What is a payroll system?   As a payroll outsourcing company, many times when we sit down with clients, they initially ask “What is a payroll system?” This is a great starting place for planning how your payroll system will, at a minimum:   Gather your employee work hours Cut checks Stay in compliance with taxes and withholdings on a federal, state and local level.   Companies generally handle creating their payroll system in a few popular ways:   You can have employees fill out time cards and use your internal accounting staff to handle all checks. While this is a popular strategy, pay attention to some of the shortfalls of this system: It usually doesn’t scale easily as you grow your business It can be unmanageable to keep the accountant up-to-speed with state and federal withholdings and compliance issues You’re dependant on one person for your system. This makes the person very hard to replace if the need should arise for any reason.  ...

What are Strategic HR Services? When we get asked, “What are Strategic HR Services?”, we usually provide the following explanation. From our experience, strategic HR services try to save business owners from spending too much money and time on HR capabilities. The HR services should be focused on letting business owners grow the business, not logging excessive hours with HR issues. HR services should provide: Legal and Compliance Coverage to help avoid employee claims and to avoid fines. Employee Policy development, documentation and communication to let employees understand what they need to know. Benefits program development to create an appropriate set of benefits to retain employees and be in sync with the company’s corporate culture. Recruiting, Hiring and Terminations best practices to help personnel get through these stages quickly so the company can focus on growth. Employee coaching and counseling to help the company and employees keep the same expectations. Payroll ...

Checklist for Payroll Processing   Are you arranging for your employees to be paid for the first time or organizing your current process? A great way to go, is to create a written payroll processing checklist. Payroll processing can be made easier by checking the following items to make sure you have them addressed in your written process.   Having a payroll checklist can help you avoid oversights that can lead to legal penalties and embarrassing hassles fixing mistakes on paychecks.   Payroll Planning: Which employees are on an annual salary, and which ones are being paid hourly? How are the hourly employees recording their time (time clocks? Time Sheets?) Will you cut checks, or offer direct deposit? What deductions will you handle? Benefits? 401(k), health insurance, disability? How will you factor in overtime and bonuses? How often will you cut checks? What is the process for getting new-hires into the system? How are pay changes and termina ...

Companies that offer payroll services and what to look for When looking for companies that offer payroll services, some top things to look for include:   Top-notch Customer Service. How they interact with you during the courting/selling phase of the relationship can be an early indication of their ability (or lack of ability) to get you through the tough times. If you need to call them twice to get an answer about their payroll services, move along. Ability to grow with your expanding needs. Does the company have the ability for you to outsource any other HR needs? Do they have experience working with other companies like yours? Can they clearly explain the initial set-up process, and is it acceptable? Do they seem to have a good process leading up to the first paycheck run? What is the ongoing level of work required by your staff to use the system? What tools will your staff be using to enter timesheet information and how easy are they to use?    Modern Busin ...

Atricles on Payroll Services Come see our extensive library of articles about Payroll Services. These articles are specifically designed for C-Level executives and business owners to help decide if payroll outsourcing is a good alternative for their business.   Our award-winning payroll and HR outsourcing services have given us great insight into what kinds of questions need to be answered for a business owner to make a great decision about their payroll service.      Modern Business Associates is an HR company that focuses on payroll and HR outsourcing.  As a Professional Payroll and HR outsource organization, our clients rely on us to help them effectively deal with these kinds of topics.

Free Employer Advice and Tips We strive to make the Modern Business Associates free tips area a wealth of quality articles that can benefit you with your daily concerns about running your business. Please click on our list of topics on this page to see more articles to address your specific current needs and offer some advice. Also, click in the “search” box to type in keywords to look for more free employer advice and tips. Some of our most popular articles include:   A free template for a letter confirming employment   Cons of Hiring an intern   Where’s a good payroll calculator?   U.S. Child Labor Law changes that may affect you     Modern Business Associates frequently deals with outsourcing HR and Payroll functions.  As a Professional Payroll and HR outsource organization, our clients rely on us to help them effectively deal with these kinds of topics.

Articles on Payroll Services   We offer a wealth of free articles on payroll services. What to look for. Mistakes to avoid when selecting a payroll service. How to prepare your staff for the transition to a payroll service. Tips for vetting payroll services before you commit.   Come see our extensive library of articles on Payroll Services.   Our HR outsourcing services track record has given us a great view into what kinds of questions need to be answered for a business owner to make a proper decision about their payroll service. Our articles on payroll services focus on helping you through those decisions.      Modern Business Associates is an HR company that focuses on payroll and HR outsourcing.  As a Professional Payroll and HR outsource organization, our clients rely on us to help them effectively deal with these kinds of topics.

Designing an Internship Program   Designing an Internship Program can create a great way to pave the way to create relationships with local schools and pave the way to boosting your recruiting program. It’s not uncommon for over 20% of a company’s new-hires to come from its internship program.   Then designing an internship program, several factors should be considered:   Strategic Planning Will your internship program be available year-round? Post openings at least eight weeks from the start date. Will they need workspace? Will they need computer access? What kinds of meaningful projects will they participate in?   Supervising Since internships are generally a training type of program, they will typically need a greater amount of supervision than the normal employees. Each intern will need to be welcomed to the company and taken through many of the normal employee orientation efforts, like security, facility accommodations, punch in/out procedures, etc. ...

  Restaurant Employee Benefit Service Tips For the Small Restaurant   Small restaurant owners often find it difficult to compete for talent with larger restaurants regarding employee benefits. In an industry where 100-precent yearly turnover is the norm, most independent restaurants do not offer extensive benefits packages. By outsourcing your payroll and HR responsibilities to a professional employer organization (PEO), a small restaurant can level the playing field, and offer its employees the same benefits as a chain.   Frequently, things as small as direct deposit and a small benefit plans for dental and vision contribute to increased employee retention. Many restaurants see a change by letting an employee benefits service focus on these things for them. Lower Premiums The economies of scale provided by PEOs are helpful when procuring and administering health insurance benefits. By pulling all of its clients’ insurance premiums together and aggregating all of its worksite employ ...

Will your PEO have what it takes lower your employee turnover? As a large business executive, you may be considering outsourcing your payroll or HR issues. Savvy Professional Employer Organizations have developed specialized services and delivery systems that cater to needs specific to larger companies. A common requirement from large businesses working with professional employer organizations is for the PEO to be able to deal with HR issues like employee morale and turnover. You probably consider your employees as your most important asset. You should view your PEO selection as a choice to further protect this important asset. As opposed to small sized companies, your large business probably needs constant attention for HR issues. We’re talking about needs beyond the traditional human resources services such as policy development, background checks, drug testing, compliance, discipline, termination, and employee relations. Large companies also expect their PEOs to provide value-added services ...