By Stephanie
Elsen
No matter whether you are using payroll software or a payroll service for your business, you are surely using a payroll program to enter and track employee information, hours worked, and all the associated necessary information to pay employees.
A basic payroll program may meet most of your needs at the start, but as time goes on and you grow, there will be areas that need to change along with your business. As a business changes and continues to drive for more efficiency and cost reduction, there are a number of areas to consider in your payroll program to make improvements. Consider payroll features that can decrease staff resources and reduce the costs of paper, printing, check stock, envelopes and postage.
Payroll program capabilities that the help improve efficiency and reduce costs:
Direct Deposit Payment
Transfer pay electronically to employee bank accounts, rather than issuing printed checks.
Publish Pay Advices
Distribute direct deposit pay advices electronically, rather than printing on paper and handing them out.
Electronic/e-Filing of State and Federal Reports
File tax forms and reports electronically via the internet instead of purchasing all the associated materials, printing and sending them.
Time Clock/Time Capture Device Import
Import employee time from a time clock/time capture device electronically, rather than entering the information by hand.
Leave Calculation and Reporting
Maintain accrual, payment and reporting of vacation, sick leave, and PTO with the ability to print accrued, used and remaining on employee pay stubs.
Local Tax Tracking
Set up and track local taxes or tax groups, rather than keeping track of that often complex information in a spreadsheet.
Multiple State Tax Tracking
Track and pay taxes in multiple states, and track tax requirements for mobile employees working in multiple states.
Benefit/Deduction Tracking
Track benefits such as 401K, cafeteria plan, and other benefits/deductions and employer matches within your payroll program rather than using an external spreadsheet.
Wage Garnishment
Wage garnishment can be complex, depending on many factors. Track and pay complex wage garnishments in your payroll system. If your program cannot do it, you will need to manually calculate every payday and enter it into the system.
Many businesses that are outgrowing their payroll program or seeking time and cost-savings contact Red Wing Software, seeking a better way to handle their growing payroll needs. CenterPoint Payroll Software is an in-house payroll software program that can accommodate all of these functions and many more.
By Stephanie Elsen
Carole Thuringer joined Red Wing Software’s support team 16 years ago. Carole has been an asset to Red Wing Software in a variety of ways over the years. After several years of working on the support team, she managed a network of reselling partners. She then went on to start and develop the ‘How2’ documentation system and videos, and then also created and launched Red Wing Software University (RWSU) which customers still use every single day. Most recently, Carole has taken on the role of Staff Accountant, though she continues to work on the RWSU, the testing of new products, and helping with migration processes.
Carole has a 13-year-old daughter named Zoe, who is a straight A student, excels in track, and loves to participate in plays. Carole also just celebrated her fourth wedding anniversary with her husband John. In their spare time, the three of them enjoy family activities. Carole says, “The three of us love trail riding with our ATVs and our Arabian horses. We used to compete at horse shows almost every weekend each summer, but have switched gears in the past couple of years to Competitive Mounted Orienteering. Never heard of it? Think of a timed scavenger hunt through the woods on horseback using an old-fashioned map reading compass! This year, we are also expanding our horizons and will be competing in 25 and 50-mile endurance rides with our horses.”
CenterPoint Accounting and Payroll customer, Swisslane Dairy was featured in the May 21st issue of Progressive Dairyman in the article, “Michigan Dairies Featured in Robotic Milking Panel Discussion.” Swisslane Dairy is one of two farms who currently use the Lely brand of robots. Read the whole story here.
Be prepared and have a plan. The last few weeks have had some excellent and unfortunate examples of the importance of being prepared and having a plan. The recent weather tragedies around the country, especially in the south central United States, are perfect examples of how critical it can be if you’re not prepared for the possibility of severe weather events. Many people’s lives were saved because of severe weather warnings, and their own individual preparedness with storm shelters or evacuation plans.
Even the less severe weather events that have been prevalent throughout the central and upper Midwest with the late, wet spring and farmers’ inability to get field work done as early as normal, required contingency plans for the rest of the season.
Closer to home, we had a customer recently lose over two years of financial information because of a problem with his main computer. He had religiously backed up his data, only to discover his backups were not going to the correct location, and when his computer had a problem, he found that his last good backup was two years old.
These conditions give us a good wake-up call on the importance of being prepared and having a plan for the unexpected. Whether dealing with weather, economic conditions, or technology problems, we all need to think about what our plan is to recover from unexpected and uncontrollable situations.