Are you an entrepreneur looking for a quick fix solution to managing your business payroll needs? At the same time, are you wary of adding on more accounting staff to a workforce that is already on the larger side?

Well, the good news is that your problem just came to an end!

Payroll software tools can be used to speed up the process of calculating pay accurately, and making payments on time. They save you the burden of understanding complex payroll legislation and payroll systems operation, and thereby reduce administrative costs. Do we see you smiling already? Keep that grin firmly in place.

Trouble free payroll processing is a critical need of any business. Payroll software completes payroll calculations within a fraction of the time it would take to do them manually. It is also very useful for generating reports at the year-end, since both pay-slips and annual reports are archived for retrieval at a later date. So, you can see that payroll software offers a fully automated system which does more than just calculate statutory deductions. It has some solid benefits that will make you want it for your business. Wondering what those could be?

Payroll software can integrate with time sheet systems that record employee attendance or time worked. This way, information about hours worked can be automatically transferred into the payroll system, once the worker logs on. Alternatively, you could feed the data manually into an electronic form. To derive maximum benefit, you can use it to put together data on attendance and hours worked. Doing so can provide you with many reports which will allow you to do an in-depth analysis of staff costs across departments, individual jobs, contracts or the business as a whole. Then there's the facility of "what-if" calculations. This helps in forecasting and planning staff costs and budgets - by entering hypothetical numbers, you can compare the exact total cost of an employee under different compensation scenarios. You can also maintain other employee data, such as records of annual leave, using payroll software.

So, is it right for you?

Every business will not need payroll software. For example, if the number of employees is small, manual payroll calculation can be simple and straightforward. Also, though payroll software saves a lot of time, it can be an expensive investment for a small company. Implementing payroll software usually requires an annual subscription, in addition to the initial purchase cost. The annual renewal is required in order to receive regular updates on taxation laws, National Insurance rates and changing legislation that affect payroll calculations.

Before taking a decision to implement payroll software in your organization, consider the available expertise within your business. For example, who handles payroll when the accountant is absent? It will be easier to train back-up personnel to operate the payroll software than have them carry out manual calculations.

Remember, you also need to ensure business continuity. Therefore, plan for support, data back-up and disaster recovery. In case of an emergency, you can always get back to manual processing, but be aware that usage of payroll software can make people overly computer-dependent. Therefore, insist on periodic refreshing of pen and paper skills.

Customized payroll software for small businesses can be. In order to meet the diversified needs of businesses have developed different kinds of payroll software; pick the one that suits you best.



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In this time and age of sky rocketing wages, benefit packages, paid holidays, so on and so forth, attracting and retaining talent has become more challenging than before. Large corporations have a gazillion offers to please their employees, but what is a start up to do? Smart salary negotiation with employees could be your answer! Keep a couple of things in mind and you could hire the best in the industry at very affordable rates!

When it comes to salary negotiation with employees, important considerations include setting salaries in accordance with industry standards, adopting suitable negotiation strategies, evaluating the impact it has on current and future salary structures ....it's a long list. Our checklist should help you get a grip:

Set a ceiling: Figure out how much you can spend on salaries. This will become easier once you have a general idea about your expected revenues and expenses. Setting a ceiling before you start salary negotiation with employees will prevent wasting time on candidates who are too expensive.

Set a floor: Figure out the least amount that you will have to pay out. This is quite often the ruling market rate. You could find this kind of information on the internet, the chamber of commerce closest to you or better still, others in the business. Do this for every opening to get a fair idea of what each job is worth.

Hourly or monthly? The next step forward is to decide how you will make the payment. Payment on an hourly basis is best suited for temporary workers while a fixed monthly salary is probably what white collared employees expect. Both options have different implications. Monthly salaries imply a fixed payout irrespective of the number of hours put in. On the other hand, hourly pay scales mean that you will have to pay for overtime, often at a higher rate. If you have sales persons working for you, offering a target linked commission is a useful method of remuneration. In such cases, the basic pay could be low but see to it that for every successful sale, the employee takes home an attractive incentive. Do whatever you can to keep your employees' morale high.

Make it attractive: Salary negotiation with employees need not only be about monthly pay packets. You will manage to attract good talent even if your offer isn't to die for, provided you make up for it while designing the benefit package. Benefits typically include bonuses and other allowances. You could either tie them to specific projects or conduct periodic appraisals or better still, do both. You could even offer employee stock options if you foresee your company growing rapidly.

Avoid legal tussles: Surely you would fight for your dues, if you were working for someone else, right? Expect the same from people you hire. There are federal laws in place to address grievances as well as stipulated minimum payments that employees must be given for working overtime. The laws are elaborate with several exemptions, so familiarize yourselves with them before you decide on what and how you pay your staff.

"Workers Compensation and Employee Protection Laws in a Nutshell" by Jack B. Hood, Benjamin A., Jr. Hardy, Harold S. and Jr. Lewis, available at could help you on this turf.

Be sensitive: Win your employees over! Keep their personal needs in mind before you offer a laughable compensation package. When you hire part time employees, for instance, if they happen to be mums working in their free time, you need to pay them well enough to afford a day care service.

"The Employer Brand: Bringing the Best of Brand Management to People at Work" by Simon Barrow and Richard Mosley, available at is a must read for first time employers. "The Startup Company Bible for Entrepreneurs" by Michael Stathis, available at can guide you through starting out on your own.

The process of salary negotiation with employees will bring about one of the earliest interactions with potential candidates. Hence, try to be as pleasant as possible and take unacceptable demands in your stride. As the head of a start up business, it is important that you do not compromise on the capabilities of your employees; since they will have a very large role to play in the development of the company. A keen eye for talent and business acumen is what it takes to master the skill of salary negotiation with employees.



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If you are a business owner, whether small or large, you need to be aware of the importance of paying your payroll taxes and filing your payroll tax reports. While you hear a lot in the news about people who don't file and/or don't pay their income taxes, you don't hear much about an equally common problem of businesses not paying their payroll taxes.

Some business owners mistakenly believe they can use the money they have taken out of employees paychecks to run their business. In the short run, that might look like a viable solution. In the long run, it is a recipe for disaster. Of all the types of unpaid taxes, the IRS pursues this type with the most persistence and offers the least amount of flexibility in repaying once you are behind.

It is important to remember that you have taken the Federal Withholding, Social Security and Medicare deductions from your employees' pay. This is money you are holding in Trust prior to payment to the IRS. You also have a portion of the FICA and Medicare due as the employer's portion of the total payroll taxes due. The seriousness of neglecting to pay these taxes to the IRS cannot be emphasized too heavily. Not paying these taxes is considered stealing, and the consequences are extremely serious.

If you do not pay these taxes on time, you incur penalties and interest. The same is true of not filing your 941 reports on time. The penalties for not filing your 941 reports on time vary beginning at 5% and increase each month by an additional 5% until they reach 25%. There is also a failure to pay penalty that starts at 0.5% and can also go up to 25%.

If you do not make your Federal Tax Deposits on time, you are penalized at 2-15%. These are just the penalties; you also will have to pay interest at the current interest rate. You also put yourself as owner, and anyone else who may be held responsible (including your bookkeeper if he or she can sign checks or is determined to have control over what bills are paid),at risk for the Civil Trust Fund Penalty or Trust Fund Recovery Penalty.

The Trust Fund Recovery Penalty is a penalty that can be assessed to an individual, even if your company is a Corporation. You as an individual are not protected by the company's corporate status from this penalty. The trust fund portion of the payroll taxes due (Federal Withholding, and FICA-the employee portion) can be assessed to you as an individual. What this means is that once this penalty is assessed, the IRS can come after your personal assets like bank accounts and personal property and/or file liens on your personal property, such as your home.

One additional piece of important information: Be sure when you are making payments on past due payroll taxes that you specify that you are paying the Trust Fund portion first otherwise the IRS will assume the payment goes to the non-Trust Fund portion. It is always in your best interest to pay off the Trust Fund portion first. The employer portion of the FICA cannot be assessed to the individual; it remains a debt of the company.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Beckie_Leone