Wiley QuickBooks 2008 For Dummies 978-0-470-18470-7 Benutzerhandbuch
Produktcode
978-0-470-18470-7
Outsource payroll
Here’s another suggestion for you: Go ahead and outsource your payroll.
That’ll probably cost you between $1,000 and $2,000 per year. I know, that’s
roughly the total cost of four discount tickets to Hawaii, but outsourcing pay-
roll delivers three big benefits, even after considering the stiff price:
That’ll probably cost you between $1,000 and $2,000 per year. I know, that’s
roughly the total cost of four discount tickets to Hawaii, but outsourcing pay-
roll delivers three big benefits, even after considering the stiff price:
Simplicity: Payroll is one of the most complicated areas in small business
accounting and in QuickBooks. Accordingly, you will greatly simplify your
bookkeeping by moving this headache off your desk and onto the desk
of your accountant (he or she may love doing your payroll) or onto the
desk of the payroll service. (You can use a national firm, such as ADP or
Paychex, or a local firm.)
bookkeeping by moving this headache off your desk and onto the desk
of your accountant (he or she may love doing your payroll) or onto the
desk of the payroll service. (You can use a national firm, such as ADP or
Paychex, or a local firm.)
Penalties: Did I mention that payroll is one of the most complicated
areas in small business accounting and in QuickBooks? I did? Good,
because you really need to know that payroll preparation and account-
ing mistakes are easy to make. And payroll mistakes often subject you to
seriously annoying fines and penalties from the IRS and from state rev-
enue and employment agencies. I grant you that paying $1,500 per year
for payroll processing seems like it’s way too much money, but you need
to prevent only a couple of painful fines or penalties per year in order to
drastically cut the costs of using an outside payroll service.
because you really need to know that payroll preparation and account-
ing mistakes are easy to make. And payroll mistakes often subject you to
seriously annoying fines and penalties from the IRS and from state rev-
enue and employment agencies. I grant you that paying $1,500 per year
for payroll processing seems like it’s way too much money, but you need
to prevent only a couple of painful fines or penalties per year in order to
drastically cut the costs of using an outside payroll service.
Mrs. Peabody’s annual raise: One final reason for outsourcing payroll
also exists. Let me explain. You’re not going to want to do payroll yourself.
Really, you’re not. As a result, you’re eventually going to assign the task
to that nice woman who works in your office, Mrs. Peabody. Here’s what’s
going to happen when you do that: Late one afternoon during the week
following Mrs. Peabody’s first payroll, she’ll ask to meet with you — to
talk about why Mrs. Raleigh makes $15,000 more per year than she (Mrs.
Peabody) does, and also to ask why she (Mrs. Peabody) makes only $2
per hour more than Wayne, the idiot who works in the warehouse.
Because you’re a nice person, Mrs. Peabody will leave a few minutes
later with a $1.50-per-hour raise. At that point, you’ll remember, vaguely,
my earlier caution about the problem of saving maybe $2,000 per year in
payroll service fees but then having to give Mrs. Peabody an extra $3,000
raise. Ouch.
Really, you’re not. As a result, you’re eventually going to assign the task
to that nice woman who works in your office, Mrs. Peabody. Here’s what’s
going to happen when you do that: Late one afternoon during the week
following Mrs. Peabody’s first payroll, she’ll ask to meet with you — to
talk about why Mrs. Raleigh makes $15,000 more per year than she (Mrs.
Peabody) does, and also to ask why she (Mrs. Peabody) makes only $2
per hour more than Wayne, the idiot who works in the warehouse.
Because you’re a nice person, Mrs. Peabody will leave a few minutes
later with a $1.50-per-hour raise. At that point, you’ll remember, vaguely,
my earlier caution about the problem of saving maybe $2,000 per year in
payroll service fees but then having to give Mrs. Peabody an extra $3,000
raise. Ouch.
Get professional help
A quick point: You can probably get a CPA to sit down with you for an hour
or so and show you how to enter a handful of transactions in QuickBooks. In
other words, for a cost that’s probably somewhere between $100 and $200,
you can have somebody hold your hand for the first three invoices you create,
the first two bills you record, the first four checks you write, and so on.
or so and show you how to enter a handful of transactions in QuickBooks. In
other words, for a cost that’s probably somewhere between $100 and $200,
you can have somebody hold your hand for the first three invoices you create,
the first two bills you record, the first four checks you write, and so on.
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Part I: Quickly into QuickBooks
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