Simply considering the pronunciation, the President’s nomination for the Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin could be the person for the job. By definition, minutiae means paying attention to precise details, as well as small or trifling matters. It is difficult to argue that paying attention to the smallest of details must be the task of anyone who is dealing with money, finances, and, especially, payroll services companies.
Payroll companies for small business and for large corporations must, obviously, be very detailed and exact in everything that they do. In fact, the reason that companies of all sizes contract with payroll services companies is that they need someone else to spend the hours that it takes to make sure everything from overtime pay for exempt employees to foreign employment compliance regulations and guidelines.
Being a Small Business Owner Has Many Challenges
The frustration and challenge that many small business owners find themselves in is that the task of payroll and all of its implications can take significant amounts of time away from the real purpose and passion of why they started their companies in the first place. Obviously, there are few things more important to the success of a small business than the accurate and timely payment of its employees, but when those tasks of payroll take away time that could otherwise be spent producing a product or delivering a service it might be time to consider seeking the advice of payroll services companies.
When small businesses make the decision to work with payroll services companies those businesses move from having to spend hours every pay period calculating hours worked and other requirements to simply looking over only one report and to quickly approving only one invoice to pay. If for instance, you are the owner of a chain of oil change services company, the decision to outsource your payroll services means that you can spend more time interacting with customers and training employees instead of spending hours and hours on payroll. The ability to participate in and direct the activities that your business is really about, instead of spending your time with confusing payroll deduction calculators means that you will enjoy the business that you own. And while some small business owners love the minutia of figuring out vacation pay, payroll taxes, and keeping detailed records of hours worked, many more of these business people would rather focus on the intent of their company.
Large Corporations Often Make the Decision to Outsource Payroll Tasks
Payroll services companies are especially important to many large companies. Although some large corporations have their own payroll departments, other large companies leave the task of accurately distributing salaries and benefits to payroll management services. Even the basic task of determining the payroll differences between employees who live in Canada and employees who live in the U.S. can be complicated. Imagine then if you are a large corporation that is in charge of running payroll for contractors who work around the world. And while there are over 190 regulatory legislative requirements when it comes to payroll processing in Canada, when you are paying contractors in a number of different companies the complications multiply.
An additional reason that many large corporations, and small companies for that matter, outsource their payroll tasks is that mistakes can be expensive. Obviously, one of the potential problems facing both large and small business owners is that payroll processing errors can be complex, risky, and expensive if mistakes are made. The decision to outsource these complicated tasks means that the contracted company provides the staff to keep up with the latest tax and benefit guidelines and changes that must be addressed.
Consider some of these other facts and figures about the nature of payroll responsibilities and requirements:
- Tax preparation and accounting can be particularly complicated and confusing for small business owners who have little experience with financial record keeping.
- In addition to payroll services, a payroll provider can offer Human Resources Management, Employment Security Administrative Enhancement, and other compliance and government remittance services.
- 85% of certified public accountants recommend that small businesses contract with professional payroll providers.
- Research indicates that small businesses will find that outsourcing payroll sources can be both a time and cost saving decision, especially during tax season.
