Small Business News

How has the pandemic impacted the workforce? According to a survey from Eagle Hill Consulting, 27% plan to leave their job as the pandemic subsides. Furthermore, 29% of workers expect to leave their job in the next year. For millennial workers, 33% are planning to leave post-pandemic and 36% are expecting to leave within the next year.

There is no question the pandemic has upended the way people work. And for many employees, it has translated to more of them saying they are burned out. The Eagle Hill Consulting COVID-19 Workforce Burnout Survey conducted by Ipsos on May 12-17, 2021, and November 12-16, 2020, says as much.

The research reveals for 53% of the U.S. workforce, burnout is a problem, and it goes up to 60% for millennials. Workers are attributing this to workload, juggling their personal and professional life, lack of communication and feedback, and time pressures.

Another telling data from the report is a three to one ratio (39% versus 13%) between those who are burnout and colleagues that are not when it comes to leaving their organization after the pandemic. And this is all taking place as the economy is opening up with a labor shortage.

Melissa Jezior, president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting, explains the current state in the release. Jezior says, “The talent turnover tsunami is here. With vaccination rates climbing and workplaces re-opening, employees increasingly feel confident looking elsewhere for a job. And that is highly problematic for employers given the acute labor shortage.”

The biggest reason more than half of the workforce feels burnt out is because of their workload. And this the report says is motivating employees to look for greener pastures. However, Jezior goes on to say companies can take a proactive stance to mitigate it. Adding, “Now is the time for companies to carefully examine their talent retention strategies or they will find it increasingly difficult to bounce forward in a post-pandemic economy.”

Some of the strategies Jezior recommends for companies are:

The Eagle Hill Consulting COVID-19 Workforce Burnout Survey polled U.S. employees on burnout and retention in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Someone operating a business through eBay will need to be aware of the return policy as a dissatisfied customer happens to every seller at some point. This complete guide contains everything a business owner needs to know about the eBay return policy and how to issue a refund.

The eBay return policy is very straightforward and follows three simple steps as you can see below. The reasons for returning the item will determine the options of the seller, and these will be examined in detail further below. The eBay process to issue a refund works as follows:

Sellers on an eBay shop have three days to respond to a return application once it has been registered. Once the return has been accepted, the customer either receives a return shipping slip or will be instructed to cover return shipping themselves, depending on why the buyer changed their mind about a purchase. There is an eBay money-back guarantee which covers most transactions, so buyers will get their money back if their order either didn’t arrive, arrived defective or damaged, or doesn’t match the listing.

There are four reasons why an honest buyer changes their mind about a purchase:

The refund process from a seller’s point of view is obviously more complicated than it is for the buyer, so here we will run through the steps necessary to perform a refund through eBay.

A business owner should always check their returns policy before issuing a requested refund as there may be a ‘no returns’ rule for certain items. Check or edit your policy via the Sell option after clicking on the My eBay tool at the top of any eBay page.

There is a Returns dashboard on your seller’s homepage where you can accept or decline refund requests. You must respond within 3 business days to each request, though you have the right to dispute the refund claim if you believe it is unwarranted.

To issue a full refund, select View Return Details on your dashboard and select Send Refund. You will need to add or edit some extra details before finalizing the refund.

You have the option to add reasons for the refund for future reference. These can simply be the reasons provided by the buyer or more detailed reasons with extra insight from the seller.

Full refunds will automatically prompt you to refund the total paid for the item by the buyer along with the shipping cost of the problem item, but you can edit the partial refund cost.

The shipping fees of the problem order will be covered by whichever party is responsible for the return. If the problem is the order articles arrived damaged or faulty, then it is the responsibility of the seller to cover the return shipping costs. If the seller is covering the shipping for their part, then they must choose the most suitable carrier for the article from the shipping options available.

Once the additional details have been edited or confirmed, click Continue and the next page will show you the money to be refunded. Finally select Refund the Buyer from the options.

Once the return is accepted and the refund process above is complete, eBay gives the buyer the date by which the articles need to be on their way via return. This is usually 15 days, though it is 35 days in some cases. If the seller is responsible for shipping the article, then they must provide a shipping label to the buyer. Remember the transactions with your customers become part of the eBay statistics, so make sure to do right by your customers as much as possible.

As eBay uses PayPal to process its payments, sellers have the option to issue refunds directly through the online payment method. It has the advantage of allowing the seller to get the transaction fee back via Paypal, minus a processing charge, while many customers like using their email address account for this payment method. The refund via PayPal process is as follows:

1.     Click the Activity link on your PayPal account page.

2.    Locate the transaction to be refunded.

3.    Click the Refund This Payment button.

4.    Enter the amount to be refunded and confirm.

A partial refund is when the business owner refunds a portion of the full amount. A company may offer a partial refund more often for a problem with an item that isn’t quite worth returning it for. Circumstances to offer a partial refund include:

Partial refunds can cause issues if the buyer is not satisfied when the seller wants to offer a partial refund. The customer may challenge with answers insisting on a larger amount of the sale price for reasons such as:

Whether full or partial refunds, there are some additional details regarding eBay refunds that sellers should keep in mind. These include:

Select ‘Start Refund’ from the dropdown menu in the Seller Hub, and then select a reason for the refund. Then enter a refund amount and select the ‘Send Refund’ button to complete the process.

Managed payments are a good way to sell and get paid in the same place, with buyers able to use a wide variety of eBay-protected ways to pay including by credit card. To refund via managed payments, follow these steps:

All eBay sellers must state their returns policy up front in their shop posts. Private sellers can include a no returns policy, although they are still subject to eBay’s Money Back Guarantee. Business sellers must accept returns by law and let customers know via their policy that they can request a return within 14 days.

Sellers are not automatically given the money paid in transaction fees relating to the articles sold. If eligible, sellers can request their final value fee by opening a case in eBay’s Resolution Center.

Sellers can decline a return request if 30 days have passed because the money-back guarantee has expired. A buyer can still open a request to discuss the order details, but there is no longer an obligation on the seller to accept it for any reason.

Technically, yes, you can refuse a request, but the buyer has ways to open an account case with eBay who will make the final decision. If they decide the request is reasonable, then they will process the request and transfer the money from the company’s funds to the buyer.

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A large majority of consumers (66%) expect free shipping on every purchase they make online. An even larger number (80%) expect free shipping when ordering a certain dollar amount on online products.

These were some key insights of the Q2 2021 Consumer Trends Report issued by Jungle Scout.

Jungle Scout, Amazon research tool providers, conducted an anonymous survey of 1,066 US consumers. The survey asked participants about their buying habits, preferences, and behaviors. Respondents were from each state in the US and aged between 18 and 75. They were also of varying professions, employment types and income levels.

The report confirmed that fast and low-cost shipping is essential in the bid to keep online shoppers happy.

It found that 91% of consumers expect to receive an online order within a week. 9% expect to receive orders the same day.

80% of online shoppers expect parcel tracking on all orders. The same amount wants to be notified when their order has left the warehouse.

Almost two thirds (70%) say they would be very upset if their product didn’t arrive on time. And almost half (47%) say they would be willing to spend more on a product for faster shipping.

The pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns have altered the way consumers shop and their demands and expectations. Shoppers are making more purchases online and are expecting quick, low-cost, and safe shipping on all products.

To remain competitive and profitable, small businesses need to cater for the surge in online shopping and offer the convenient, reliable and cost-effective shipping consumers’ demand.

JungleScout notes how expectations over shipping are evolving: “Attitudes ad expectations towards delivery and shipping are evolving as consumers have grown to adopt and rely on ecommerce during the Covid-19 pandemic. Online shoppers demonstrate an increased demand for fast and low-cost shipping.”

The report also highlights the rising popularity of purchasing second-hand products online.

The survey confirms Amazon’s popularity as a channel for buying and selling second-hand items online.

For small businesses, entrepreneurs or anyone thinking about starting a venture selling products, JungleScout’s report reinforces the value of not only selling online but offering free, fast and reliable shipping.

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Payroll plays a critical role in the success of small businesses. Irrespective of the size of an organization, employees have to be paid on time consistently, and an efficient payroll process ensures that.

However, computing total wage earnings, holding back deductions, paying payroll taxes, and making payments require a lot of time and effort.

With businesses increasingly hiring remote employees, freelancers, and independent contractors, the payroll processes have become more complex than ever. Even worse, a tiny mistake in the payroll may lead to a hefty fine. So, it is reasonable to ask, should I outsource payroll to a specialist company offering payroll services.

Gone are the days when a payroll service provider had to visit your office to complete payroll tasks. Now you can easily avail online payroll services to streamline the payroll process in your business. The service provider will ensure that your employees are paid timely, and their legal obligations are met.

Companies offering online payroll services handle a wide variety of tasks. A basic payroll service provider will compute the gross wages of your employees, calculate applicable deductions, make a direct deposit or write paper checks on behalf of you, and take care of all employment tax filings, etc.

However, comprehensive service providers can manage additional responsibilities, such as administrating your business’s retirement accounts, filing new employee forms with the state, complying with any court-ordered wage programs, and more.

Your business can reap multiple benefits from outsourcing payroll services, such as:

Outsourcing payroll to a specialist company is not the only option to do the job. You can also explore payroll software to save time.

How does payroll software differ from payroll services?

The following are some key points:

Depending on the needs of your business, you can choose between adopting a payroll application or subscribing to online payroll services.

With so many online payroll service providers out there, picking the best one for your business can be tricky.

You cannot simply google for the top ten payroll service providers and select a company that offers cheaper services. Companies working in this domain provide different payroll services and plans to suit the varied requirements of businesses. And to get the best value for your money, you should follow a strategic approach.

The following steps will help you shortlist payroll candidates:

A few essential features of a good payroll service provider include but are not limited to automated payroll, tax forms, direct deposit, employee payroll portals, payroll reports, etc.

Each business has different needs. Therefore, you should list features your business demands and start looking closely at the shortlisted companies.

The right online payroll service provider will bring a long record of accuracy and reliability to the table, give strong customer support, and use advanced technology. Also, it will provide competitive pricing plans and offer unparalleled user-friendliness.

Getting payroll done is not a hard job these days. If you don’t want to hire an in-house HR team or a bookkeeper, there are options out there. You can opt for an online payroll application program or online payroll services to manage payroll in your company.

If you decide to pick a company to handle payroll services, you should make your decision considering features, ease of use, and cost.

We have listed here the top vendors for payroll services to help you select the right company for payroll processing.

ADP is a leading company offering cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solutions to its clients. In addition to payroll services, the company offers human resources, talent, time, tax and benefits administration solutions.

Here are some key highlights of payroll services from ADP:

ADP offers two types of payroll services – Small Business Payroll and Midsized to Enterprise Payroll. And each of these two payroll services come with four packages to choose from.

The most popular package in Small Business Payroll is Enhanced Payroll, which includes key features such as payroll delivery, tax filing, State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) management, Poster Compliance, and many more.

The company is currently offering three months free of its payroll services. To check the pricing of different packages, you have to visit the website of ADP and request a quote.

Square designs easy-to-use online tools for small businesses to set up and run their business. It has a suite of tools to run payroll, manage eCommerce websites, and marketing. It also offers POS systems and payment devices.

Some key benefits of Square include:

Square has an all-inclusive flat pricing system for small business owners. It offers two monthly plans – Pay Employees & Contractors and Pay Contractors Only. Both the plans offer unlimited pay runs.

The Pay Employees & Contractors plan package features tax calculations and filing. You can use direct deposit, checks, or Cash App for employee payment. Timecards, healthcare and retirement benefits, and employee self-help app are the other facilities available with Square.

Square’s Pay Employees & Contractors plan starts at a monthly subscription fee of $29. And $5 per month is charged additionally for each person you add.

Gusto is an online people management service for small businesses to run payroll and take care of their employees.

Gusto helps you process payroll and handle employee benefits. It also supports hiring and onboarding, time and attendance tracking, and other related features.

Among the salient features of Gusto Payroll solution are:

Gusto has four monthly payroll management plans – Core, Complete, Concierge, and Contractor.

For small businesses which need simple salaries and wages management, and pay schedules, the Core plan of Gusto is the best choice. It offers a full-service payroll system, employee benefits, and more.

The Core plan is available at a base price of $39 per month, plus $6 per person per month. The Complete plan of Gusto, with additional team management features, is available at $12 per person per month. For Concierge, Gusto charges $149 per month, plus $12 per month per person.

Gusto enables you to run payroll effortlessly. But if you’re stuck, Gusto offers top-class customer service to help you out.

OnPay offers cloud-based software for payroll processing, automation, and management for growing businesses. In addition to payroll, OnPay also comes with tools for human resources and employee benefits management.

With OnPay, you get useful features such as:

OnPay has one simple plan that includes all its features. It allows business owners to handle everything related to payroll, human resources, and benefits.

Onpay is available at the base fee of $36 per month, and an additional $4 per month for each person paid in that month. It doesn’t have any other fee for tax filings, direct deposit, and other features.

OnPay comes with a one-month free trial period. It also provides free account setup and migration of employee data into its system.

Intuit Quickbooks offers a cloud-based service to manage employee profiles, their details, and payroll all in one place. Besides payroll, Intuit Quickbooks also offers HR support, insurance handling, and compensation coverage for employees.

Some key features of Intuit Quickbooks online payroll are:

Intuit Quickbooks payroll is available with three price plans – Core, Premium, and Elite.

The premium plan of Intuit Quickbooks payroll is the most popular package for small businesses. It offers HR management, along with payroll. Health benefits, workers’ compensation, and many other features are covered under this plan.

The Premium plan of Quickbooks payroll from Intuit is available for $75 per month, plus $8 per month for each employee. The Core plan of Quickbooks is for $45, plus $4 per employee. And for the Elite plan, Quickbooks online payroll charges $125, plus $10 per employee.

Intuit Quickbooks payroll offers a free trial for a month, or currently, you can pay a 50% discount rate for the first three months. You can get more information from Quickbooks’ website.

Paychex is a leading provider of human resource management solutions for small to mid-sized businesses. In addition to various payroll services, Paychex takes care of benefits and insurance services too.

The prominent features of Paychex payroll are:

Paychex has three payroll packages for businesses – Paychex Go, Paychex Flex Select, and Paychex Flex Enterprise.

The most popular package is Paychex Flex Select, which clients can customize as per needs. Paychex Flex Select offers a user-friendly online payroll application, employee attendance and time tracking, an integrated system for human resources, and many other features for growing small businesses.

The basic Paychex Go plan is at a base price of $39 per month and an additional $5 for each employee every month. You can avail of a one-month free trial of the Paychex service.

To know the prices of other plans, you’ve to visit the website of Paychex and ask for a quote

Patriot is an online web-based solution handling payroll for small businesses. Along with payroll solutions, Patriot also provides HR tools and accounting software to keep track of all your resources.

Here are some key features of the solution from Patriot:

The features of Patriot payroll are available under two packages – Full Service and Basic.

The Full Service Plan is the most popular choice. It includes all the crucial features a small business would need for payroll. You can take care of employee benefits and deductions, and multiple payrolls and schedules.

The Full Service payroll package is available at a monthly charge of $30. An additional $4 per month is charged for each person paid. The Basic package costs $10 (plus $4 per employee) per month. The company offers a 30-day free trial of its services.

Paycor is a company providing payroll and HR software to businesses of all sizes. The company also handles different aspects of people management, from recruiting to training and development, apart from payrolls.

Among the various features offered by Paycor are:

Paycor has two payroll services – Small Business and Mid Market. Small Business payroll is available under three different bundles, while Mid Market payroll is a fully customizable payroll service.

The price for the Small Business Basic bundle starts at $99 per month. With this plan, you get access to PDF-only reporting, Paycor mobile access, and other primary payroll options. You can also add human resources services and Talent Management features on an ad hoc basis.

The Essential and Complete bundles are available starting at $149 and $199 per month, respectively.

Payroll4Free offers a full range of payroll services at no cost to its clients. It caters to businesses with a small team. This web-based solution also offers integrations with many popular tools.

The free benefits you enjoy with Payroll4Free include:

Payroll4Free has made its software available free of cost for small businesses (with 25 or fewer individuals). It allows businesses to pay employees as well as contractors, either by checks or direct deposit from their own bank account. Payroll tax calculation is also available.

Apart from the free features, Payroll4Free also offers two paid features – automated tax filing and deposit, and direct deposit through their account. These features are priced at $15 each, per month.

Payroll4Free runs only on Windows-based devices.

Payroll Mate is desktop-based payroll management software (for Windows devices) by Real Business Solutions. It meets all the payroll needs of small businesses and midsized companies.

Here are some key functions available with Payroll Mate:

Payroll Mate software package is available at a yearly price of $139. You can download and run this application on your desktop locally, without the need for the Internet.

It allows you to pay employees and contractors, and generate detailed reports and tax forms. The software package also offers custom categories for employee income, tax and deduction among other features.

Some features like Direct Deposit and MICR Ink Check Printing are optional. They cost extra; the prices of which are available on their website.

Deluxe is a leading HR solutions platform that integrates payroll, tax systems, and people management in one place. It offers a suite of services, including talent onboarding, attendance and time tracking, and benefits administration, apart from payroll.

Some of the prominent features of Deluxe payroll solutions are:

Deluxe has three monthly payroll management plans – Lite, Blended, and The Works.

The Works is the most popular package for small businesses. It is an all-access package including features like workflow automation, performance tracking, workers’ compensation, and more.

The Works plan is available at a base fee of $39 per month. An additional $12 per month is charged for each employee added. Lite and Blended plans are available for $39 and $49, plus $7 per employee, per month, respectively.

You can also ask for a customized quote if you need extra features like time tracking and ATS or other upgrades.

PaySmart is an online payroll solutions provider specializing in payroll for small businesses. Along with payroll processing, it provides employee onboarding options, HR tools, and many other complimentary services.

The notable features of PaySmart include:

PaySmart provides custom-made payroll plans for small businesses. It offers an array of automated payroll and HR services through its cost-effective, personalized plans. Employee background checks and identity theft protection are also available.

To know the package prices, you’ve to contact their support department. They will provide you a free quote depending on your specific requirements.

Pay USA is one of the leading products in the cloud-based HCM software market. It offers automated payroll and human resource services to its clients. Along with payroll, it also has different productivity tools and resources essential for small businesses.

Here are some payroll services offered by Pay USA:

Pay USA provides customized payroll processing solutions to each of its clients. Its online tools bring payroll, employee self-service, and other HR features in one place. It offers time tracking, time off records, and attendance management too.

Additionally, Pay USA offers background screening and on-demand HR support. You’ve to contact them to get a custom quote as per your requirements.

PrimePay provides a host of services to run payroll, manage teams, and make businesses more efficient. In addition to payroll, it aids with taxation, reporting, and compliance as well. PrimePay helps manage the entire employee lifecycle.

Some of the key functionalities offered by PrimePay:

The company offers two payroll plans to its clients – Starter Bundle and Starter Bundle + WFM.

The Starter Bundle enables businesses to automate their payroll and taxes, pay their employees electronically, and talk with trusted advisors when needed. It also offers employees access to statements, pay stubs, and other information.

For additional features such as time-tracking and employee self-help, PrimePay has Started + WFM Bundle. It includes a range of workforce management tools, besides payroll and HR.

To know the price of the packages, you’ve to contact the team through the website.

Rippling is a cloud-based employee management platform. It syncs data from various tools with payroll and automates the entire process. Rippling brings together payroll processing, HR tools and PEO services in one place.

Here are some major benefits of using Rippling:

Rippling offers custom plans to avail its features. Apart from full-service payroll, you can get benefits administration, and time and attendance modules, among other features. It also offers features like onboarding/offboarding automation, task management, workflow automation, and many more.

You’ve to get in touch through the website to know how much Rippling payroll will cost you. The pricing plan starts at $8 a month per person.

SurePayroll is one of the reputed products in the market of payroll outsourcing services. It offers benefits & HR management features like 401(k) plans, health insurance, workers’ compensation, and more.

Here are some of its main features:

SurePayroll is available with two subscription plans – Self Service and Full Service. Both the plans come with features like unlimited payroll runs, automated payroll, direct deposit, and others.

Full-Service plan, additionally, has payroll tax handling among other features. The company also offers standalone integrations and tools as needed, on top of the packaged plans.

You need to visit the website to get a quote for the services. It is offering a 2-month free trial currently.

Wagepoint is well-suited for small businesses and bookkeepers. Moreover, it also provides tools to track time and calculate paid time-offs and third-party software integrations.

Here are all the core features of Wagepoint:

Wagepoint has a simple pricing plan for its payroll services. It is customizable based on the number of employees and the preferred frequency of payment.

With its single plan, businesses get access all its payroll features like automated tax calculations, benefits administration, and more. Add-on tools like time tracking and PTO management are charged extra.

To know about estimated plan prices, visit the website and use the pricing calculator.

Zenefits is a cloud-based HCM software providing payroll administration, reporting, and tax management to its clients. It also offers HR, benefits and scheduling, and integrates them with payroll, in one platform.

With Zenefits, you get advanced features like:

The company offers three price packages – Essentials, Growth, and Zen. Payroll is offered as a separate service, to be paid for in addition to the paid packages.

The Growth package is the most popular plan which includes core HR, compensation management, performance management, and many more features. It is available for $18 per month per employee.

Essentials and Zen packages are available for $10 and $27 per month per employee, respectively. Zenefits is currently offering 14-day free use of its services.

Payroll add-on is available at an additional $6 per month per employee. It offers payroll summaries, detailed reports, and general ledger reporting among other features.

When you start searching for an online payroll application for your business, you may be overwhelmed looking at the available options. Why shouldn’t you be?

There are hundreds of options in the market, and all of them claim to equally good or better than others. To make sure you get the best deal, we have listed key features of an excellent online payroll application.

Let’s explore:

Unlimited payroll means you can run payroll as often as you want in a month without any extra fee. Some online payroll processing companies go the extra mile and allow their clients to set multiple payroll schedules for different employees.

This feature can be helpful for your business if you pay your employees multiple times in a month. OnPay and Gusto come with the unlimited payroll feature.

Time and attendance tracking is a feature that allows you to track the working hours of your employees.

You won’t have to manually calculate working hours, vacation time, sick days, holidays, and overtime by having this feature. This feature can automate the entire process of time and attendance tracking.

Paycor and ADP offer the time and attendance tracking feature.

A few applications can help you manage simple HR tasks such as HR analytics, events calendar, employee pay history, leave management, etc. If you don’t have any HR tool in place, you can look or for payroll software with the capability to handle HR services.

HR services offered by payroll applications vary from company to company. Therefore, it is better to look closely at the services before making the final decision.

ADP offers added HR services in their advanced packages.

The direct deposit feature enables you to deposit payroll directly into your employees’ bank accounts. This simply means you don’t have to hand over checks every week/month.

Direct deposit is beneficial to both your business and your employees. By depositing directly into your employees’ accounts, you can save time and money that you would otherwise spend in issuing and distributing checks. And your employees don’t have to make efforts to deposit checks in their bank accounts.

Patriot Payroll and Paychex come with this feature.

Some companies have a built-in feature to offer employees’ compensation insurance plans from leading carriers. Having this feature in your payroll software means you can find the best coverage for your employees and manage the insurance policy effortlessly. Payroll companies often manage disability insurance and health insurance.

Square Payroll and OnPay offer competitive employees’ compensation insurance.

There’re many reasons why you have to provide your employees with paid time off (PTO). Vacation, marriage, sickness, bereavement, and personal time are a few to mention.

Needless to say, managing multiple PTO policies in a business is a cumbersome task. Payroll software having the capability to do PTO management can make your life a lot easier and save you tons of time.

Patriot Payroll and SurePayroll have hassle-free PTO management.

If you want to provide your employees with multiple options to get paid, you should look for software with multiple payment options.

Paychex comes with multiple payment options – your employees can choose to get paid via direct deposit, prepaid pay card, or paper checks.

Employee self-service is a useful feature that you would love to have in your software. This feature equips your employees with the ability to initiate a wide range of self-help actions.

Auto-routing workers’ queries to the right company, accessing/changing their personal information, and applying for leaves are just a few of the many benefits employee self-service can offer.

You must note that employee self-service features change from company to company. So, you should carefully look at the listed features to ensure you get what you need.

Paychex offers an excellent self-help feature along with many valuable features.

Small business owners have to deal with a variety of federal, state, and local tax forms. Form W-2, Form 940, and Form 941 are just a few to name. It goes without saying that the process of filing tax forms is time-consuming, let alone the complexities involved in the process.

The good thing is you can automate the entire process of tax form filling. You just have to look for software that handles tax forms like W-2. Using e-file, e-sign, and e-fax technology tax form filling process can be fast and paperless.

Gusto can help you fill all necessary forms such as Form W-2, Form 940, Form 8974, Form 1099, Form 941, etc.

Small business owners have to calculate and deposit payroll taxes timely for both themselves and their employees.

Employee payroll tax typically includes Federal Income Tax, State Income Tax, Social Security, and Medicare. And employer payroll tax can include Federal Unemployment Tax, State Unemployment Tax, Social Security, and Medicare.

Square Payroll can calculate and deposit federal and state payroll taxes and do the filing to appropriate state and federal agencies.

You must inform about newly hired or rehired employees within 20days of hire to the state where the newly hired employee work. This is a legal obligation. Having a new hire reporting feature in your software can give you peace of mind. The payroll software company itself reports new hires to the government for you.

Gusto comes with an easy-to-use new hire reporting feature.

Online payroll software are a solution that helps you manage the entire life-cycle of payroll operations end-to-end. With comprehensive payroll software, you can automate the whole payroll process in your business.

Here are three key points how online payroll software can help your business:

Gusto, OnPay, and SurePayroll are a few examples of online payroll software.

You can do payroll for your business in three ways – manually doing payroll yourself, using payroll software to do payroll, and hiring a company offering payroll services to get payroll done.

Doing payroll for your business on your own is the most cost-effective way to get it done. But the process is prone to errors. Besides, it takes a boatload of time.

If you use online payroll software to do the job, it can save you a lot of time. But you or your staff may require a little training to use payroll software efficiently.

Outsourcing payroll to a vendor specialized in payroll services may cost you a bit more than buying a payroll software package. But a payroll service provider will give you complete peace of mind. This is because the entire payroll process will be handled by a specialized company.

Payroll services include processing payroll calculations, payroll tax statements, year-end taxes, handling deposits, withholding and paying garnishments, new hire reporting, and more.

Payroll service providers offer different plans that come with different features. To pick the best payroll service, you should list down your requirements first. Then, start your hunt for the best payroll service provider.

Here are five key features that payroll services for small businesses must have:

The cheapest payroll service for small businesses is Payroll4Free. All the basic payroll services are offered free by the company if you pay 25 or fewer people.

Rippling offers the second cheapest payroll service, which can cost you $8 a month per user. A few other cheap payroll service providers are Quickbooks online and Square Payroll.

When you’re looking for a payroll service for your small business, you must understand that the cheapest is not always the best payroll service provider. You should explore the features of different payroll companies and pick the one that suits your business needs.

The best online payroll service is that caters to your needs and fits your budget.

Every business is different, and so are their requirements. There is no one size fits all kind of payroll service provider.

So, it is imperative that you should carefully assess the features of different payroll services and pick the one that serves you better. After all, there is no point in paying for payroll features that you will never use.

To get the best value for your money, you must start exploring at least five products (the more, the better). After considering features, prices, and your needs, pick the best available option.

Implementing payroll software is quick and easy. Small business owners will find the process of implementing payroll software a lot easier than doing payroll without payroll software.

Here are five simple steps to implement payroll software:

Online payroll services typically cost from $10 to $150 per month for small business owners. This is a base monthly price, and you have to pay a monthly fee for each employee you add to the payroll system.

The cost of payroll services for small businesses varies from payroll provider to payroll provider. Also, a payroll company can have different payroll packages with advanced packages having additional features.

When you look for a payroll solution, you should first list down what your business needs. Doing so will help find the right payroll solution without burning a hole in your pocket.

Comprehensive payroll companies cover each and every aspect of payroll and employee services. From key human resources services to workers comp to pay stubs to auto payroll, these companies handle all the tasks related to payroll.

Unlike payroll software that can handle specific tasks, a comprehensive payroll company can take all the payroll tasks off your plate. And as a small business owner, you will be left with more time to focus on improving customer service and lead generation as well as avoiding payroll mistakes.

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This article, "Best Payroll Services for Small Business Owners" was first published on Small Business Trends

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