Payroll Management Solutions - Hawthorne, California

Payroll Management Solutions - Steve Goldstein

The Bottom Line of Payroll
Monday, October 16th, 2006

In reviewing a business loan proposal, the lender will often ask how much time is spent on making money and how much time is spent on non-revenue generating activities. The processing of payroll is one of those items that is clearly important, but may not be the best use of time for a small business owner.

I spent some time recently with Steve Goldstein of Payroll Management Solutions to get his thoughts on a recent poll from the NFIB which showed that nearly two thirds of the nation’s small businesses process their own payroll due to concerns about cost and control. Here’s what he had to say…

After 23 years in the payroll outsourcing business, the most common misconception I deal with every day is that by processing their own payroll, employers save money or maintain a degree of control they would otherwise have to give up as if their time is worth nothing and there is no risk involved.

Like rent, payroll processing is a task that produces no revenue though it is a necessary evil for business owners who wish to stay in business. Time spent processing payroll is time not available to add to the bottom line, whether that might be increasing sales, collecting receivables, developing new products or strategies, or even taking some time to relax and recharge the batteries. All of these things are more productive than payroll processing which can only create risk for the owner as well as cost time and money.

What’s the risk? Every single paycheck includes at least five required tax deductions in each state
which then must be added to other employer taxes and voluntary deductions, and every one of these items is an opportunity for a problem to occur. The late or incorrect deposit of these tax liabilities can

result in costly penalties and interest for a business
owner.

For a company with as few as five employees, a small
boutique provider of payroll services might charge as
little as $20 per pay period plus $1.65 per check to
completely outsource the task of calculating payroll
and properly paying all state and federal taxes. The
time spent on payroll can be reduced to simply
reporting the hours worked. The payroll service
provider shoulders both the workload and the liability
of the payroll processing and the business owner can
now focus on bottom line - running and growing their
business.

The employer maintains complete control over when
and how the payroll is processed, wages, raises,
reviews, hiring, and benefits. Access to information is
also not a valid consideration as business owners
have complete access to all reports, history,
personnel data as well as report writing capability
with our web based service. Since there are no
"contracts" in payroll, no employer is ever forced to
stay with a service they find unsatisfactory for any
length of time. All payroll services can be terminated
with a simple letter or phone call.

The biggest benefit of tax filing service is that if ever
a notice arrives from the IRS or EDD, a client simply
faxes that to their service provider to be handled.
These notices often result from a mistake by the IRS
or EDD and are cleared up very quickly – all without
any effort from the business once that fax is sent.
The employer who does it himself (for "free") will
spend many hours responding to such notices, hours
away from the business that can never be replaced.
From the Marshall Lebovits Blog

5155 W. Rosecrans Ave. Suite #1065
Hawthorne, CA 90250 | (310) 491-3467
support@payrollmanagementsolutions.com
www.payrollmanagementsolutions.com


	Steve Goldstein has been helping employers solve their payroll needs since 1983. He has worked with the large and the small, both in terms of employer size and the service bureaus he has helped build. After 21 years of building others' businesses, Steve realized his lifelong dream with the founding of Payroll Management Solutions, a full service provider offering the ultimate in customer service, product flexibility and competitive pricing in order to bring high-end payroll services to small and medium sized employers, and low-end pricing to the major market arena. Steve is a Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) and lives in the South Bay with his wife, Jennifer. His hobbies include music, film, history, photography and writing. He is a published poet, an award winning songwriter, and has recently had his photographs Steve Goldstein published in two books.