Pay Advice for Employers

Starting up a new company involves numerous considerations before you employ your first member of staff. When starting your business, you have an idea of what it will be and how your vision for it will be realized, but then reality sets in. There are so many business considerations when you seriously start setting up your business. 

After you have decided on your company name, you need to then decide if you are going to employ other people. If you decide that your business is growing enough to need more staff or if you know you are going to need staff when you set it up, we advise you make other decisions very quickly. We have pulled together some information to ensure you create a healthy and happy working environment for your staff. 

Making the Best Start

If you are thinking of employing staff, you will need to ensure you have the correct business operations in place. This will include HR and financial policies and procedures to ensure that you comply with employment law. 

There are a number of laws that govern running a business and employing other staff, but this information can vary from one state to another, so we recommend you research the laws of the state you intend to set up your business in. 

You can employ a business or financial advisor to give you advice regarding setting up your business. However, this can be a big outlay when beginning a new venture. There are several resources online that will give you ideas for HR policies and rules that you will need to follow for employing others. 

Two of the most important policies and considerations to have in place are Health and Safety and financial policies and procedures. Health and Safety accidents cost billions every year worldwide, so ensuring appropriate policies are in place can save money in addition to keeping your staff and yourself safe. We recommend that you also have the correct training in place regarding health and safety for the industry your business relates to, meaning all of your staff can take corrective actions at work. 

Your Business is Growing – Now what?

So, you now have your business opening, and you have employed your staff, completed all of the paperwork, but what are the next steps. Again, this could vary by state, so please check the legislation for the state you operate in. The main thing you will need to do is register your employees and ensure that you pay them correctly. 

There are a number of ways to ensure that you pay your employees correctly, and the easiest one is to use a payroll system. There are several on the market, and prices can become competitive, making this often the cheapest option. Of course, you could always employ a financial advisor or accountant, but this is a further expense when you are a small business. 

Managing Your Finances

Business finances are a very important part of the day-to-day running of a company, whether this is the income and expenditure that will keep your business ticking over or the payroll that will keep your employees coming back each day. Paperwork is extremely important in each case as, during a financial audit of the company, you would be required to provide this paperwork. We, therefore, recommend you create a robust filing system right from the outset of the company. 

Having an effective filing system will make your business operations much easier and locating your paperwork a smooth and simple process. In addition to a financial audit, a tidy filing system will make your business paperwork, and tax returns a simpler and quicker process. Filing taxes can be made easier by having all of your paperwork in order before you start. 

If you want to keep the staff you have recently employed, you will need to pay them. When paying employees, you will need to ensure that you make the appropriate deductions for their personal circumstances and the state in which you are operating. Ensuring the correct deductions are taken is important for the payments you need to make for your taxes and your employees’ taxes also. 

Practicalities of Payment

When making payments to your employee, it is not just important to ensure the payment amount is correct. The paperwork must be correct. Every pay period for every employee should be accompanied by a paycheck stub. We have said it before, but the information you need to include can differ by state, so to ensure you complete this correctly, please check. Unfortunately, due to the state legislature, we cannot give you a general example of a paycheck stub. However, they will all include the salary amount, deductions, and net pay, although the format may differ. 

It is your responsibility, as the employer, to create paycheck stubs for all of your employees. The paycheck stubs will be important for both your business and the employees. The paycheck stub serves as your proof of both expenditure for wages and also as proof of payment to your employee. 

You can create a paycheck stub in several ways; the most important aspect is that it is given to your employee each pay period. It is best to have a set way to complete the payroll and to have this included in your pay policy, so employees know what to expect. 

A consistent method of payment and paycheck stub can cause fewer questions from your employees and allow them to better plan for their own tax return filing. Consistency will allow for better financial filing for your employees and aid compliance in any auditing or tax filing processes.

When you create a paycheck stub, you should always ensure that the correct deductions have been taken and the information included is correct. This will save you time in having to correct any errors and generate the paycheck stub again. However, you will not always be completely aware of all of your employees’ personal circumstances, so we recommend encouraging them to check their paycheck stubs each pay period also.