Don’t Let Your Payroll Slip Through the Cracks

Small businesses often do a great job of making good use of a limited number of employees. Tasks may be shared among several employees or delegated to someone who has other responsibilities. It’s common that employees are often asked to wear several different hats. While this is just reality for a small business working with limited employee resources, it can sometimes create problems, and in no area is this more troublesome than in payroll. Let me explain.

An employee who is hired to fill a role that fits nicely with his/her skill set may often be called on to fill in with other duties, which may or may not be duties which that employee likes to do, is trained to do, or has the skills to do, especially such an important task as payroll.

Potential Problem #1 – No one is specifically designated to handle payroll. This can result in important elements going undone or not being done in a timely or accurate manner.

Potential Problem #2 – Several employees are responsible for various aspects of payroll. Again, this lack of central accountability can cause tasks to be missed through miscommunication or poor planning.

Potential Problem #3 – An employee who lacks the skills or training to competently oversee payroll is nonetheless given that responsibility. Obviously, this may affect the quality of the work in this area, and important duties may be ignored or done with less-than-acceptable quality.

Any of these problems can produce the same disastrous result for the small business owner: payroll doesn’t get done on time or is done wrong. When this happens, everyone in your organization suffers. If late or incorrect payroll become a recurring problem, your employees may become angry or discouraged or even start looking for another job. If you violate applicable laws, you are at risk for getting in the middle of a protracted legal battle. And often fixing the problem costs you many more employee hours than it would have taken to just do things right from the beginning.

If this post has you questioning whether payroll responsibilities are adequately covered in your small business, you may want to call The Payroll Department and find out if it would make more sense for you to outsource your payroll function. The professional service that The Payroll Department provides allows you to use your employees efficiently and in a way that utilizes their skills and abilities, keeping your employees happy and your business running smoothly.

-Jessica of The Payroll Department Blog Team