn about coffee and where it comes from, along with all the types of coffee and related items. You and your employees are expected to be experts in this field of knowledge, just in case a customer gets curious.

You’ll also want firsthand experience with a coffee shop’s daily workings. The best thing you can possibly do for yourself is to spend some time working at a coffee shop. This way you can experience the atmosphere and requirements of running a coffee shop from the bottom up. You can then decide if owning a coffee shop is right for you.

Make a Business Plan

Drawing up a business plan is absolutely necessary for any business, and a cafe is no exception. Include things like the general goals of your business, scope of your menu, estimated start-up finances, and what makes you unique. Always keep your plan in mind; it will help you organize your thoughts and stay on track. You will probably need to show this to whoever will be financing your business.

Know the Field

Opening a coffee shop next-door to two popular chain cafes is probably not going to be your best bet, so thoroughly research the current market. If you can, speak with other coffee shop owners or customers you may know to learn more. What qualities will make you stand out from your competitors? Where will you be located? What will your hours of operation be? These factors all affect each other, so make sure you are as prepared as possible.

Obtain Financing

Once you have done the proper research, you can begin financing your business. In your business plan, you probably indicated how you will get the money - business loans, partners, out-of-pocket etc. If someone will be helping you finance, bring your completed business plan to them so they can have something to look at.

Keep it Simple

When you are starting out, it’s a good idea to keep your menu simple. Sometimes new cafe owners try to cater to too many people by including every possible item they can think of. This can be overwhelming and turn new customers off. Some items will barely sell, but removing them will be out of the question if they have already become personal favorites.

I recommend starting out with staple items that everyone is used to. As you establish yourself in your area, you can expand your menu by offering more flavors or drink categories.

As you can tell, owning a cafe requires dedication and a willingness to take chances. But if you’re well prepared, your coffee shop can become the talk of the town in no time!

Pink Payroll is a California-based payroll company. We aim to provide affordable, easy payroll to our clients throughout the 50 states. If you would like to learn more, visit our services page or request a free payroll quote.

Customer satisfaction is the key to a successful business. Not long ago, customer satisfaction spread mainly through word of mouth and referrals. But today, sites like Yelp allow customers to openly review businesses for everyone to see - and they do. When choosing a service, most consumers spend a good amount of time online researching brands and companies to make their choice.

Today’s business owners are more accountable than ever to keep customers satisfied and resolve complaints. I mean, what’s going to make somebody pick your business if your competitor Joe Schmoe across the street has hundreds of great online reviews? That’s why it’s important to establish a strong online reputation. But how do you do this without being pushy or dishonest?

Here are five tips to get you started:

It is a common practice for customers to tip their servers at restaurants. For servers, cash tips are expected to compensate their low hourly wages. In most cases, a server’s tips make up an easy majority of their total wages, and not surprisingly, most of these tips go unreported and untaxed. After all, cash tips are considered the main perk of being a waiter or waitress, so its easy to understand why employers and staff alike don’t want to disclose their income from tips.

But don’t assume the government is unaware of this and that they aren’t after restuarants who do this. Being that so much money is made through tips, the government has taken a firm stand on taxing them. There is a strict set of rules that outline how restaurant owners are supposed to collect, distribute, and report their employees’ tips.

With these rules come a number of employee and employer responsibilities:

Employer Responsibilities

Collect tip reports from every employee at the end of each payroll period. You can do so more often if you feel it is necessary.

Withhold income taxes and FICA taxes and report your employees’ tips to the IRS. Tips must be reported no later than the 10th day of the month following the pay period.

File form 8027 if your restaurant is considered a “large business”. This must be done every year, and consists of reporting to the IRS your restaurant’s charged sales, charged tips, total sales and total tips.

Employee Responsibilities

Keep a daily record of tips in a tip log that your employer provides you. This way your employer can apply the necessary FICA withholdings properly.

Report all yearly tips with IRS publication 1244.

TRAC Program

As an incentive to make employers comply with tip-reporting laws, the IRS has implemented the Tip Reporting Alternative Commitment (TRAC) program. By signing up and agreeing to the TRAC program, employers agree to:

-Implement tip-reporting procedures

-Educate their employees about tip-reporting

-Stay on top of all tip-reporting paperwork, reporting, and related obligations

In return, the IRS agrees not to access any FICA taxes from your restaurant, unless it has individually looked into all employees under-reporting their tips in your business. The IRS will not instigate any audits of your business while you are enrolled in TRAC , though it may individually examine your employees for under-reporting.

More info on the TRAC system can be found at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/foodtrac.pdf.

How You Can Educate Your Employees

Warn your staff about the risk of underreporting their tips. Let them know they could face fines or even time behind bars for lying about the amount of tips they make.

Use technology. One way of making your employees comply is to program POS systems to require daily tip disclosure before your employees can clock out.

Repetition: Repetition is a powerful way of getting your message across. It will let your employees know you are serious about this issue. Reiterate in staff meetings the importance of proper tip reporting.

Pink Payroll is a nationwide payroll company. We aim to provide affordable, easy payroll to our clients throughout the 50 states. If you would like to learn more, visit our services page or request a free payroll quote.

If you are a San Diego small business owner, you will want to keep track of San Diego’s new minimum wage and paid time off laws.

MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE:  San Diego is the first city to pass a minimum wage increase since California’s statewide increase to $9 per hour in July 2014.   The increase would gradually raise the minimum wage to meet inflation, starting at $9.75 as of Jan. 1, 2015, to $10.50 by Jan. 2016, and then further to $11.50 by Jan. 2017. By 2019 the minimum wage will be indexed to match inflation.

PAID SICK DAY ADDITION:  This law will also require employers to allow five paid sick-days each year for each employee.

Should this become law, Pink Payroll can assist small business owners to stay compliant with the increases.  We have an Human Resource group that will help you add the sick day rules into your HR Employment Manual.  The Pink Payroll Software will track the days accrued (earned) and used by each employee.  We can also help you with calculations to see how much this will cost you on an annual and per hour basis.  Contact us for to get information on how to manage this change with your business.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s veto of the increase was overridden by the San Diego city council on Monday, August 18th by a six-to-two vote.  Those who voted to override the veto argue that the increase will help low-income families that struggle to make ends meet, and could even pull some out of poverty. They state an estimated 172,000 San Diego residents will benefit from the increase.

Those against the increase, such as Faulconer, argue that it will actually hurt small businesses and put the city at an economic disadvantage with neighboring areas. He argues that small businesses will have to lay off employees to accommodate the increase.

Though the veto was overridden successfully, the wage increase faces one more obstacle before it can become official. The San Diego Small Business Coalition has introduced a petition to put the wage increase on a voter’s ballot before it can take effect. The petition has 30 days (as of Wed. Aug. 20) to get 33,866 signatures for the referendum to be on the ballot. If it succeeds, San Diego voters will have to approve the wage hike. We will continue to provide info on this event as it unfolds.

Visit and follow our blog for more payroll updates from Pink Payroll!  

Typical Worker’s Comp Scenario:

Worker’s Compensation Insurance payments and paperwork have posed problems for business owners time and time again.

Usually, insurance providers require a 25% annual deposit based on an estimated figure of what your payroll will be. Not only is 25% a lot to shell out in one payment, but the estimate usually hits way above or below target. Employers then have to wait for a refund or are pestered with audit bills to pay the remainder of a low estimate. Your premium is then adjusted yearly and you pay a 25% estimated deposit each time. This system requires business owners like you to fill out unnecessary paperwork and pay more than you should in premiums

Problem Solved.

Pink Payroll is one of a few payroll services to offer “Pay-as-you-Go” Worker’s Comp Insurance. Pay-as-you-Go is a system that allows you to pay your Worker’s Comp Insurance at the endof each payroll period, so you can avoid refunds and audit bills.

By hiring us, you will also avoid paying the overpriced 25% up-front deposit. Your automated payments will be consistent and in real time.

Sounds easy? It is!

At the end of a given pay period, Pink Payroll sends your payroll information over to your insurance carrier. Your insurance then calculates what you will pay from the submitted payroll. Simple as that!

The benefits from doing Workers Comp this way are…

No 25% Up-Front Deposit

With us, you won’t be paying the 25% chunk of your total bill that is common with Workers Comp Insurance. Your payments will be more predictable and consistent.

No Audit Bills

The Pay-as-you-Go system acts in real time. This means we cannot overestimate or under-estimate your premium. This way you won’t get audit bills due to faulty estimates or have to wait for a reimbursement in the mail.

Set up is Easy

Integrating your payroll with our Worker’s Comp software is quite easy since we will already have your payroll and employee data.

We Accept Most Insurance Companies

We work with most insurance carriers which include Travelers, The Hartford, Amtrust, CNA, Guard and even more!

Follow our Pink Payroll Blog, and contact us for a free quote on your payroll!

The following article was contributed by Jake Lincoln, CPA, located in San Diego, California. You may contact him at www.lincolntaxandwealth.com. Original published date January 8, 2013.
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, employers are required to disclose the aggregate cost of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage provided to their employees on each employee's annual Form W-2. Contributions to Health Savings Accounts and Medical Savings Accounts are not included. This requirement began last year, for all 2011 Form W-2's. This is the second year of this new reporting legislation.

Small business owners around the world know that the hardest part of running a business is getting the right kind of employees. You should ask yourself a few questions before you start to hire your next employee. What are you looking for in an employee, what you want the employee to accomplish, and what kind of employee best fits in your business? Did you know that one bad hire can potential cost your company thousands of dollars? With the economy being the way it is, can you as a small business owner really afford to lose thousands?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, also known informally as "Obama-Care) defines full-time employees as those who work 30 hours a week on average. This law requires large employers to accurately track, record and report to the IRS on an annual basis each employee's status of full-time or part-time monthly starting in 2014. Ask your payroll company or payroll service how to handle the reporting.