Running a business isn’t easy. One of the most complicated and costly parts of running a business is managing payroll, because it often requires business owners to hire dedicated payroll staff, whose only job is to pay other staff.
Fortunately, it’s possible to outsource one’s payroll services, therefore saving one’s business money and time. In uncertain economic times like these, the more money saved, the better. But how do you find the perfect payroll service?
There are many ways for you to do this, and in this article, you will find out what they are:
What Is A Payroll Service?
Payroll providers are services that manage your business’s accounting and payroll. This means that they do everything, from calculating payments to paying staff at the end of the month. Payroll services also manage your business’s taxes, filing your return with HMRC for you at the end of the year.
According to the tax specialists from Suretax, quality accounting is the secret to the success of every business. This isn’t something that can be argued with. When a business has quality accounting and efficient payroll, it runs much better. In short, a “payroll service” acts as an accountant for your business, except you don’t have to pay them a salary.
Get Recommendations
The best way of finding the perfect payroll service for your business is to get recommendations from friends or family. It is better to ask loved ones who previously owned their own businesses or are plugged into the business community.
The best part about getting a recommendation from a loved one is that there’s absolutely no chance that they are going to make a biased referral. The same can’t be said for industry referrals, which we will come to next.
Even if a trusted loved one makes a recommendation, you should still conduct extensive research into the person or service to whom they have recommended, however. You shouldn’t take any chances with your business’s accounting.
Industry Referrals
Another very effective way of finding a good payroll service is to ask other professionals, from different businesses, for their recommendations. You always have to bear in mind that the referrals made could be biased, so make sure that you conduct research into the place that you have been referred so that you can confirm they are worth your time and money.
The best way to meet other professionals is to network online and at business gatherings, like conferences. Business people are usually very enthusiastic to meet new people and make connections, so you shouldn’t have difficulty forging links.
Independent Reviews
Independent review sites are a great place to look for payroll services. It’s worth bearing in mind, however, that many of these sites are sponsored by the services that they review, so if the review seems very good that’s probably why. Even so, if the website is reliable, they will still highlight a service’s faults.
In addition to reading independent reviews, you should also read reviews published on Google Review and Trust Pilot. These websites give you an insight into what customer’s think of the service that you are dealing with.
Internet Searches
Internet searches are another very effective method of finding payroll services for your business. Remember, when you search something into Google or any of the major search engines, the results that you see at the top are those that are either sponsored or are listings that have achieved a high SEO rank.
What this means is, they aren’t necessarily the best of the best, they just managed to achieve the best rank. In order to find a service that’s actually good, write down all of the different highly ranked businesses, then begin reading independent review sites and other reviews, so that you can determine which is the most qualified, and the best.
Magazine Articles
Business magazines regularly publish articles exploring good payroll or HR services. You simply need to find one of these magazines, then using their website’s search function, type in “payroll services.” In no time at all, you will have a comprehensive list of all of the internet’s best payroll services.
As with every other method mentioned here, make sure that you conduct research into them. Don’t just take somebody else’s word. You always need to make sure that they are actually good.
Proper Licensing
Once you have found a service that you want to work with, you need to research them and make sure that they have the proper licenses and are monitored by the right financial conduct authorities and regulatory bodies.
Businesses operating in the United Kingdom and required to have a number of licenses and adhere to certain regulations. If they don’t then they can be stopped from working in the financial industry. It’s essential that you ensure the business that you work with has these things so that you get the best service possible.
Obtain Quotations
Once you have found a service that you want to work with, then you should also obtain a quotation from them – or from several companies at once. Everybody’s accounting needs are different, so unless the company that you intend on working with has packages outlined on its website for you to check out with associated costs published, then you will need to approach them privately and ask them to tell you how much they charge for their services.
Payment Terms
When you have received a payment quote, you can begin arranging payment terms. Some people prefer to pay for their payroll services monthly, while others pay all at once, clearing their bills off all at once. It’s likely that the service that you work with will ask you to sign a contract agreeing that you are going to pay them for a specific period, but how you choose to pay them is up to you.
If you choose to pay monthly, you could end up paying more than if you paid all at once. Many businesses will offer cheaper annual payments than monthly ones, to incentivize paying upfront.
If you own a business, then it’s essential that you find a quality payroll service to manage your business’s accounting, finances, and payroll for you. You will be able to invest the time and money saved by doing this elsewhere in your business.
