BEST PRACTICES FOR EMPLOYEE TERMINATIONS

As a business owner, manager, or supervisor, there are times when we have to do one of the most unpleasant duties of the job: terminating an employee. When poor performing employees who can’t or won’t improve, it affects a company’s bottom line and may require termination. Firing an employee is a stressful situation for everyone involved. It’s not an easy thing to do or to experience. It can be a little more comfortable for everyone with proper preparation and with the following best practices for termination. 

INCREASE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT FOR FREE

Entrepreneurs and small business owners face the challenge of juggling business operations with managing their workforce. They must keep an eye on employee engagement because they need highly engaged employees to build their businesses. Gallup’s “State of the Global Workplace” report shows employee engagement is declining, making it very important to pay attention to engagement even if there are no funds for it. Read on to see how to increase employee engagement for free.

BEST PRACTICES FOR EMPLOYEE ON-BOARDING

How successfully are you on-boarding your new employees? The experience new employees have when they start working for your company can have long-lasting effects on performance, engagement, and retention. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), more than a quarter of U.S. workers go through career transitions each year.

SHRM reports that half of all hourly workers don’t last in new jobs past four months, and half of senior outside hires fail before their two-year anniversaries.  It’s well worth it for employers to make the on-boarding process as efficient and productive as possible to welcome new employees and give them the tools they need to start contributing.

TIPS FOR PAYCHECK ACCURACY

Paying your employees with an accurate and timely process is important to keep your company in compliance with local, state, and federal employment and tax laws. The wage and hour data you collect must be verified and entered correctly. Your pay period must be defined and your employees must be properly classified. Here are three ways you can keep your payroll running smoothly to support your workforce.

3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT I-9 COMPLIANCE

Is your company in compliance with form I-9 regulations? What would you do if faced with an I-9 audit? Employers and HR professionals involved in hiring and on-boarding new employees work with the Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services form used to verify employee identity and establish U.S. employment eligibility. There are very specific rules and regulations for the use of this form that are outlined in the M-274 Handbook for Employers. Failing to properly complete, retain, and/or make available for inspection form I-9 as required by law may incur penalties of $110 to $1100 for each violation. Can you afford to be out of compliance?

Here are three important compliance issues you need to know about I-9 forms:

COULD YOU USE A VIRTUAL ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT?

Entrepreneurs and growing businesses often experience staffing shortages and problems developing a stable workforce. But the work that needs to be done can't wait until you hire that expert administrative assistant or office manager. What happens in the mean time? You get behind, things start to pile up, existing staff may become overwhelmed and productivity decreases. When you don’t have the resources to add another salary or you have a backlog you need help with, a virtual administrative assistant can be the answer.

WHY OUTSOURCING PAYROLL COULD BE AN EXCELLENT SOLUTION FOR YOUR COMPANY

Payroll seems to be a never ending chore that takes up an enormous amount of time and resources.  For many small business owners, payroll is a constant source of worry. Yet, outsourcing this vital component is going to be too expensive and difficult to manage right?  Wrong.  Here’s why it may be a better option for your company than you think.

Outsourcing is more cost-effective for small and medium-sized businessesLarge businesses can afford to staff an entire department with employees that are solely focused on payroll processing.  In smaller companies, productivity is critical and employees are typically handling multiple tasks.  Outsourcing your payroll needs will save your company large amounts of time and that translate to money.  Quantify how much you currently spend on all of your company’s payroll tasks and see how it compares to a payroll provider’s services.

WARNING: YOU’RE LOSING MONEY BY NOT OUTSOURCING HR

If you are a small-business owner, you know how it feels to have to juggle revenue-generating activities with payroll and human resource management. Do you know how much of your work day you actually spend on these necessary but time-consuming tasks? Do you know how much they are costing you by taking you away from core business operations? You’re losing money by not outsourcing HR.

WHY YOUR ACCOUNTANT IS THE SECRET TO BUSINESS SUCCESS

Good accounting and good people are the backbone of any successful business. Simplicity Consulting can help you manage both. Our accounting, payroll, human resource management, and administrative services help you manage one of your most important business assets – your money. To see why good accounting services help your business thrive, read on.  

Do You Have Good Accounting Practices in Place? 
Have you struggled with gathering business records for taxes or inventory? Have you gotten to the end of the month and not had resources for the next week’s payroll or accounts payable? Messy, inaccurate bookkeeping leads to a lack of necessary documentation, errors in financial statements, and costly fines and penalties for missed tax deadlines or payroll compliance issues. 

ONLINE PAYROLL SERVICES MAKE YOUR PAYROLL EASIER

Processing payroll is a complex and time-consuming activity. Wages and benefits, time tracking, vacation time, and other compensation issues mean a lot of paperwork and detail that takes time and attention to detail to avoid errors. Online payroll services simplify your payroll, making a complex process faster and easier, and providing trusted advice and resources. Online payroll services manage the risk of proper withholding calculations, filing of forms and payment taxes, and managing payroll records. Are you unsure about using an online payroll service? Here are a few more benefits that may help you change your mind!

Integration with Your Accounting Software
Most online payroll services integrate directly into your accounting software and quickly import general ledger information. Payroll is easier to process, and so is everything that happens after payroll. No more double entry of payroll data into accounting. Payroll gets quickly matched to your general ledger accounts, and you get instant access to efficient audit reports. 

FIVE REASONS TO CONSIDER MOVING YOUR BUSINESS INTO THE CLOUD

The cloud has quickly evolved from an IT tool to a mainstream concept that is now a regular part of business conversation. Companies of all sizes are beginning to explore the benefits of moving their operation to a cloud-based system. So what potential does it hold for your business?

Moving to the cloud means that technology functions such as large applications, data, software and more can be housed remotely and accessed through an Internet connection.  The top five benefits of using cloud-based services are worth considering, regardless of your company’s size: cost-savings, mobile access, scalability, disaster protection, and security.

UNDERSTANDING PAYROLL TAXES

Small business owners can easily get overwhelmed with local, state, and federal taxes. Even with an accountant or tax professional handling tax issues, it’s important for business owners to understand their tax obligations, especially payroll taxes. 

Payroll Tax
Calculating payroll taxes properly and paying them on time is important to avoid fines and penalties. Every business owner with employees must withhold payroll taxes from paychecks and pay federal, state, and local taxes. Payroll tax withholding obligations include FICA (Medicare and Social Security), federal, state, local income taxes, FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act), and in some states, employers must also withhold disability insurance taxes.

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OUTSOURCING HR WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Anyone in business knows what it’s like to juggle the demands of business operations and human resource management. Hiring, developing, managing, and engaging the employees that come to work every day to take care of your customers, sell your products, and provide your services takes a lot of time, attention, and money. Someone has to oversee employee payroll and tax filing, administer employee benefits, manage legal compliance, maintain employee files and records, and provide training and development.

As your business grows, HR management activities can become too complex to maintain in-house cost effectively. If you've been trying to manage HR yourself or delegating it to managers and administrative staff then outsourcing HR can significantly change your life.

3 REASONS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER USING AN ACCOUNTANT

When businesses start to grow, business owners will start to experience things like taking longer and longer to bill clients, seeing more employees needing access to the accounting information, and having problems determining their true cash balance. They may think that hiring an accounting firm would be too expensive, take too long, or cause them to lose some financial history. But outsourcing accounting has substantial benefits with few, if any, risks. Using an accountant frees up more time and money and provides tools and options that accounting software alone doesn't.

More Time and Money
Busy entrepreneurs and business owners gain more time when using an accounting firm. They don’t have to dedicate employees to bookkeeping tasks or worry about learning accounting themselves. Outsourcing accounting to a company that specializes in accounting and finance provides a higher level of expertise and security than in-house bookkeeping. Outsourced accounting saves money as well because it eliminates dedicating a salary to accounting activities and lets small business owners pay for only the accounting services they need provided by accounting experts.

HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS COLLECTIONS CHALLENGES

Collecting money for the products and services your company offers is a key accounting operation, especially important for small businesses with limited resources. Every business needs a balanced cash flow to consistently and accurately pay employees to produce work, build good credit with vendors, and run efficient and profitable business operations. Following debt-collection laws, how to get help with difficult collection issues, and efficiently managing billing are common challenges.