How to Select a Payroll Service Provider for Your Company

Selecting a payroll provider can be difficult if you don’t know where to begin. There are several options available, ranging from local payroll services in your region to international payroll system providers. What matters most to your company will determine what is best for you.

As a local payroll service, we’ve noticed a pattern among the small businesses we work with: they usually place a high value on easily reachable, high-quality customer service, accurate payroll, and tax processing (no charging their clients for mistakes), knowledge of payroll compliance, and a user-friendly payroll system.

Think about working with The Payroll Company Payroll if these criteria line up with your most important payroll requirements. Since a CPA created the business, you have access to payroll knowledge and more. You get mobile numbers instead of call centers, which is a sign of excellent and individualized customer service. Moreover, using the system is simple. To ensure that you’re selecting the ideal payroll provider for your business, do the following steps:

Understand the Must-Have Features and Nice-to-Have Features

Features that are essential for payroll are ones that your company cannot function without. For example, enrolling in a do-it-yourself program that only computes tax amounts wouldn’t make sense if you require a straightforward method to guarantee your payroll taxes are submitted and paid on time; instead, consider Patriot Software’s Basic package.

Nice-to-have features are similar to desires. They wouldn’t be necessary to manage your company effectively, but they would certainly make life simpler. Now let’s talk about time monitoring.

Essential Features that a Payroll System Should Have

While the requirements for payroll differ from company to company, most need the following common features:

• Direct deposit and paper check choices
• Payroll processing, including overtime calculations
• W2 form distribution and preparation for year-end tax forms
• Automated payroll tax payments and filing
• You should also consider features like software integration choices, convenience of use, and high-quality customer support.

Client Support

Customer assistance is provided by most payroll providers. Numerous national businesses and web-based applications provide complimentary chat features via their applications, websites, and email correspondence. While many of them also provide live phone help, clients are often sent to a contact center where long wait periods are common. To gauge the level of annoyance this creates, read reviews from other sources. You can even discover companies that charge additional costs for customer assistance if your evaluation of payroll services is comprehensive.

Local payroll services excel in this situation. You get direct numbers to the local staff managing your payroll, at no additional cost, in place of 800-numbers. In contrast to just office numbers, The Payroll Company Payroll provides you with the mobile phone numbers of your payroll team; this is less common, which increases its value. 

Local payroll companies provide crucial customer support to firms who:

• Dislike having their employees work in different departments.
• Would want to know their payroll representatives better.
• Have little time to spend waiting on hold.
• Would rather not be upsold on unnecessary items to support a sales representative in hitting their quota.

User Friendliness

Both software and payroll systems are covered by ease of use. It is necessary to evaluate the degree of technical proficiency that each employee needs to be trained in. Do you have the time, and will you require assistance?

You must set up a lot of online payroll software yourself, sometimes with assistance from a customer support agent over the phone.

National services often take care of it for you, but it can take several weeks and comes with a high setup cost.  Local payroll providers often have the time to help you with the setup, complete it alongside you, or even take care of it for you. Compared to bigger payroll businesses, they are better able to customize this experience since they are smaller.

You should also think about how user-friendly the payroll software interface is—that is, how simple it is to determine what has to be done and where?

Are there professionals in compliance on staff? While a lot of online payroll software providers claim that their products are compliant, this is only partially true. Is it possible to communicate with live agents who are always up to date on the latest payroll regulations? This is crucial if you don’t have an expert on staff. Even if you are proficient in using payroll software, you can still commit compliance errors that result in fines from the IRS or other legal action.

When problems emerge, the payroll provider needs to have qualified professionals on staff who can reliably provide advice. For example, the pandemic prompted some significant adjustments to take effect swiftly. If you hadn’t had a team of payroll specialists working for you, you can have easily missed out on tax credits or sick leave requirements that you needed to meet.

Ability to Integrate with Other Software

Software integration is the process of integrating two programs to exchange data. Payroll-related tasks like these are crucial as they can save time. By working with The Payroll Company Payroll, you can eliminate the need to manually enter your payroll data into the general ledger if you now use QuickBooks. Our solution will streamline the procedure by establishing a direct connection with your QuickBooks system.

Extras That Payroll Services Provide

You could also need the following additional payroll features:

• Time and attendance: some firms must require this, while others—such as those that just employ salaried staff—may not.
• Workers’ compensation management: Although most states mandate workers’ compensation, some companies choose to get it from a separate, independent broker.
• perks for Employees: These might include alternatives for retirement plans, pre-tax savings accounts, commuter perks, health, dental, or vision insurance, etc.

Not all payroll providers, particularly those who specialize in payroll, provide these functions. Benefits come under HR assistance.

Compare Multiple Payroll Providers

 You can begin comparing after you’ve determined which features—your non-negotiables, those that you absolutely must have, and those that, if offered by the providers you are considering, would be wonderful to have.

The Payroll Company against ADP and Paychex, competitors of National Payroll Services

Full-service payroll with automated tax payments and filing is offered by The Payroll Company Payroll as well as large national payroll providers like Paychex and ADP. They also handle direct deposits and check payments.

The Payroll firm Payroll is a local payroll firm that stands out for the following reasons:

• It’s easily accessible and local.
• Is focused on offering top-notch payroll services rather than allocating resources to every aspect of human resources management.
• Was developed by a CPA who is aware of how payroll functions within a company’s overall operations.
• Offers individualized customer support by phone, email, or even text message your assigned representative!

 The Payroll Company versus. Rivals of Online Payroll Software (QuickBooks Payroll, Gusto)

Full-service payroll, such as ADP and Paychex, is offered via online payroll software such as Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll as well as The Payroll Company Payroll. They also pay workers, provide time and attendance, and have contactable compliance specialists.

Compared to these suppliers, The Payroll Company Payroll is unique in that it:

• Offers compliance knowledge at every stage, not only in certain plans.
• Provides client service that is more dependable and consistent.
• Offers individualized customer care from local representatives rather than referring them to a phone center.

• To ensure you have the time necessary to thoroughly evaluate what each payroll provider has to offer, we advise you to keep a record of your investigation.

Speak with Each Payroll Provider

 Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you can have as you work to reduce the number of payroll providers on your list. Inquiring by email or even having a live chat with a person might be beneficial since websites often provide only a restricted amount of information, particularly about costs and functionality.

When looking for payroll firms, company owners often ask the following questions:

• How long does the setup take?
• What is the processing time for direct deposits?
• With what software does your payroll system work in unison?
• Am I doing payroll tax registrations on my own or do you manage them?

Before contacting the supplier, it’s a good idea to make a list of the questions you have in mind. By doing this, you can make sure you don’t keep phoning the same business to receive the information you need.

Arrange a Demo

After narrowing down your options to a small number of programs, schedule free trials to check them out. This will demonstrate how user-friendly the software interface is and if doing payroll takes four or 10 steps. Certain systems are antiquated, awkward, and challenging to use. You have the option to ask questions and even request that the representative demonstrate a particular job for you during a demo. They often walk you through the most frequent duties, such as approving an employee’s work schedule, so be sure to take your company’s unique requirements into account.

Select the Most Value-Forward Payroll Service

Once you’ve finished assessing each payroll service provider, you should decide which one provides the most value for the requirements of your company. In the end, you should aim to get every feature required to process payroll for your company; these characteristics can vary depending on the size, nature, or even sector of your enterprise. Concluding Remarks

When selecting a payroll provider, take your time. To discover what you need, start by evaluating the demands of your company. You will be able to choose between a local payroll firm, an online payroll software provider, and a nationwide payroll company.

Consider using a local payroll agency like The Payroll Company if you value excellent customer service and would want to talk with your payroll personnel in person if needed. Payroll taxes, employee paychecks, and software onboarding are all handled by it. Join now to give it a try!