Blog

Picking a New Orleans Payroll Company

New Orleans payroll company calendar

If there is something every business needs, large or small, it’s a payroll process to pay its employees, and a New Orleans payroll company can completely transform your operations. 

Picking a payroll company is an important part of ensuring that paying your employees is simple and convenient for everyone. Outsourcing payroll tasks allows employers and employees to focus on running their business instead of spending time on bookkeeping.

Using a payroll company will make paying any employee, whether part-time or full-time, or contracted help easy. Bookkeeping can be a thing of the past! Payroll companies are the future.

Keep reading to learn more about picking a New Orleans payroll company, the ins and outs of payroll, and what to look for in a payroll company.

What do payroll companies do?

When picking a New Orleans payroll company, your business can benefit from working with a PEO, or a professional employer organization. A PEO acts as a co-employer, sharing certain responsibilities with its partners’ employees. A PEO provides administrative services to business owners, including payroll administration, workers’ compensation insurance, employee benefits, risk management, and human resources compliance. 

When managing payroll, PEOs will process payroll calculations, payroll tax statements, year-end taxes, and paid-time-off management for your employees. This can all be done automatically with few day-to-day responsibilities for business owners. PEOs can often provide full-service payroll management when acting as a payroll company, like handling deposits and withdrawals, withholdings and pay garnishments, and new-hire reporting. 

Payroll companies offer a wide variety of services, including calculating how much an employee will be paid each pay period. Payroll processing systems keep track of wage rates, overtime, PTO, taxes, social security, benefits, and 401K deductions. Payroll companies have no interference with the various methods of payments your employees may require, and they can pay employees by direct deposit, check, or prepaid debit card.

Payroll companies can also withhold employee taxes, file the quarterly payroll tax reports for your business, and pay the tax withholdings of your employees based on your particular local, state, and federal governments. They will send out W-2 and 1099 tax forms to your employees at the end of the year. They can also inform the government of your new hires for you, allowing you to focus on running your business.

A great payroll company can often integrate multiple employee services, usually involved with human resources, into their payroll systems. These include accounting, time and attendance sheets, and other human resources softwares. PTO is tracked by how many vacation days and sick days your employees have used and can manage time off requests and approvals.

Payroll companies allow your employees to find information about when to expect payment, wages, taxes, time off, and benefits on their own. They have mobile access to apps or websites so they can manage their phones or computers. This way they can view their own pay stubs, PTO balances, and year-end taxes.

Choosing a New Orleans Payroll Company or PEO

When picking a payroll company, there are a few questions that you will want to keep in mind. These questions will help you as an employer determine how well a payroll company or PEO can meet your business’ specific needs. 

1. How fast does the company operate?

Some payroll companies have better systems and softwares than others, thus making the speed in which pay is calculated and hours approved different. Knowing how fast the turnaround of a payroll company is will allow you to make the best decision for your business. Make sure you know exactly how the payroll company operates and how efficient its systems and softwares run.

2. If an error is made, who is responsible? How long will it take to correct errors?

Despite advanced software and technology, payroll systems are not perfect and mistakes are possible, though uncommon. It is important to know your payroll company’s process for responding and correcting errors and mistakes made should they make any. 

It is also important to know who is responsible for possible errors. For example, if an employee is not paid on time or the proper amount of money due to a system error with the payroll company, are you, as a business owner, responsible? Make sure you understand the ins and outs of your payroll company’s services and terms of agreements to best determine the right fit for your business. 

3. What is the span and scope of your payroll company and does it align with your business?

Before deciding on which payroll company is right for you, figure out the specific needs of your business. Some payrolls companies offer 24/7 customer service for employers and employees, while others have standard work hours. This may be difficult if an issue arises within your payroll company’s system. Does the payroll company offer modern customer service through phone or live chats or is it through email? 

Working so closely with a payroll company will require consistent communication in case your needs of your employees change. Will you be assigned a personal representative or will you consult with a different person every time? How often will you be communicating with your payroll company? Being in constant communication with your payroll company will help promote transparency between the company, your business, and your employees. 

Pick Canal HR for Your New Orleans Payroll Company

Canal HR is a licensed professional employer organization that businesses all over the southeastern United States use to manage their payrolls and much more. From payroll preparation and workers’ compensation to employee benefits and 401k plans, Canal HR can bring reliable management and competitive benefits to your business. 

When picking a New Orleans payroll company, contact Canal HR to learn more about our services and benefits!