About Payroll

Payroll is an absolutely essential yet resource intensive aspect of running a successfull business. Company payroll is the financial records comprised of salaries, wages, bonuses and deductions.

Having payroll done in-house creates a lot of responsibility and increased costs. This means that a company must have on staff payroll trained employees as well as related payroll equipment and payroll software.

To reduce costs in terms of time, money, and related overhead, many companies choose to outsource their payroll functions to a qualified service that is dedicated to strictly performing company payroll for their clients.

In this extremely competitive climate, company success depends on recruiting and keeping top talent. As such, smooth payroll operation is an absolute must. If the company opts for in-house payroll, there are many software products such as Easy Pay and Intuit Accountant. However, saving time and focusing on core competency may move a company to outsource their payroll function to a specialized service. There are many payroll services out there. In Canada, one of the top trusted company payroll services is Paytrak.

Outsource Your Payroll - 6 Reasons Why

1. Your Time is Valuable - Could the time that you spend on payroll be better spent elsewhere? Maybe in advertising, meeting prospective clients, or working on generating new business. Decide right now what you think your time is worth. Is it $50 per hour, or maybe even $100 or more per hour? Now, think about how long it takes you to do payroll each week. Don't forget to add in time spent calculating employee hours, preparing tax returns, dealing with incorrect checks and notices from the state. And don't forget the cost of penalties you have paid. So, if you were paying yourself what you are worth, how much would you be paying yourself to do payroll? Chances are, outsourcing fees are much less.

2. Isn't One of Your Goals to Decrease Expenses, or Increase Profits? - If you aren't doing payroll yourself, maybe you are paying someone in your office to do it. Are you paying too much? Again, look at what it is costing you to handle payroll in-house. Do you know how much it costs you to train someone in that position? Also include costs of software, software updates and support, checks, paper, envelopes, and employee time? And what if the employee that handles payroll leaves your firm? What's to stop them from letting the competition in on your payroll practices, and how much your employees are paid? In many instances, the cost of outsourcing is far less than keeping the function in-house.

3. Keeping Up With The Competition - At A Low Cost To You - These days, employees are used to features that provide them with convenience. At some point, this fact has probably made you think of implementing features like Direct Deposit, Employee Self Service, or Pay Cards. Maybe you thought it would cost too much, or you simply didn't have the time to do the research. A payroll company, like HR Fusion (www.hrfusion.com ) in Baldwin County Alabama offers clients numerous advanced options to help them streamline their processes and keep up with the competition. They have already done the research, have the systems in place, and can offer their clients these convenient options at a low cost.

4. Be More Flexible - Are you tired of having to schedule your meetings, sick days and vacations around the dreaded "Payroll Day?" When you outsource your payroll, you don't have to worry about being in the office to make sure your employees get paid. All you have to do is get employee time into the payroll processor. These days, that is as simple as an email or phone call - which can both be done from anywhere.

5. No More Penalties! - If you are handling payroll in-house, you have probably been assessed a tax penalty or two. There have been over 9,500 changes to the federal tax code in the last 10 years. Do you want to keep up with all of that? Once again, you have better things to do. Many payroll companies, like HR Fusion, take the responsibility for your employment taxes when they process your payroll. Many companies have a "No Penalties" policy. According to the 2006 IRS Data Book - In fiscal year 2006 alone, the IRS sent over 8.7 million employment tax penalty notices to employers, assessing over $6.4 billion in employment tax penalties. Were you one of those employers?

6. Leave The Headaches In The Past - It can be quite frustrating to have payroll looming over your head each week. Not only do you have to shell out a lot of cash, but you have to make sure you are calculating everyone's check correctly. What about deductions, garnishments, and loans? What about updating the tax tables for your software? What if there is a change in a law or reporting feature? How are you supposed to know about it? You have enough to worry about! Outsource your payroll and you can leave the worries to someone else.

Jennifer L Wilson is the Vice President of HR Fusion, Inc. HR Fusion provides employers along the Gulf Coast with HR services including payroll processing, tax compliance, automated time & attendance, web-based HR resources, and workers' compensation packages. HR Fusion is located in Silverhill, AL and serves employers in Central and South Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, and South Mississippi. Jennifer L Wilson has an accounting degree and MBA from Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL.