Out(of sight)sourcing Payroll Shouldn't Mean Out of Mind!

According to the National Small Business Association,  40% of small businesses use outside payroll companies to process their payrolls.

And why not? Tax regulations and rates seem to change without warning. Tracking, maintaining and reporting payroll, benefits and health deductions cost hours and money that don't bring in profits. 

Warning: Although it makes sense to outsource these functions, payroll companies need to be monitored.

Payroll companies do not need special government licensing; nor are "professional employee organizations" required to report tax payments to their clients. 

ADP, Paychex, and Intuit are household names in the payroll business, but many businesses use small, unregulated firms to handle their payroll taxes. So what's the problem? If a payroll processing company doesn't pay your taxes (on time or at all), YOU are ultimately the responsible party.

WHAT TO DO? 

Here are 4 tips for making sure your payroll service is paying your taxes:

1. Ask for copies of quarterly payroll reports showing all payments made on your behalf to local, state, and federal agencies, including Forms 940, 941, and 945.
2. Make sure that your payroll provider guarantees in writing that they will be responsible for fines incurred due to their negligence.
3. Ask for references and actually speak with them.
4. Ask your accountant at year end to contact state and federal agencies (secretary of state's offices and the IRS) to confirm that you are up-to-date on your taxes.

For the benefit of both your company and your employees, remember that when you outsource a business function you still need to oversee the process.

Do What You Do Best, and Let Benay Do All the Rest!

Let's face it: most business owners dislike the hassle, expense and seemingly unproductive time on payroll, benefits, etc.

For over 27 years, Benay has been taking care of financial tasks for our clients. We monitor payroll processors carefully, so you can focus on growing your business.  If you'd like an evaluation of your payroll processing system, give us a call at 203-744-6010.

An Intern's Farewell

So this just may be the corniest blog, I’ve ever written; the kind of blog that should come with one of those cheesy fake surgeon’s general warnings on it. This one’s getting sappy, folks, so if you’re one of those people who eats Chunky Monkey with a spoon the size of a shovel every time you get a little sad, you might want to step away from the freezer…

Put down that spoon!

Now that that’s out of the way, I can tell you about my experience as an intern at Benay Enterprises. Today marks the final day of my internship. Though, I am happy to have gained an invaluable experience over the past 5 months, the time has come for me to explore other options and take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead. However, the beginning of the rest of my life may not have been if it weren’t for this unbelievable organization, as my experience here has instilled within me the qualities I will need to succeed in life.

The bittersweet end approaches ever so swiftly. With only an hour left in my time here, I cannot help but to look back to 5 months ago, when I first joined the Benay team. I had absolutely no office experience; I didn’t even know how to operate the scanner properly. Still, Dawn saw a quality within my writing that gave her the impression I could play a unique and necessary role in the office. She believed in me as a writer, and took a chance on a young guy who was fresh out of college.

Merrilee, Susan, and the rest of the friendly Benay employees took the time to teach me the ropes, no matter how busy they may have been handling royalties, back office functions, or bookkeeping needs for their valued clients. Eventually, with lots of trial and error, I became a functioning part of the well-oiled machine that is Benay. 

Witnessing first-hand the hard work and dedication it requires to run a business smoothly has paid dividends and has taught me a new level of professionalism, one which I will undoubtedly carry myself with for the remainder of my career. Moreover, the time each Benay staff member has dedicated to helping me grow as an individual will forever be appreciated.

Just last week, I walked into a job interview in midtown Manhattan, and even though there were dozens of applicants in the waiting room with me, I knew I was going to get the job. I knew that once I got the chance to tell the board members about my experience with Benay, all the qualifications I had surmounted in such a short period of time, they would not be able to turn me away. Sure enough, I received a call even before I could get home, and the job was mine.

Benay Enterprises tells their clients, “Do what you do best, and let Benay do the rest.” Well, the same statement holds true for my experience here as an intern. I was given the creative control over the company’s blog, and my blogs received quite a bit of attention, resulting in a recent offer to write a column for a local Danbury news site, The Mercurial, that had been re-publishing some of my blogs all along. Furthermore, FLW Magazine, the leading publication in the world of bass fishing (my other passion), was so impressed with the promotional pieces I wrote for Benay and For Beginners, they decided to give me a monthly one page article in their nationally circulated magazine.

Though I would like to say that I have done as much for Benay as Benay has done for me, I simply cannot because this company has given me the exposure and important contacts I needed in order to break into the world of writing. The experience alone has been worth more than my entire undergraduate career, and for that I cannot thank Benay enough. However, I am now moving on to work and write copy for an organization in Manhattan. Though I am destined to a dreadful commute, I look forward to this opportunity that never would have happened without Benay Enterprises. As a side note, if anybody out there is looking for a roommate within a short commute to the city, feel free to let me know J. More importantly, and I don’t have to say this because I won’t be here tomorrow to face any sorts of consequences should I admit otherwise, if you or your organization is ever in need of financial services or back office functions, I highly recommend you get in touch with the dedicated professionals and bookkeepers at Benay Enterprises.

For the last time,

-Mike Iovino