Online payroll: Feature Article

Many small to medium sized companies tend to find that keeping up with payroll can be a hard task. In fact the more employees that you have the harder it is to keep up with payroll. Not to mention that if you are having a hard time keeping up with payroll you are most likely making mistakes when it comes to payroll, and those mistakes are going to end up costing you a lot of money in fines. If you are worried about making mistakes or just find that payroll is too much for you to handle you might want to consider an online payroll service.

But if you are thinking about switching to an online payroll company then the biggest problem that you will face is finding one that you want to use. In fact the pricing structure of most of these programs is what you will end up paying each month for just their basic services, this does not include additional services and you will get higher prices for the number of employees that you have. But you also need to keep in mind that every program offers the same basic services, but the add-ons are where things are going to get different.

So what you are going to want to do is to find a program that has all of the options that you need such as tax filings and direct deposit. But you are also going to want to consider which accounting package you are currently using to see if it will work with the online payroll program as well or if they offer their own payroll services. But if you do not use an accounting program already then you are going to want to find a program that offers optional accounting services that you will use in addition to basic payroll such as reports and tax filings.

ADP Run
This company is a well known company when it comes to payroll services, but it wasn't until just recently that they released a new program to help better fit their customer's needs. This new program, which is called Run, supports small businesses with services that range from payroll calculations and direct deposit to tax filing. If you decide to use this service you will end up paying $29.99 per month with no additional costs. This means that you will not end up paying more money for any of the services that you use such as direct deposit or electronic tax filing. Here is a look at the program Run:

• The biggest thing about this service is that it is very easy to use because you can actually configure Run through step by step wizards, which walk you through the process one step at a time.


• On payday the program will generate a spreadsheet that lists all of the employees and their work hours. This allows you to make any adjustments that are needed before you start to do payroll.


• The program will then use the employee information to calculate taxes and deductions for each employee.


• Once payroll is complete you can print the checks and various reports or you can have ADP print and deliver them.


• The service also provides you with reminders when it is time to issue W-2's and allows you to view them online and then print them for your employees.


• The program also allows you to run files and pays federal taxes electronically, not to mention that it populates state and local tax forms with data so that they are ready to print


• You can also export journal entries to Microsoft Excel for further analysis

Intuit Online Payroll
This company has offered a great payroll service that has always worked well with QuickBooks; this was actually the company's flagship accounting application. But the company has just recently launched a new program that is considered a stand alone program, meaning that it will work for companies that don't use QuickBooks. If you do use QuickBooks you can get Intuit's program called Enhanced Payroll, which works seamlessly with QuickBooks to share financial and employee data, for $299 each year. Intuit's Assisted Payroll is priced at $59 per month. And for the small businesses that do not use QuickBooks you can get Intuit Online Payroll $29.95 per month. Here is a look at Intuit's payroll services that they offer:

• Manages and pays employees, handles taxes and files state and federal forms.


• The programs are easy to use and they feature a one time setup questionnaire that you will need to fill out to help the program meet your needs. The program also provides you with a checklist that lists the data that you are going to need to supply for the questionnaire.


• You will also receive to-do lists and email reminders that will alert you to when key expenses are due, such as payroll tax payments.


• Once you have entered in the employee's hours for a pay period you can immediately print paychecks and stubs or you can use Intuit's direct deposit service


• Also included is filled-in and ready to print tax forms that you can use for federal filings and many states are also included


• For those that use QuickBooks to manage your business Intuit offers other programs that you can use for payroll called QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll and QuickBooks Assisted Payroll services

• Enhanced Payroll offers tools to generate and fill out tax forms


• Assisted payroll goes beyond that by handling payroll taxes. Once the payroll data is transmitted to Intuit the program files federal and state payroll taxes and deposits and at year end it also prepares, prints and mails W-2 forms.


• QuickBooks "Time Tracker" allows service businesses to record their billable hours. This allows contractors and employees to enter hours into time sheets that reside on Web Pages and they are downloaded directly into QuickBooks as calculated totals.

Paychex
This company offers a comprehensive payroll and human resource solutions for both small and medium sized businesses. One of the main things that make this program stand out from other programs is that the service allows you to submit your payroll data through the phone, fax or the Web through an Internet time sheet. With this program the amount that you pay each month is determined by the number of employees that you have and how often they are paid. You can get a free quote through the company's website. Here is a look at the Paychex program:

• Can manage and submit employee information by using the Paychex Online Payroll software on your PC.
• Every pay period the program will provide processed checks and management reports that summarize employee earnings, department totals and notifications of tax liabilities and deposits.
• An optional service that you can use will calculate, file and deposit federal, state and local payroll taxes, in addition to deducting funds on payroll dates
• Employee Pay Options Package supports direct deposit along with various other options. This means that paychecks can be direct deposited into one bank account or even split between different accounts at the same or different banks.
• Paychex Access Visa Card provides employees with a payroll debit card that allows them make purchases and obtain cash without having to have a bank account
• Readychex service sends out checks that are pre-signed and ready to distribute and there's an additional option to insert checks into envelopes so they're ready to be mailed.

PayCycle 2008
This company has a clientele of over 60,000 small businesses for its comprehensive and dedicated online payroll service. The main point of this program is that it allows you to enter hours for workers and create checks; it also offers you options for direct deposit. Like many other programs you can choose to have the service pay and file federal tax forms and print out W-2's. The best part is that the company just recently released a new version of the software that offers you faster setup, extended customer support and integration with Peachtree software. The company charges $42.99 per month for Payroll Plus, where as Payroll Basic is only $24.99 per month. But keep in mind that Payroll Basic does not support contractor payments or assist with state tax deposits or filings. Here is a look at the PayCycle 2008 program:

• Sends out email alerts that reminds you of key dates
• Can sign up for the service and complete a payroll on the same day that you can sign up. This can be a huge bonus for companies who are thinking about switching over because it shows that it isn't much of a hassle
• Customer support with this program will also be offered on weekends
• It is also going to be integrated with Peachtree Accounting software which eliminates the need to re-enter payroll information into the program. But the Peachtree support is in addition to existing support for QuickBooks, Microsoft Money and Intuit's Quicken.