Seven things to look for when choosing a payroll partner

Small or mid-sized business owners may think that turning to payroll/HR service companies to manage their payroll and HR processes isn’t an option for their operations. That’s simply not true.

In recent years, not only have outsourced payroll solutions become more affordable, they have also been developed to meet the needs of smaller businesses, with scalable options, privacy safeguards, and a host of value-added payroll/HR management services to make your payroll and staffing processes run like a dream.

In addition to these benefits, when your people are consistently paid accurately and on time, you’ll build their confidence in your company, while you focus on your top priority: growing your business.

Related: Is outsourcing payroll right for your small business?

Here are the top things to look for when choosing a payroll partner, and reasons why collaborating with a partner can lead to simpler payroll.

1. A knowledgeable professional and ongoing support

As a small business owner, you are an expert in your industry. If payroll is not your industry, you may want to leave it to the professionals. When you make this choice, you gain a CPA-trained payroll professional as an extension of your team.

When you partner with a professional organization for payroll, you also gain access to their service experts who can answer payroll-related questions and offer support.

2. Options with day-to-day involvement

While you will need to be engaged and provide oversight (it is your money that’s being distributed), you can choose how involved you want to be in the day-to-day of payroll processing. If you want your administrator to be more involved, you should have options within an outsourced partnership.

3. The ability to grow with your business needs

Whether you are growing your small business (opening more locations, or have just reached a revenue milestone), a professional payroll provider should be able to adapt to your changing business needs.

4. Time savings

The person who was doing payroll at your company prior to partnering should gain more time for connecting with customers, completing other administrative tasks, implementing new programs, or even taking some time off.

5. Greater accuracy and timeliness with payroll processing

Partnering with a professional payroll provider, you are less likely to be subject to fines and penalties related to your payroll processing.

6. Cost savings

A good payroll provider will be able to offer affordable pricing for your small business. This price should be less than hiring a new employee to complete in-house payroll.

7. Security and protection measures

If you partner with a company with trusted results, you get a professional job, access to appropriate security safeguards, and you can reduce the risk of fraud.

Learn more about the benefits of working with a payroll partner