One day you woke up and made the decision to transform your hobby into a business. You’re living the dream now that your little firm is thriving. It’s time for growth, so you’ve hired some help or are planning to do so. The largest problem, though, is that you have no clue how to pay your staff as a business owner.
As a business owner, you’re always faced with the problem of striking a balance between competing priorities. You will understand what we are talking about if you run a small business and handle all aspects of operations on your own. Stop scratching your head and read this easy-to-follow guide on paying the staff of a small business.
How to Pay Your Employees
Which payroll system you pick will have the most impact on how you pay your staff. There are a lot of moving parts here, so let’s take our time and go through each one individually.
A good salary can completely change an employee’s behavior, productivity, boost employees’ mental health, and ability to meet project objectives.
Choose a Payroll System
You must first settle on a suitable payroll system before you can begin paying your staff. The number of staff and available funds are two primary considerations in deciding which approach is ideal.
Manual payroll processing in-house, payroll outsourcing, payroll management by a bookkeeper, and payroll automation technologies are the four most popular approaches of handling payroll. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these methods. For example, handling payroll in-house might save money for small organizations with a few workers, but it becomes less advantageous when your company expands and hires more people, especially on a global scale.
Outsourcing payroll tasks is often a good idea for large companies. If your organization has employees in several locations, you need global payroll solutions. You won’t have to worry about the intricacies of handling overseas payroll, freeing you more of your time to operate the company.
Decide What Kind of Pay Employees Will Receive
There are three primary forms of remuneration:
- Workers who are paid on an hourly basis get compensation based on a rate determined by their employer (though they must meet the local minimum wage). Paying employees on an hourly basis is particularly useful for small organizations that rely on temporary staff or those whose hours fluctuate.
- Annual salaries are earnings distributed evenly over the course of a year, rather than in lump sums. You can calculate how much an employee takes home every two weeks by dividing their yearly income by the total number of pay periods in a year. Full-time workers with set schedules typically receive the finest compensation packages.
- Employees can receive commissions when they make a sale. To illustrate, if an employee sells a $1,000 television and earns a 10% commission, they will receive $100. While commission is the sole form of compensation for some positions, it is becoming common for businesses to offer additional compensation in the form of hourly wages or salaries, as well. Salespeople are the most common workers who get commission compensation.
All three of these forms of payment are appropriate for different sorts of work, so it’s possible that you’ll use all three in your firm.
Work out How Much to Pay Employees
The question “How much should I pay my employees?” may be on your mind. How much you pay your staff is, of course, entirely up to you, provided that you at least satisfy any legally mandated minimum wage standards. Paying employees a pay that is competitive in the market can help with both attracting new workers and keeping the ones you already have.
Find out how much your rivals are paying their employees, and try to beat or match that if you can. Think about the tasks at hand and the location of your staff. As an illustration, certain occupations are in higher demand in some parts of the world than others, and your salary should reflect this. If your compensation is significantly lower than the going rate for equivalent work in the region, you may have trouble attracting and retaining staff.
Choose Your Payroll Schedule
The frequency of paychecks for employees may be mandated by law in your nation or area. Extra payments to employees over the minimum required by law are permissible, but fewer frequent payments are not. Most companies pay their workers once every week, twice every two weeks, twice every month, or once every three months. It’s essential to adopt a payroll plan that satisfies both you and your employees while also meeting the requirements of any applicable regulations in your area.
It’s worth mentioning that on-demand payroll, in which workers are paid the same day they put in the required effort rather than having to wait until the next scheduled payday, is gaining traction in some regions. Still, this is a novel idea that may be illegal in certain places. Unfortunately, its implementation may be difficult and expensive.
Fill in the Necessary Paperwork
When a new employee is employed, they must fill out a variety of forms before they can be assigned a payroll number and begin getting compensation. Employers need these documents to deduct taxes properly from employees’ paychecks.
Paying remote workers legally necessitates that you collect the appropriate documentation, which differs depending on the nation or area of the worker.
Keep in mind that each nation has its own regulations and methods, so you’ll probably need several payroll accounts if you’re going to be employing people from other countries.
Calculate Employee Pay & Taxes
Payroll begins with the employee’s gross compensation for the pay period. The answer to this question will be determined by the specifics of their salary and the frequency with which you process payroll. You may calculate an hourly worker’s salary by multiplying their hourly rate by the number of hours they worked during the pay period. It may be calculated by dividing a worker’s yearly wage by the total number of pay periods in a year. It is necessary to calculate the total commission earnings for employees in addition to their hourly and salary earnings.
Determine the amount of payroll tax and income tax that must be deducted from the gross salary for the pay period. The worker’s location is a factor in this.
Finally, investigate any other cerity insurance or retirement schemes to which the worker contributes or is required to contribute. Finally, the net pay is determined by deducting mandatory withholdings and other taxes from the gross pay.
Payroll output should always be verified before moving further. If payroll is handled in-house, a member of the management, finance, or human resources (HR) and people (people) departments might do the validation. If payroll is handled by a third party, the partner should supply a Pay Register. As soon as you are content, you can proceed.
Distribute Employee Pay
Payroll distribution comes after all the preceding tasks have been finished. Companies often compensate workers through the use of direct deposit or paper checks, but your company may find that another technique is more suitable. In the next part, we’ll talk more about the advantages and disadvantages of various payment options.
File Necessary Tax Forms
Tax returns and payments to pension and benefits providers are submitted as the last steps of payroll processing. It is important to evaluate the applicable criteria for your employees, as the method for paying employee taxes to the appropriate tax collecting agency differs based on the employee’s location. In case of an audit, save payroll records for at least a few years. Keep this data in a safe, easily accessible, and well-organized location in case you’re ever asked to produce it.
Final Thoughts: How to Pay an Employee in a Small Business
When it comes to compensating employees, there is a lot to keep in mind.
Before anything else, you’ll need to settle on a salary and payment plan for them. The next step in deciding if you need to withhold taxes from your employees’ paychecks is to identify if they are W-2 employees or 1099 contractors. Last but not least, you should keep everyone satisfied each pay period by accurately (and regularly) processing payroll. Having everything in one place in the app makes it easy to maintain track of payroll records and file tax returns. You can keep everything organized with the help of Hourly time tracking and Cerity workers’ comp insurance.
Author Bio: Aabhas is the founder of Avija Digital a complete digital PR agency for online Strategy and Marketing, Expert in providing consultation as a content strategist for SaaS and tech brands. He began his career in digital marketing in 2016, which continues to this day. He spends his free time in the gym, playing board games, and learning new technologies in the IT sector.
