It’s payroll time and you need to wrap up this pay period. But you’re also trying to track down employees to confirm their timesheets, answer angry customer comments, and track down your vendor who was supposed to deliver your supply yesterday.
In short — you’re busy.
Simple payroll mistakes can lead to frustrated employees and extra fees — all of which could have been avoided with the right tools. Read on for five tips to solve your payroll problems and reduce errors.
1. Maintain accurate records
Paper timesheets are a recipe for disaster. Manually entering time data is the very definition of “doing too much.” Especially when you’re trying to track down staff to confirm their hours and re-entering the information into your system.
Use an electronic timesheet and timesheet software that enables managers to easily record staff attendance, capture how much time employees spend on shift, collect automatic timesheets for approval, and export timesheets to their payroll software with one tap.
2. Account for overtime
Payroll is complicated enough, even without adding in overtime calculations. Those overtime calculations can be complex. And it’s easy to make overtime mistakes if you’re calculating payroll by hand.
Failure to pay the correct wage for overtime can be costly, especially when it comes with an extra penalty fee. Make overtime pay easier when you use sophisticated software to control, track, and automate payroll calculations. Avoid those mistakes — and penalty pay.
3. Brush up on local employment regulations
Fair Workweek regulations are a comprehensive set of requirements for employers of hourly staff. For example, New York employers are required to pay employees a premium to be on-call or work certain scheduled hours. And while the specifics vary by jurisdiction, the employers need to be aware of what impacts their business. Similar regulations have already been set in Australia, and are on the rise in places like the United Kingdom.
For managers, knowing these regulations can make their payroll process easier, helping to avoid payroll and compliance challenges. Look for workforce management software that makes compliance a priority.
4. Integrate scheduling
Using a workforce management system that integrates with your payroll system to improve accuracy — and cut out the stress associated with payroll.
You lower the risk of human error when you eliminate manual data entry from the process. And you can also prevent scheduling errors which lead to costly payroll problems, like excessive overtime.
5. Automate payroll taxes
Payroll tax rates change constantly. In a single pay period, you may be responsible to calculate taxes and employee deductions for:
- Federal income tax
- Social security tax
- Medicare tax
- State income tax
- Various local taxes
Your business could face steep penalties if you make mistakes on your payroll tax liability, including costly back tax payments with interests and penalties. Unpaid payroll taxes are $72 billion of the US tax gap.
It’s easy to make payroll tax mistakes if you’re trying to calculate liability manually. Automate payroll tax calculates for all Federal, state, and local taxes with a smarter timesheet management software.
Run accurate payroll, every time
Everyone wins when your payroll is simple and accurate. Employees are happy and you’re not suffering the risks of underpaying or overpaying your obligations. Fortunately, most of the heavy lifting you need to run accurate payroll can be handled with timesheet management software. See how easy payroll can be when you integrate your payroll with Deputy. Try it out with a free trial of Deputy today.
