The Best Payroll Services for Small Businesses

​Payroll continues to get more complicated.  This month new minimum wage and sick pay regulations went into effect in Washington State, requiring more paperwork and tracking.

Depending on the type of business and your location, payroll can be complex. For instance, according to Oregon regulations, it is permissible to pay wages by the hour, as a salary, in commissions, or at a piece-rate. There are tip credit considerations, vacation pay, holiday pay, bonuses, and severance pay, sick pay, retirement plans, minor regulations, L&I rate considerations. Wage agreements may be made between employers and employees as a part of the employee’s total compensation.  

Tracking employees who qualify for work opportunity tax credits can be time-consuming to manage with forms and deadlines but can pay big dividends. The Affordable Care Act now has employers required to be ACA compliant. 

Cities, like Seattle, may also impact payroll calculations with sick leave and family leave tracking requirements.

Another example of where things can fail is the Oregon.gov website. The website says right up front: “Order Forms - Forms for filing payroll taxes by paper cannot be downloaded. They must be ordered from the Employment Department.” This requires you to keep forms on hand in inventory – don’t run out.

To determine the best payroll service, you could make a comprehensive list of companies with an itemized list of services. After some preliminary investigation into each one, you could then interview small business owners to be sure you don’t miss other payroll service companies and add them to your list.

You might then whittle the list down to a dozen payroll service candidates as best picks to consider. Among them will be national companies with thousands of customers and local bookkeepers without the support of a firm behind them, operating out of their home office. 

To be fully informed and make the best selection, you might watch tutorial and how-to videos, read user comments, reviewed Better Business Bureau ratings and complaints, and review the pricing for each service.

The next step when making a purchase is usually to test the services. This is difficult to do for payroll services, and there are risks which will have you relying on research vs. trial.
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After narrowing down the list of payroll services to five candidates, it makes sense to contact each and conduct a personal interview.

​Here are factors to use when analyzing each service:

1. What tax services are provided?
2. How easy are they to work with?
3. Customer service – What is their availability and timeliness?
4. Are there accounting software integration options?
5. Do they offer incentives such as free trials, free months, etc.?
6. Do they provide a tax guarantee?
7. Are they accessible via a mobile app?
8. Do they provide payroll reports? Are they thorough and understandable?
9. Is there an option for employee self-service?
10. What extra services are offered? (Such as assisting with employee retirement plans or workers' compensation.)
11. What are their online reviews, authority ratings, and complaints?
12. What is the cost?

Before you can finalize the list and determine the best payroll service, you will answer questions about whether you need: 

• An online payroll service that allow employers to choose how their payroll is processed and delivered?
• A system offering multiple layers of security protection and automatically keeps track of all salary and wage adjustments?
• An online timekeeping system for employees?
• A payroll service to submit federal tax, federal unemployment tax, state tax and local tax withholdings information and files quarterly reports?
• To pay staff via direct deposit, pay cards or paper paychecks?
• To pay contract employees and manage 1099s?
• Customized reporting for your specialized business?
• Payroll for a few employees or thousands?  
• 401(k) plan administration?
• Paid time off (PTO) management?
• 24/7 access online or personalized support?

There are other considerations, such as how payroll services can work with the other business solutions you have in place to ensure you are reporting payroll properly to the IRS.
It has been said that outsourcing payroll not only helps prevent errors, but also frees up employee resources.

Payroll services are designed to help you comply with all the policies and regulations involved in payroll, taxes and IRS reporting. These services are most useful if you are worried about adhering to federal and state regulations or if your company has been fined in the past for payroll mistakes.
As you can see, determining which payroll services company is ‘best’ for your business is a  big project  and may take a considerable amount of time.  

There is another option...

You can start a conversation with Eric here at ASP.  Eric will walk through your precise needs and any frustrations you have with your current bookkeeping and accounting results.

You may find it much simpler and more productive to review our service offerings  to see how our team can create a customized solution for any situation and be ‘the best’ for your company.