If you're like a lot of small business owners, you're likely a one-person human resources department. With everything else on your plate—from making sales to managing operations—time-intensive tasks like getting your payroll organized can end up getting pushed to the back burner.
That's the last thing you want to do.
Your employees depend on paychecks. And changes to your payroll can impact your business from your Colorado workers' comp premium to your bottom line.
Don't get overwhelmed yet. In fact, we've got 7 tips that will help you get your payroll sorted, so you can ensure your employees get paid and your business runs efficiently.
Here they are.
1. Keep Track of Everything
At the end of the day, payroll affects a number of different departments in any business. It's important to keep track of not only new hires but also changes in job classifications and transfers in working status. These employee changes impact your payroll, and your workers' compensation insurance premiums too.
So, it's essential you compile organized notes of changes as they happen. It's also a good idea to have a file on every employee with the information you'll need to get them into your system.
Tools like Gusto, Zenefits and Run by ADP all focus on helping small business owners manage human resources.
2. Know Your Deadlines
A key to running any successful business is staying organized. And that's even more important when it comes to payroll because you'll have multiple deadlines to track throughout the year.
First, of course, is when your employees get paid. You'll need to know when the appropriate funds go out to hit employee's bank accounts.
And the second deadline to watch is when to pay your taxes. To help stay on top of that, there are tools and apps you can use to help manage your finances that will keep track of what you need to pay and the appropriate deadlines too.
3. Realize Benefits Go with Payroll
Do you offer health insurance, overtime pay or bonuses to your employees? If you do, then you'll likely need to consider these benefits as part of your payroll too. In fact, when it comes to workers' compensation insurance, many common benefits get considered in your premium calculations.
Those small details are something to know (or to discuss with your accountant) as you calculate and track the benefits you offer employees.
4. Comply with Taxes
As an employer, you are responsible for withdrawing, reporting and depositing payroll taxes for your employees. These include federal income taxes, state and local income taxes (if applicable in your area) and Social Security and Medicare taxes (also known as FICA).
The State of Colorado has some specific resources that cover withholding and payroll tax questions for small business owners.
And, don't forget, you'll have to track your own pay for your taxes as well.
5. Get Help If You Need It
Most small business owners don't have any past experience with figuring out the taxes for a company—which are much more complex tax than filing personal taxes. So, it's perfectly ok to ask for help if you find yourself getting lost in the weeds.
A local Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or bookkeeper can help get your business finances in order so you're organized and on the right track moving forward.
Or, if you prefer, there are payroll tools available that will help automate your payroll and help with taxes as well. Some popular options include Gusto and QuickBooks.
6. Have an Audit Process
Payroll is not exactly something you want to ignore checking on a regular basis. Any changes to it or accidental mistakes can have a big impact on both your employees' livelihood and your business' bottom line.
Stay on top of things by scheduling a bi-annual audit. You can go over all of your documents, check that your payroll software is functioning properly and make any planned changes you might have coming up including a round of holiday bonuses, for example.
7. Understand Workers' Comp and Payroll
When it comes to workers' comp, payroll changes can have an impact on your yearly premium too.
Any changes in payroll, even seemingly simple ones like having an employee move from part time to full time should get tracked so your business continues to stay in good standing according to Colorado workers' comp laws and regulations.
If you have any questions about your company's Colorado workers' compensation insurance needs, get in touch with Cake today. We have a team of experts on Colorado workers' compensation insurance requirements who can help you find the best solution for your business.
All it takes is just 5 minutes to get a quote online.
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