Small and large businesses must contend with the cumbersome administrative task known as payroll. It can be daunting no matter the size of the company to tackle the payroll process. In the past, companies would need to hire multiple accountants and build out their HR infrastructure just as rapidly as they grew in employees.
However, over the past twenty years, new businesses have sprung up to deal with HR needs while cutting costs and administrative tasks. Full-service payroll providers offer businesses the ability to conduct payroll with a much smaller budget, as well as stay accurate with the law.
What is a Full-Service Payroll Provider?
Full-services payroll is an outside company or software that handles all of your payroll needs. You just need to upload your worker’s hours and the full-service payroll provider should handle the rest. Essentially, you are outsourcing most of the payroll process.
Full-service payroll takes the hassle out of payroll for companies. They eliminate the headache that accompanies comes with processing payroll, calculating taxes, and sifting through deductions. If you are a small to medium-sized business owner, full-service payroll companies are one of the best ways to streamline administrative tasks and keep costs low. However, is a full-service payroll provider better than in-house accountants.
Additional Reading: In-House vs. Outsourced Payroll: Pros and Cons
Problems with In-House Payroll
In-house payroll does have some benefits, mainly you can craft company policy and guidelines to your specific needs. Still, this process can be taxing without the right personnel and with rapid expansion. Furthermore, for small businesses, it can take away your ability to stay on task with the actual job.
Downsides to in-house payroll can include:
- Time needed to gather employee data
- Pay HR staff salaries. This will increase as your business increases.
- Mistakes and errors can occur, especially in a small business setting.
- Fines for possible errors.
- Incorrect tax deductions.
- The possibility of fraud can occur without the correct oversight.
Why Use a Full-Service Payroll?
Full-service payroll providers can negate many of these downsides as they handle the entire payroll process for you. Not only can this streamline the administrative tasks of your business, but it can help eliminate mistakes that can cost you thousands of dollars. Full-service payroll can help you in several ways:
Simplifies Payroll Duties
Are you looking to make payroll one of your strengths? Do you find that you don’t have time to properly conduct payroll with a mounting workload? Full-service payroll can do just that and more! You can have your payroll provider handle all your payroll needs and run payroll multiple times a month. Some companies will allow you to run payroll as often as you want.
Can Scale as You Do
Full-service payroll providers employ hundreds of HR professionals from multiple fields of business. They can process payroll transactions and other duties within a much shorter timeframe because of the number of people on staff and their expertise. Full-services payroll also has a vast number of software and proprietary tools to solve speed up the payroll process along.
So, what does this exactly mean for you?
The tools and personnel are already in place for when your business does grow. As your HR needs grow, your payroll provider can keep pace. You don’t have to hire, train, and buy more tools just to complete regular business tasks.
Up-to-Date Practices
Local, state, and federal laws can change often for tax brackets, filing and storing records, and many other HR practices. This can be extremely taxing to keep up with and follow depending on the size of your business. If you fail to correctly conduct payroll you can be hit with some serious penalties. Except that doesn’t have to be the case. Full-service payroll providers stay up to date on all regulations in your area. They are constantly working on payroll services and are usually the first to know about changes to local, state, or federal law.
Affordable Pricing
Pricing for full-service payroll is quite simple. There are two main ways companies price payroll services.
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- Services will charge a fee per employee. That fee is then charged every time you run payroll (monthly, bi-monthly, weekly.) On top of that, most services will charge a base fee for using their services.
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Flat fee Model: 20 Employees: $3 per employee + base fee of $35
Great for: Companies with fixed budgets and work hours. Usually suitable for smaller businesses.
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- Companies will charge a higher base fee and higher employee fee once a month, BUT you can run payroll as many times as you want
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Per Month Model: 20 Employees: $5 per employee + base fee of $80 / once a month.
Great for: Businesses that need to run payroll multiple times, offer bonuses or multiple incentives. Can be better for commission-based businesses. According to Complete Payroll Solutions, businesses can expect to spend around $200-$250 dollars per year/per employee. However, this can fluctuate depending on the size of your business and which type of service you choose.
Also, you’ll find that some businesses offer group pricing for employees. For instance, instead of paying $5 per employee, you pay $15 flat for 1-5 employees.
Additional Reading: 8 Signs Your Business Needs a Payroll Service
Use Features of Full-Service Payroll
Expert Help
Full-service payroll providers don’t just bring their services to your aid, they also bring their expertise. They can help you streamline your services and ensure you are up to regulations.
Generate Tax Documents
When it comes to tax season, you always want to be prepared. Not only for yourself but your employees as well.
Automation
One of the best features of full-service payroll is the ability to automate most of your payroll duties. With tools like self-documentation, employees can fill out documents by themselves and have their information logged into the system for you. After you review, you can then send that information to your full-service payroll provider. From there, the payroll processes can be completed by them.
Payroll Reports
Want more insight into how your employees operate? Thinking about expanding your business, but not sure if you need to hire more people? Payroll reports can help! You can view in-depth information about your employees and your organization right from your computer. With a full-service payroll provider, you can have all the facts before you decide.
Top Providers of Full-Service Payroll
While this is not an all-inclusive list, these are some of the top providers that provide full-service payroll.
Gusto:
Gusto has been one of the leading providers of full-service payroll for many years now. You just need to make sure your worker’s hours are correct in their software and they’ll handle the rest for you! They’ll help you file your taxes, calculate benefits, and more! Most customers report being able to get payroll ready to go in just 13 minutes! You’ll also be able to use integrations such as Xero, Clover, T-sheets, and more! Staying compliant is also easy as Gusto handles the tax registration in all 50 states, multiple tax form filing, and worker hour tracking tools.
Pricing starts at $39/month + $6 per person. You can find more information here.
ADP
With over 70 years of full-service payroll experience, ADP is one of the most recognizable brands in the HR world. For good reason as well, they consistently receive high marks in the HR services they offer. ADP is active in over 140 different countries and can be fully tailored to your needs. From direct deposits to insurance and wage garnishments, ADP can handle just about any problem you throw at them. Just like Gusto, they will be able to automatically deduct and calculate taxes in any of the US. states. What really sets ADP apart is that they offer an all-in-one HR platform that can help businesses.
ADP uses custom pricing based on the size of your business. You can find out more here.
Intuit QuickBooks
Another recognizable brand for payroll, QuickBooks offers a ton of bang for the buck. You’ll be able to tackle your payroll needs with experts at your side. QuickBooks offers free direct deposit, auto payroll, U.S.-based support, tax penalty protection, and more! Much like ADP, you’ll be working with a trusted brand to help you solve your payroll needs. Most companies are already using QuickBooks, so this can be a great way to knock out multiple administrative tasks at once!
Pricing starts at $22/month + $4/employee/month. You can find out more here.
Ready for Full-Service Payroll?
If you are ready to simplify your payroll and provide a better payroll experience for your employees, we can help! 360Connect provides people with high-quality full-service payroll providers every day. Just fill out our 1–2-minute form and we’ll call you to verify your needs. From there, you can sit back and let the suppliers come to you! It’s that simple!