The services separately rarely speak a similar language, making the correction of a mistake or discovery delayed. And those services offered under one roof are rarely an integrated full payroll and full bookkeeping service provider. We will discuss the frustration experienced from brokers to bookkeepers and payroll service companies in an effort to solve their problems of inefficient labor tracking, entry errors, delayed response, and system incompatibility. Another advantage of the integrated service is that the accounting moment aligns with the need for payroll, which is weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly.
In running a business, especially a small business, every resource available is invaluable. Concentrating limited resources, energy, and time in a few key areas makes sense and yields measurable results. Separating the operations of the bookkeeper and payroll provider, time tracking, and accounting is a source of frustration and causes a complete lack of harmony. Trusting one service to be the full-service provider naturally makes sense and yields measurable savings in time, improved communication, quicker response times, and error detection. A unified service delivers consistent and measurable advantages to the business owner, and assignees can track employee time more seamlessly.
Importance of Payroll and Bookkeeping Services
In addition, in developing a business, employees remain the company’s most important asset as payroll reflects an independent contractor’s relationship with the business. Pay and payroll taxes are determined from payroll data. A company is required to calculate and resolve net pay by withholding income and employment taxes from employee pay. In addition, tax laws need to be implemented to calculate and pay employment taxes. Overtime is extra pay for working hours that exceed federal and state hourly limits. It is also considered an extension of work performed on holidays, weekends, and each week. It is defined as a rate that exceeds the number previously viewed to generate payroll. The fines associated with incorrect payroll implementation can reduce and hurt the value of the business. This article will explore how payroll can supplement and extend bookkeeping services for a streamlined back office.
From a training and best practices perspective, the more that one can integrate an employee or client with the policy and procedures tied to categorization and recordkeeping, the better results in business organization and increased retention. Every business, no matter the size, requires a payroll system for handling payroll confidentially and accurately in a timely manner. The Internal Revenue Service requires employers to keep employment tax records for at least four years. The statute of limitations of employment taxes never expires if companies do not file and for any reason such as evasion or fraud, so it is best to file accurate records where the statute of limitations never expires.
Although payroll is often considered outside the typical bookkeeping scope, as the last step in the accounting cycle, it smoothly transitions bookkeeping activity to business processes. By creating efficiencies within a business such as better organized key business information, increased trust in financial data, better financial management through real-time reports, better tax planning and compliance, integrated systems resulting in fewer errors and increased savings implementing both payroll and bookkeeping policies and procedures.
Benefits of Integrating Payroll and Bookkeeping
The second benefit of integrating payroll with bookkeeping is to simplify the payment distribution options for your employees. By having direct deposit for your employees, the more likely you are to retain good employees. For some employees, direct deposit is a must and their primary factor in picking who to work for. Using a payroll solution that offers direct deposit will ensure that the employee’s payroll expenses are recorded in the general ledger as the bank reconciles each month.
The first benefit of integrating payroll with bookkeeping is to streamline your business operations. By having these two functions integrated and consolidated, you can minimize the chances of error in reporting your financial picture. Having multiple numbers to report within your businesses can be eliminated by properly recording your payroll information by integrating. Your bank reconciliation will always match and our financial information will have the direct source of where the payroll expenses are coding to in your financial records. When this important bookkeeping task is completed, your books are clean and a true reflection of your revenues and expenses of your business operation.
Streamlining Operations with Integrated Services
Having your company’s payroll and bookkeeping data within the same platform, or in a system that integrates finance and payroll, can make for seamlessly combining the data in your single-entry, small-business responsibilities. Furthermore, even if the data is not combined, your payroll and bookkeeping entries can appear side-by-side, allowing for quick reconciliation at month-end. A cloud-based system provides companies with the ability to restrict or block visibility of certain data records by choice. This is particularly precious when your company has multiple employees; on the payroll, not everyone should have access to view certain compensation data. Such a system provides effective compliance with data privacy laws in this manner. With all of these cloud-based advantages that technology has made available, businesses now have the resources to easily manage not only finance and HR, but also operating their business with a single cloud-based system that encompasses all business units. This allows visibility and operational efficiencies in an all-in-one business and HR setting, ultimately putting you securely on the path to increasing your company’s ability to operate as a tax engine.
The advances in technology over the years have changed the manner in which many business administration operations are being performed and documented. Cloud-based HR systems that integrate finance and payroll have made the process of aligning and reconciling these functions simpler, more reliable, and have made it easier to manage. These systems provide tools for business owners and companies by increasing transparency and improving efficiency. Cloud-integrated systems also give business owners and management real-time access to their HR and business financials. These companies can now access their data from any internet-connected device.
When you have two discrete companies responsible for ensuring your business operations run smoothly, visibility can be limited or non-existent. Data extracted from your payroll may not be aligned with your bookkeeper’s financial reporting, which can limit your or your accountant’s ability to review your company’s payroll and bookkeeping records. This separation can also limit your staff’s liability in the completion and accuracy of the process. In this scenario, how can you even begin to determine whether these records are reliable and can be trusted? This question is particularly concerning for a business owner where several staff members have access to these functions.
Centralized Data Management
Have you found yourself combing over data line by line, tab by tab, file by file? How much time did you spend correcting the errors and formatting? By centralizing data, you eliminate the hoops through which time and information can disappear. Instead of spending hours just to get data into a template for review, you can focus on the meat of your business review conversation. Payroll & bookkeeping services providers continue to streamline our clients’ financial operations so they can make more confident decisions with the time saved. By integrating bookkeeping and basic HR functions, including payroll, we improve financial clarity and affect financial process efficiencies.
Cloud bookkeeping and payroll integrations provide businesses with centralized and current financial data. This is especially important for those who are constantly on the go. To better support our clients, we use Xero and Gusto, which provide fully mobile applications. If you own a smartphone, you can view your company’s profit and loss, balance sheet, and payroll data with ease while waiting in line for that sandwich or spin class. You’re already in sync with your team as a result of monthly financial statement reviews and quarterly employee check-ins or reviews. Gone are the days of pulling data from one application and plugging (or re-entering) the values into another application. Errors are minimized thanks to the elimination of human touch and data is consistently updated, making small businesses more agile.
Automated Payroll Processing
Using an online employee/manual (“manual timekeeping”) time system such as TSheets can greatly facilitate calculating variable time worked in a construction environment. However, these systems require their own set of unique employees who need to be integrated with any QuickBooks employee-payable entry requirements. A manual timekeeping system’s familiarity with your business and the major benefit of capturing employee images can bridge any operational gaps that your larger online payroll system does not yet support. Additionally, your dedicated payroll & bookkeeping services can input hours gathered with a manual timekeeping system. Are you looking for an additional training option to help you avoid manual timekeeping altogether? SmartBooks can also be utilized as a time capture solution, with all timekeeping entries input by the job to facilitate real-time duty allocations. To determine the best option between this option, manual timekeeping, and more in-person training options, look to your current business operations and overall operational usage needs.
Through integrating payroll processing and bookkeeping platforms, your company can leverage automated data entry that not only creates efficiencies but also reduces longer-term financial and operational errors. In addition, as users of accounting software such as QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Xero, and more, employees can be paid without the need for duplicate data entry, while accounts associated with this process will automatically reflect the latest financial details. With integrated bookkeeping and payroll, there is no need to re-enter timesheets into payroll, which additionally helps to avoid operational payroll calculating errors. Perhaps the most enticing aspect of integrating payroll with bookkeeping operations is that businesses will no longer need to pay per-hire fees, as hours worked by new employees are captured by a payroll system that integrates with an existing bookkeeping platform. Additionally, new employees can be effectively “onboarded” throughout the existing new employee processing using integrated payroll, which keeps the specific operational processing steps intact that are familiar to the business owner.
Accurate Financial Reporting
Being part of the larger financial tracks belonging to a company, profit decides the success of an operation, and considered in terms of the franchisee or franchise operation, money-related data and other financial records are influential in depicting an operational image that is coherent with existing operations, supporting information or documentation, and other data sources such as audited financial statements. There are several financial ledgers that maintain and track entity financial data such as payroll or sales and operations. Profit is the result of the business activities, which encompasses recording transactions, paying liabilities, invoicing customers, handling payroll, and many other related events. Payroll and bookkeeping are also critical aspects that contribute to the bigger picture of overall financial harmony for franchise operations. Accurate business transactions, cash inflow and outflow, account ledger entries, recorded charges and credits, and the sum job costing process will be less prone to inherent errors.
Maintaining financial harmony through accurate financial reporting is not as complex as it sounds. It all boils down to a careful examination of your books, among other things. Overseeing the processes of payroll and bookkeeping involves juggling several activities in maintenance, preparation, and post-filing stages, making it crucial for you to track and measure specific activities such as money spent and gained during a period, money spent and gained/owed at a specified time, the makeup of an amount spent and gained, or the impact of an investment.
Choosing the Right Payroll and Bookkeeping Provider
Though this is more specialized for small businesses than for bookkeeping, choose software that is customized towards what you exactly do. This will help with the more specialized point as getting into small, minute details that explain exactly what the software does and that can make custom features to what you need – less data entry. Be sure to review the experience of previous customers and inquire about security in the transmission of sensitive data. This specialized financial software must be trustworthy and reliable in handling sensitive financial and tax-related data. Research the provider’s reputation and safety measures before moving forward with an agreement for integrative payroll processing solutions.
When it comes to choosing affordable, scalable payroll and bookkeeping solutions for a growing or changing business, it is essential for management teams to conduct thorough research before making a decision. When choosing a payroll service, look to trusted companies that have an established reputation for excellence in their field. Consult with professionals in accounting circles, or even your financial advisor, for referrals or suggestions for potential software programs and platforms. Use reputable guidebooks and websites to begin the search and enter into discussions with well-known companies or software designs tailored to your particular needs.
Evaluating Service Options
As for safeguarding your business, position staff to streamline processes and possibly implement a versatile option such as the master control clock. This instrument is suited for mobile applications or time clock cards and comes with a valuable job costing capability. Business account software of certain companies interfaces with clock clocking units to expedite payment processes while providing real-time data confirmations to fine-tune employee records. This low-cost tracking device enables companies to harness instantaneous reporting to control business outcomes and costs. Over time, clock clocking units improve workplace habits and recognitions by providing staff with a visual graphic of productivity patterns. Remember, mobility starts with thorough, proof equipment and software not only for the employee fraternity but virtual systems as well. Legal and digital agreements are way more than just insurance – consider future interactions when it comes to managing payments and payment security. Look for process traits such as payroll integration where salaries and taxes owed are paid out as early as possible in the paycheck process. Smoothing reveals solid cash position where creating a flexible paycheck process makes a valuable bargaining chip. Keep an eye out for the right company that integrates any number of features keeping money in check and provides on-time tracking and bottom-line visibility.
Locating reputable payroll services and bookkeeping services with transparent fees – it’s the Holy Grail. SMEs are often tasked with finding comprehensive support quickly, but with few consumer tools to help them navigate in a domain unfamiliar or intimidating, best fits aren’t so easy to capture. Companies opt to outsource payroll responsibilities with an expectation of gaining: cost savings, expertise, and convenience and risk management. Notwithstanding these advantages, however, errors can still occur. Research suggests that human error or poor reporting function are frequent catalysts. When evaluating potential service solutions, employ AI as payment security, including tracking product and vendor profiles, monitoring transactions, and initiating payment approvals. Where a company can provide details, the system not only helps with entering payroll details but suggests how money should be distributed to employees, including tax shield amounts.
Considerations for Integration
Secondly, if you’re searching specifically for a payroll provider that integrates with prominent bookkeeping software, you still need to know if the integration is standard or customizable. While an integration with QuickBooks may already be in place, allow for possible drawbacks. Every company approaches integration differently. Do you have several departments with different amounts of responsibility and, subsequently, access to certain payroll data? To what extent will you have to dedicate employees or resources to see this through? Can the product import and categorize all the data or only functions like gross pay and pay types? Find out by consulting with a sales agent. In essence, you want to ask as many questions as possible about expectations. Make sure the payroll provider and the bookkeeping software will meet as many—or all—of those expectations.
With so many payroll providers offering bookkeeping services, integration can appear seamless in product demonstration, making it part of your contract or knowing if it is even possible before signing the dotted line. First and foremost, if you already have a bookkeeping product into which you would like the payroll data to flow, make sure it’s compatible with the proposed payroll provider. Don’t assume it is. Find out by checking with a sales agent or by simply searching the company’s website for a payroll integration option. If it is possible to integrate the payroll system with your particular bookkeeping software, the cost will factor into your decision. Find out if the cost of the integration is included in the bookkeeping fees and if not, how much you can expect to pay. The term “seamless” comes with a cost. If integration is already part of the company’s offerings, you’ll still want to inquire about customization and who’s responsible for overseeing any updates to the bookkeeping system (payroll data and calculations, tax updates, and so on).
Cost and ROI Analysis
Additionally, using solution 2 in particular, as a separate clerk would be required to perform the outsourced service – indicating a minimum added liability of $15,000 annually. In contrast, the solution provided a small ROI of 2.0%, 3.9%, and 10.6% respectively. Given the high nominal cost of bookkeeping, it is unsurprising that business owners consider this to be a major expense with small margins. Moreover, by comparing the costs of the two solutions, it appears that the savings derived from automation of payroll processing in conjunction with bookkeeping will surpass the do-it-yourself option or the use of separate services, thereby providing the business with an improved financial picture.
At an average bookkeeping hourly rate of $50 per hour, a business with one employee completing the payroll activity twice a month and assuming a 15% overhead, the business would be in the red for the $1,432.40 or $1,050.00 due to the added bookkeeping hours needed for solution 1 and 2. Similarly, for the two-employee and three-employee examples with the same 15% overhead, the business would be in the red and lose $2,131.50 and $4,784.00 respectively adopting solutions 1 and 2.
The costs associated with either automating the payroll data entry and producing the general ledger reports or with outsourcing the data entry and general ledger production are easily manageable. If a small business owner opts to use the monthly subscription, the cost of automation is only $119.40. If the decision is made to outsource the data entry and payroll reporting to the general ledger, the cost would be $87.50 per payroll period. Given that the outsourced costs are dependent upon employee hourly rates, the actual costs will vary. Therefore, the ROI calculation for either of the payroll accounting solution options depends upon the number of hours spent performing the payroll-related activities.
Implementing Integrated Services for Financial Harmony
Many businesses separate their bookkeeping and payroll into two separate providers, each handling a different aspect of their financial processes. PayMaster goes the extra mile by offering a regular monthly check-in to ensure all of your accounts are reconciled at the end of each month, giving you peace of mind and clean financial year-end reporting. This approach provides business owners with an end-of-year financial picture where they can easily understand whether they operated “in the red or the black” during the reporting year. Implementing financial harmony with integrated business payroll and bookkeeping services has the potential to save you time and money, plus provide you with focused business and employee management and decision-making tools. Running a business is time-consuming enough, so why not save time and refocus your efforts by taking operational financial services off your plate? Consider this business-enhancing combination and give us a call today.
Every business produces financial records that must be tracked, recorded, and reported properly in order to run a successful business. That’s where bookkeeping and payroll services can provide lengthy time savings and a less stressful work life. At PayMaster, we offer a bookkeeping and virtual payroll solution for businesses in North Carolina. This integrated financial operations management approach can help your business achieve both financial and operational harmony. It is essential to have your business books and payroll services closely integrated. The two services work in tandem to ensure transactions are properly categorized and can easily be reported for tax purposes. When outsourcing your bookkeeping and payroll services to PayMaster, all of your financial transactions will be handled from top to bottom, freeing you to focus on running your business, improving morale, and ultimately positively impacting your bottom line.
Planning and Preparation
The Security Module: Once you have signed up with Workforce Go! Bookkeeping Online, each user you add to your company will need to set up a username and password through the Security Module in Go Bookkeeping. This is the page a user will be directed to upon entering the username assigned to them. If a user has not yet received their username, a company manager will contact Workforce Go Payroll to request a username be created.
After completing this course, you should be better prepared to perform these tasks: configure the Security Module, apply payroll export codes, define agent and client relationships, configure payroll groups, and create a QuickBooks company file. In this module, we will discuss how to configure entities to enable the integration between Workforce Go! and Workforce Go! Bookkeeping, such as the security and company setups necessary to use import/export functionality. We will also discuss the security module, apply payroll export codes, define agent/client relationships, configure payroll groups, set up an account in Bookkeeping to link to the payroll group, and apply rules.
Financial Harmony: Integrating Payroll and Bookkeeping Services for Streamlined Operations. This training was created to help employees better understand Workforce Go’s integrated payroll and bookkeeping platforms, as well as how the integration works and the benefits of using both platforms. After completing this course, you should be able to define the company setups required to enable the integration between Workforce Go! and Workforce Go! Bookkeeping, subject to specific client scenarios.
Integration Process
– Small business accounting software, which offers mobile applications to assist with creating and sending customer invoices, entering and paying bills, and on-the-go access to customer and vendor information or bank feeds.
– Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) are major software applications used by companies to manage daily business activities, such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk management and compliance, and supply chain operations.
– Specialized payroll software, which calculates employee pay, withholds and pays taxes, provides employee payslips, and prepares state and federal tax reports. – Bookkeeping and tax administration software, which reconciles bank accounts, manages income and expense reports, and prepares financial records for tax purposes. – Payroll administration services, which help with various aspects of payroll such as set up and report payroll, payroll taxes, and after-the-fact payroll. – Financial institutions, such as banks and credit unions, who offer financial management tools, online banking, and payroll processing software to their small and mid-sized business customers.
Training and Support
Even intaking those initial questions, it makes sense to work with experts who can help you through your purchasing process. This confidence in their services and software was a major factor in the purchasing decision for asphalt and concrete paving company Deane’s Paving. As the company occasionally needed morning-time temp labor brokering services, book delimiter Katrina Deane was attracted to how Valiant’s ATS integrates with its payroll and asked for a demonstration on that feature in addition to their payroll offerings. Sales Representative Don Barber obliged, sharing his screen and walking Ms. Deane through various processes within the software. This demonstration, accompanied by Mr. Barber’s patient explanation and answers to each question she had regarding how the processes would work on her end, won Deane’s Paving’s business. Furthermore, having the new customer feeling settled in – and, quoting Ms. Deane, “on the cloud,” from her company’s support interactions before becoming a full-fledged Valiant user helped her to feel more comfortable and in control of the day-to-day operations matters at Deane’s Paving.
When you’re handling your own bookkeeping or accounting – and even when you’re working with a bookkeeper or accountant – quick consults or questions needed ahead of a pressing deadline can throw off all your progress and efficiency. If your team or your vendors are pausing to get the time or information they need to proceed, that diminishes your company’s object-level capacity, which is a measure of the industries involved in negotiations requiring special consideration from a bookkeeping or accounting services provider. It’s important, then, that no matter what software solution you’re using for payroll or bookkeeping, that you seek out a provider who’s known for generous training and support for their users.
