Small business payroll refers to the process of making payments to employees. There are many channels through which this can be carried out. Like, for example, traditional payment systems like cash or checks. Or more modern solutions like direct deposit or Paypal. The choice of small business payroll service is ultimately limited by several criteria.
Best HR systems
To shorten your research time, we’ve put together this list of the top HR software.
ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now’s HRIS solutions integrate seamlessly wiith popular business software applications and with leading payroll, HR, and financial systems. You can manage key business functions like time tracking and scheduling, and your employees can view pay statements, benefits, retirement accounts, and more. With the aid of automation and machine learning, the software can often alleviate administrative burdens, streamline workflows, reduce compliance risk and improve employee engagement.
Learn more about ADP Workforce Now
Employee Survey Platform
The WorkTango platform creates space for employees to have a voice and helps companies easily gather frequent feedback for any engagement, DEI, wellbeing, transformation, or feedback initiative.
Using data science and natural language understanding, actionable insights from employee feedback are served in real-time to Human Resources, C-Suite executives, and people leaders.
The results are quicker insight, better people actionable decisions, and a more aligned and engaged workforce.
Learn more about Employee Survey Platform
Best Payroll systems
If you’re looking to focus specifically on payroll solutions, without the need for broader features, we recommend the solutions below.
ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now serves clients who are looking to manage their human capital management needs across payroll, HR, benefits, talent, and time and labor, among others. ADP Workforce Now provides clients with custom-tailored solutions that fit their organization, so they can save time and money while getting expert support and accuracy. ADP has developed scalable payroll solutions that can accommodate organizations of various sizes, from 50, 1,000, to 100,000 employees across the globe.
Learn more about ADP Workforce Now
Paylocity
Use Paylocity to simplify payroll, automate processes, and stay tax compliant, all in one spot. Pull expense reimbursements into paychecks and run custom reports to get the data you need. And provide the flexibility for employees to access a portion of their earned wages when they need it. Ensure accuracy and get time back in your day. Eliminate spreadsheets, calculators, and signatures along the way with a tool built directly into your payroll software.
Paychex
Paychex is a cloud-based payroll management system offering payroll, HR, and benefits management systems for small to large businesses. Paychex covers payroll and taxes, employee 401(k) retirement services, benefits, insurance, HR, accounting, and finance. The software also offers accounting and finance solutions including payment processing services and expense management, while also taking care that federal state laws and local regulations are observed.
Quickbooks
Intuit’s QuickBooks provides in-depth accounting paired with an intuitive interface that helps businesses manage their accounting and finances. There are three main versions of QuickBooks. QuickBooks Online has become one of the most widely used accounting suites on the market today, and QuickBooks Desktop is the legacy accounting software. The Enterprise Solutions Suite offers the same as Online or Desktop, but with the capacity to handle accounting and finance for the large businesses.
Small business pain points
Villanova University cites change management, leadership development, and effectiveness measurement as some of the top challenges HR faces.
Businesses of every size are impacted by the need for more efficient record keeping and answers to employee burnout, and the software industry is evolving to meet these demands. At the industry level, things are looking up, but small businesses still face many nuanced challenges.
No dedicated HR staff
Many small businesses either assign HR responsibilities to a cross-functional manager or to a single, in-house HR administrator. In both scenarios, a single person handles payroll and benefits, time tracking, grievances and disciplinary action, hiring, and promotions, which can be overwhelming.
While HR software can’t replace an HR administrator, it can make it easier on the staff you do have. It simplifies and even automates certain HR processes, like sending new hire paperwork and benefits enrollment, your team can focus on the tasks that most need their expertise.
Record-keeping and regulatory compliance
HR regulations are constantly in a state of flux. Small businesses must balance healthcare reform, tax codes, and labor laws. Armed with only a file cabinet and the Sunday paper, this is sure to result in mistakes, processing delays, and in worst cases, legal fees.
HR software organizes your records and makes them easily searchable and accessible. Many HR tools also automatically calculate tax and benefits withholdings to reduce the chances of human error and keep you compliant.
Employee attrition
According to a TechnologyAdvice Employee Satisfaction and Loyalty study, 42.6 percent of employed workers are actively seeking or are at least open to a new job. Without a strategy for investing in talent and building an attractive work culture, small businesses lose good employees to competitors that offer higher salaries and better benefits.
The right HR software can actually lower operating costs, so you can afford to invest more in your people. Through automating and streamlining processes, HR software reduces the workload of your HR staff, meaning they’ll likely be less stressed as well.
Performance gaps
With smaller teams, it quickly becomes apparent if certain employees aren’t pulling their weight. But without a formal performance management or training system in place, how do you orchestrate consistent improvement?
Many HR platforms feature performance management tools to standardize the review process and ensure that everyone’s meeting expectations. This can also improve metrics for bonus payouts to reward employees going above and beyond and motivate those that aren’t.
Also read: Bonus Time: Using Performance Metrics for Payouts
Key features of HR software for small business
The right HR software for small business can alleviate small business pain points by automating administrative tasks, record-keeping, and compliance, and by giving HR coordinators tools to find and retain the best talent. In the current market, most solutions are moving toward mobile access, multi-channel talent management, internal collaboration models, and self-service portals.
In order to get the highest return on your investment, it’s important to choose a small business HR solution that offers modern capabilities and intuitive access. Although solutions vary from vendor to vendor, a full-featured HR management platform will offer some combination of the following features:
- Employee self-service
- Applicant tracking and onboarding
- Compensation and succession planning
- Benefits administration
- Performance management
- Time and attendance tracking
- Social recruiting
- Collaboration tools (newsfeeds, internal messaging)
- Reporting/analytics
- Mobile access (through native app or web interface)
If you’re ready to get personalized small business HR solutions for your business, use our Product Selection Tool, or click the banner below to get started.WHICH HR SOFTWARE IS RIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?FIND OUT NOW
Conclusion
As a small business owner or solopreneur, you might be wondering if you really need your own payroll service. While most people find that DIY services are not for them, others find that they prefer to do it themselves. Payroll processing isn’t difficult, but the requirements are different depending on how many employees you have.