How to Choose a Payroll Service Company: A Guide

AdminAssist
AdminAssist March 1, 2022
7-minute read
Payroll service company

When you own and operate a small staffing agency, there are some things you're going to have to outsource.

Taking stock of all the responsibilities you have - from overseeing the direction of your business down to dealing with clients - you quickly realize that you just can't do it all on your own. No matter how big or successful your company is, it can sometimes be more cost-effective to outsource certain tasks.

Outsourcing your payroll to a payroll service company is one of the best ways to free up time and place an important part of your finances in a dedicated professional's hands. Choosing one of these services isn't always easy when you haven't worked with one before, however.

Today, we're going to lighten your load by giving you a quick guide on what to consider when choosing a payroll service. When you get the right one working for you, running your staffing agency and paying employees becomes so much easier. Read on and find a payroll company to stick with for years to come.

Analyzing Your Business Needs

Before you start looking for the perfect payroll service to look after your company, you need to sit down and figure out what it is you need. There are numerous companies out there vying for your business, but they all bring a little something different to the table.

For example, you don't want to hire a company that's used to dealing with bigger businesses. You'll end up paying too much without making the most of their services. You don't want one that can't handle what you're throwing at it, either.

Consider things like the number of employees you have, how those employees are paid (hourly/salaried) whether you have locations across state lines, and how much you can afford to pay. Use this as a rubric when speaking to different payroll companies and you'll be able to narrow your choices down to a select few.

What Do Different Online Payroll Services Offer?

A full-service payroll company will help you do payroll calculations, process payments to your employees, generate tax documents, and withhold deductions, among other things. How in-depth these services get will depend on the complexity of your staffing.

This usually comes down to the number of employees you have, where they work, and how they're paid. The more employees you have working for you, the more you'll need from a payroll company.

With AdminAssist, we try to make things as simple as possible for our clients. To start, all you need to do is upload the requested data, then sit back while we pour over it and put it into our system. 

The way we do things allows you, the business owner, to unload some of the more complex aspects of your business onto us. It truly makes your life as a business owner much easier.

Looking at Your Budget Vs. Cost

One of the things you'll need to look at when deciding between payroll companies is your budget. In most cases, the more you need a payroll company to do, the more it's going to cost.

Most companies will have service tiers that you can choose between. They could start at anywhere from $20 to $100 per month, but an additional fee may apply when you start adding employees. You'll want to iron out all of these details before signing a contract with any payroll company.

Easy Integration

It's important to find a payroll service that integrates well with the systems that you already have in place. If you have to overhaul the way you do accounting or timekeeping in order to use outsourced payroll, then it might not be worth your while.

AdminAssist offers custom integrations across numerous platforms. To find out how our services can be implemented with the way you do things, contact us to discuss them.

Reputation Is Key

Of course, you need to look at online ratings and reviews to get a better idea of how good each service is. Past customers are a great source of information when it comes to things like customer service, professionalism, and how the payroll services actually work.

If they've got lots of good reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, and BBB, then you can trust them with your payroll. When they don't have many reviews at all, then you may have cause for concern. You can't trust your payroll to a company that doesn't have a strong reputation.

While you're at it, you may want to investigate what industries each payroll company has serviced. Industry-specific experience will make it easier for them to integrate their systems with yours. For instance, AdminAssist's experience with staffing agencies makes us the perfect payroll service to help you bring your staffing agency to new heights.

Customer and Employee Support

Customer support is another important part of hiring a payroll service company. Even though they're taking payroll out of your hands, there will come times when you need your questions answered.

You may have a dedicated support person, or there could be a more general inquiry line. Figuring this out before going into business with a company is crucial.

In addition, find out more about the way that your employees interact with the payroll company. Some companies will have employee self-serve portals that allow them to look at pay stubs and tax forms. They may even have mobile apps that make it extremely easy to access this information.

Having this in place is just another thing that makes your life easier. If you don't have to be the middle-man between your employees and your payroll service, all the better.

Find a Payroll Service Company

Separating one payroll service company from the next may feel arbitrary, but trust us, finding a good one is worth the search. If you run a staffing agency and you're having trouble keeping up with payroll, then AdminAssist is your best option.

Visit our site to learn more about what we do and our services. When you're ready, simply contact us to discuss how we can help your staffing agency and we'll go over which of our services will be best for you.