This Podcast Is Episode Number 0293, And It Will Be About Systematic Payments: Why Should Businesses Use Payroll Service?    Today's Guest Article Is From Sheena Justine Baxter Content Writer And Editor Running a small business can be hectic. There are plenty of tasks for a business owner to oversee when handling the managing of daily operations. Inspecting staffing requirements, attendance, business reviews and more, can fill its plate on a daily or weekly basis. Completing payroll is another task that must be done once or sometimes twice a month, depending on the pay periods. These need to be completed on the specified date without delays and must be completely accurate. Even the slightest mistake may cast doubt on the business and employees will quickly become demoralized – starting a chain reaction that threatens to derail the entire operation. It is quite common for disgruntled employees to seek help from government labor enforcement agencies; seeking retribution for what they see as unfair and unsound business practices being employed. What’s wrong with completing it manually? It’ll cost me less. Many small business owners complete manual processing of payroll to lower overhead costs of operation. While this seems like a good idea on paper, it really isn't. Thinking big means to prepare for an eventuality of growth and processing payroll for each and every employee individually doesn’t say much for that business owner’s vision of the future. Manually completing payroll is time-consuming and more than likely to result in a few errors along the way, especially when a business owner is dealing with a staff of 50-plus heads. However accidental they are, if these discrepancies become frequent, the owner will most likely be certain to face angry employees, or worse, angry tax authorities. Making a small investment now is better than incurring casualties. Completing payroll isn’t that difficult. What’s the big deal? It is the employer’s responsibility to calculate tax and there are federal, state, and local payroll taxes that need to be applied per payroll per person. According to the National Small Business Association (NSBA), 1 out of every 3 small businesses spends an average of 80 hours each year filing taxes, including the ones on a payroll. 80 hours that could have been spent elsewhere; perhaps, focused towards other useful initiatives that would actually help the business grow. Checking an employee’s worked hours and multiplying it by their rate of pay isn’t the hard part of doing payroll manually. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Putting all mention of taxes aside, a small business owner will also need to account for overtime work hours, vacation leaves, bonuses or compensation, health and medical benefits, and possibly much more. The average amount of time that it takes to complete manual payroll processing for a single employee (and this is not even taking into account the aforementioned overtime work hours, etc.) is about 11 minutes. Multiply that by the total amount of heads that are currently employed, and bingo, someone’s missing the bus ride home. Okay. What’s the solution then? The solution is to invest and apply for a payroll service. The primary advantages of a small business owner using a payroll service are numerous hours saved and no liability for errors. If mistakes occur, it now becomes the payroll service’s responsibility to correct and take ownership of the problem. Besides that, there are many other benefits to reap. Depending on which type of service is being used, the enrollment fee may either be one-time or a monthly subscription fee. Additional features that payroll services offer typically come with an additional fee on top of the upfront cost. A smart business owner will analyze the needs of his/her business and choose a payroll service that fits right in the groove. Are only the basic functions required, or are additional services needed? Well, what...