Choosing the right payroll software can be a daunting prospect, especially if you’re just starting out and don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. When it comes to business payroll software, knowing the do’s and don’ts of your situation will save you time and frustration as you shop around and make your final decision on what system will best work for your business. Here are the things you should know about purchasing payroll software before choosing your system.
1. Make sure you have everything set up correctly
The first step is finding a payroll software provider that has everything set up correctly. Set aside some time to do your homework and find a reputable payroll company with an excellent reputation. Look at their website, read about their experience, speak to former clients, and look at online reviews. If you can’t find any information on them, it might be best to keep looking; you want to make sure that you’re comfortable with any person or business that will have access to your employees’ personal information. As long as your potential partner has a solid foundation, there should be no problem working together throughout your business relationship.
2. Look into all features your company needs
Before choosing payroll software, you should have all your company’s specific needs in mind. Is your company owned by multiple owners? Does it include any part-time employees? Are there multiple locations? Will your business be expanding in the future? If so, does that mean you will need to accommodate employees at different locations in different states? For smaller businesses without too many or too complicated needs, free software may be an option. But if your company is large or complex with multiple locations, payroll will likely involve more than one person to keep things running smoothly, which means you should think about additional features like monitoring tools or customizable reports.
3. Do check user reviews
One useful way to find payroll software reviews is by looking on sites like Capterra or G2Crowd, which aggregate reviews from a variety of sources. While these reviews aren’t as detailed as those on some other sites, they can be a good place to start your research. In addition, you should check out an individual product’s website for reviews from actual users. Every vendor’s customer support department will have plenty of positive reviews from happy customers—and those are worth reading too! When searching customer-submitted feedback, it’s important to look out for negative feedback that may indicate problems with a product or a poor buying experience.
4. Don’t be tempted by cheap alternatives
There are a ton of payroll services out there, but you should do your research to make sure that you’re not going to end up spending more money on these programs in order to get a decent return. If a program offers a free version with all your basic requirements, look into what kind of upgrades will be necessary if you need additional features. You may find that even though it starts off as free, you’ll end up spending more than $500 or $1,000 on additional services down the line. And even if they charge around $100 per month, that’s still less than half what you would spend paying someone else to do payroll for your company.
5. Don’t compromise on features you do need
Deciding on payroll software is very similar to picking out a car—you don’t want to pay more than you need to, but it’s also important not to buy something that doesn’t do what you need it to. Before looking at pricing, take some time upfront to decide which features are absolutely necessary, as well as those that would be nice but aren’t must-haves. Then make sure each piece of software you’re considering includes all your necessities (and is still within your budget). For example, if you want help calculating overtime pay or your employees live in different time zones, it’s worth spending extra cash on something that does both.
