Paying Your Employees

Though it's of paramount importance to pay all of your bills in an accurate and timely fashion, the fact is that your employees rely upon and plan around their payment schedule. Even a 'minor' delay of a single day in receiving a paycheque can cause an employee serious hardship. Should such delays happen repeatedly, employee morale will drop, your employees may quit with little or no notice, and they may even report you to the Better Business Bureau.

Payroll Deductions

Payroll isn't simply a matter of multiplying hourly wage by hours worked, or even of issuing regular cheques for salaried employees. There are literally dozens of factors that figure in to a single paycheque. You need to know the regulations for overtime and vacation pay. You need to know how to make deductions for income tax, employment insurance and federal and provincial pension plans. You will need to pay worker's compensation costs to cover your employees in case they are injured.

Your Payroll Plan

Unless you are a professional accountant it's probably not a good idea to do your payroll yourself. There are numerous software packages that make payroll easier, but you'll still need good accounting skills, regardless of what software you use. The decision to hire an accountant or outsource your payroll will be largely based on the overall size of your company. The advantage of having an accountant handle your payroll is that all of your finances will be consolidated. The disadvantage is that payroll can be a lot of work, and as your business grows you may end up having to outsource payroll anyway.  

Outsourcing Payroll

There are numerous companies that provide payroll service as their principle business. They almost never make mistakes, and you can rest assured that everything will be accounted for and will be in full compliance with all federal and provincial regulations, no matter how complex your payroll structure is.

Deciding on the payroll structure that is best for you and your employees is a critical step. Ideally, you want to maximize your administrative efficiency, while minimizing costs. It pays to investigate all of the options in order to implement a payroll plan that will work for you now, and into the future.