Strategies For Top Small Business Payroll Software

Whether you are a small business owner or an HR professional, finding the right payroll software can help streamline your processes and save time.

Fortunately, there are many different options available for some strategies of the top small business payroll software. Some are specialized, while others offer a broad range of features for all businesses.

The best payroll software will have the features you need at a price you can afford. Some services charge per payroll run and others offer annual pricing, so check their prices before signing a contract.

Automated Payroll

Keeping payroll up to date can be difficult for businesses of all sizes. However, automated payroll software helps make running payroll easier.

Automated payroll allows employers to input all of their employee information into a single system and have it automatically handle the calculation, payments, and tax filings on their behalf. According to the American Payroll Association, this process makes payroll processing more efficient and accurate and can save companies up to 80% of their manual payroll costs.

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In addition, automated payroll can help you keep track of changes to your company’s tax policies and calculate the correct withholding taxes for each employee. This ensures that you comply with IRS regulations and tax laws and avoids costly penalties and fees from the IRS and your state tax agency.

Many small business payroll systems have additional HR features, such as hiring, onboarding, time tracking, scheduling, and other tools. These can be invaluable resources for small businesses that lack a full-scale HR team.

Expense Tracking

Expense tracking is a crucial part of small business bookkeeping. This is because it helps you manage cash flow, prevents overspending, and ensures that all numbers add up. It also allows you to take advantage of relevant tax deductions for your business.

Whether a freelancer or an independent contractor, keeping track of your expenses is essential to minimizing your tax burden. Fortunately, many apps can help you organize and make your life easier.

Cloud accounting software like Certify makes it easy for you to track your business expenses. It also integrates with your existing systems and automates the submission and reimbursement process.

It’s also great for your employees, who can scan receipts and input GPS-based mileage information. Lastly, it’s compatible with your bank and credit card so that you can update your expenses automatically.

A good expense tracking system can save you time, money, and stress. The most effective expense-tracking solutions also generate various reports, allowing you to evaluate your company’s finances and forecast future performance.

Time Tracking

Time tracking is a great way to get an accurate picture of how long employees spend on specific tasks and projects. It can also help you make more data-driven decisions about allocating team resources.

When you track employees’ time, you can identify workflow bottlenecks and ensure that everyone has enough dedicated focus time to complete their work. For example, if a front-end designer is assigned seven tasks and works 40 hours a week but only gets to work on one, that could signal an inefficient workflow.

Productivity features like activity levels, apps and URLs used, and optional screenshots can provide deeper context for your team’s timesheets. This helps managers identify the most productive employees and assign them to projects more aligned with their skills.

Using a project time tracking tool also allows you to accurately price your projects so that you’re charging clients for actual hours worked rather than underestimating them (which would leave you with a negative profit). This helps you build trust with customers and prospects by giving them an accurate and transparent bill.

Employee Self-Service

Employee Self-Service (ESS) is a portal that employees use to access their employment information. It’s typically part of a more extensive HRIS system, or it can be a standalone solution.

ESS can help HR leaders save time on routine administrative tasks like answering employee questions about their personal information and benefits. This means they’ll be able to focus on other essential tasks, like recruiting and developing new hires or managing employee performance and morale.

With ESS, employees can update their personal information and access their W-2s or PTO without calling or emailing their HR staff. This eliminates the possibility of human error and ensures that your employees are working with the most accurate and up-to-date data.

Another benefit of ESS is that it can improve employee engagement. The ability to change their contact and banking information, access their pay stubs, and view company policy documents can make them feel more connected to their employers.

It can also help managers share policy changes and other essential HR information with their team members quickly and efficiently. These tools can also reduce the number of scheduling issues that can occur when time-off requests are submitted manually and written down on paper.

Reporting

Reporting can be a complex process, but it can be streamlined if you’re using the right software. Whether you’re communicating results to clients or relaying information between departments, reports can help streamline your workflows.

Depending on the size of your company and its team structure, you may need payroll software that allows you to filter reports in different ways. This can help you make data-driven decisions to grow your business.

You can also use reporting to monitor employee performance. This can include a list of how many hours each employee worked and what they worked on while they were on the clock.

Good payroll software will offer these types of reports, like pay stubs and paychecks. These are a great way to keep track of how your employees earn their pay, and they can also help you prove income when applying for loans or leases.

It’s essential to find payroll software that has the features you need and should also be affordable. The cost of your software will depend on the number of employees you have and the options you add on.