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Here’s What to Think About if You’re Expanding Your Business (And Therefore, Your Payroll)

CMMA Blog

If you’re planning to expand your business, one of your top priorities should be making sure you’re in position to classify and pay employees and independent contractors properly. This is especially important if you’re looking to hire people in any state without any red tape. Today, we’ll talk about what it takes to run payroll and when it’s helpful to engage a partner.

Doing Payroll Right

Since payroll is always a complex, high-stakes business, it’s worth investing anything required on the front end to make sure you do it right. Whether you train an in-house team or engage a partner, they need to be in position to classify correctly, stay on top of laws as they change, identify and respond to the different tax requirements, and have a system in place that allows the process to be simple, accurate, and fast. This helps you avoid future fines and legal battles.

Doing it right means doing the following:

  1. Learning local employment laws. This includes identifying regulations regarding working hours, holidays, sick pay, insurance, and more and having a (preferably automated) system in place to follow those rules.
  2. Onboarding workers. This includes collecting information such as name and date of birth as well as tax forms, background checks, benefit status, and work eligibility.
  3. Storing and securing data. Since you’re dealing people’s personally identifiable information (PII), you MUST have a way to secure that highly-sensitive data. The fines for mishandling data are serious, so you should be equally serious.
  4. Authorizing payments and ensuring your employees get paid accurately.  This includes identifying the appropriate deductions/taxes, keeping accurate records, paying on time in every location, sending out notifications, reporting as required to government institutions, etc.
  5. Having a system in place to identify and adjust to changes. You don’t always have time to wait weeks to adjust to new laws. Things evolve rapidly, so your system needs to be ready to evolve just as rapidly.
  6. Staying compliant. Laws are different from place to place and do change frequently, so your payroll management software solution should have systems in place to ensure  compliance wherever you operate.

Would Outsourcing Payroll Benefit Your Business?

Outsourcing payroll is especially valuable in certain situations. If a company needs to hire employees in multiple states, is growing rapidly, and/or needs to hire temporary workers frequently, engaging an Employer of Record (EOR) could be a game changer. An EOR mitigates compliance risks, increases payroll efficiency, and eases the administrative burdens of managing a workforce.

The Bottom Line

Payroll is one of the most complex and challenging aspects of operating a business and should be given appropriate attention by every business. When a company is growing, payroll is one of the most important aspects of business to have in good working order. The right people on your in-house team or the right partner are essential. If you think a partner would be beneficial to your business, reach out ! Relax: We got it.

The post Here’s What to Think About if You’re Expanding Your Business (And Therefore, Your Payroll) appeared first on PayReel .

To view our Partner blog, click here

Event Management And The Key to Making 1+1 Equal 10

CMMA Blog

The adage goes “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” But what about when you’re the one known for getting it all done? Whether you’re managing a massive event or a one-camera production, it’s time to think about multiplying your time. Engaging a partner who specializes in event management works out well for clients and workers alike. That’s because the right partner has all the tools and skills to be efficient in the worker management and payroll pieces of the process. Those skills require a huge learning curve, but when you engage someone who specializes in it, you skip all of that! It’s one of the quickest ways to increase bandwidth. When you delegate the pieces you don’t specialize in, everyone wins. Go ahead: Take some of that time saved to order yourself a World’s Best Boss mug to celebrate your victory.

Easy Events 

The right partner can handle any event, whether you’re payrolling thousands of workers, sending a crew to an NBA game, or something in between. Knowing some of the major details are handled frees you up to focus on other details (of which there are always plenty!).  

Events don’t operate on a nine-to-five schedule and neither do we. The right partner needs to be able to operate with the reality of your schedule. An after-hours phone number to provide speedy answers can come in clutch in time-sensitive situations. Our online system allows clients to take care of just about anything—and at any hour! PayReel handles all the paperwork and the bonus is that we do it without any actual paper. Not having to sift through piles of identical paperwork cluttering up your desk and your headspace makes the process quicker and easier for you and for your workers.

Speedy Payment And Paper-Free Paperwork Makes Happy Workers

Happy workers make smoother events. By managing all the payment details, including the mountains of W-4s , payroll becomes a non-event. Workers submit timecards on Mondays and we pay them on Fridays. When they’re paid quickly, they don’t need to call your office, which frees you up to do your job better. Of course, it also keeps workers happy so they are free to focus on your project and happy to come back for your next event. 

The last thing you need once you’ve hired people is to lose their loyalty on the back-end details. Whether they’re working for one day or over multiple events for months, we make sure workers get paid quickly and accurately so if you want to bring them on again, they’ll be ready to pick up the call.

We’re devoted to making every single client and worker interaction a good one, which makes working with you mighty attractive for workers.

The Bottom Line

In short: the key to multiplying your time is delegating/engaging partners whenever it makes sense. Clients work with PayReel because we make event management easier and free up clients’ time for the things they do best. Our team manage event payroll and payroll taxes and, as the employer of record, we even take on much of the risk associated with a variable workforce. Think you might benefit from hiring a payroll service? Contact us at 303-526-4900.

The post Event Management And The Key to Making 1+1 Equal 10 appeared first on PayReel .

To view our Partner blog, click here

The Closest Thing to an Easy Button For Contingent Workforce Management

CMMA Blog

Ask anyone who manages a contingent workforce and the answer will be swift: an easy button to make it simple, convenient, and organized would be worth an awful. Any system or company that handles contractor payroll should include certain features (like online timecards, approvals, benefits-tracking, and more) to get as close to an easy button as possible.

Features of Headache-Free Contingent Workforce Management

Online Everything

Paper-free paperwork. It’s enough to make even the busiest folks sleep well at night. Being able to do everything from engaging/onboarding a worker to receiving timecards and submitting approvals online just makes sense.

Custom Reporting

Custom reports can serve to increase productivity or provide valuable insight into what is working well as well as where there’s room for improvement. It’s one feature that can make a huge difference in the way a system/payroll partner meets a company’s needs.

Consolidated Invoicing

When you have a bunch of invoices to pay to multiple vendors, it can get a little complicated. The vendors might be contractors themselves or the vendors that provide the contractors. Being able to bundle all invoices (according to the job, event, or in whatever way makes the most sense) and pay them as a single invoice can be a game changer for budget tracking and just plain simplicity. Having a payroll partner that offers this option can be invaluable, especially for companies managing many events or projects.

Ability to Manage Multiple Projects at Once

Speaking of multiple projects, being able to manage all of your events or productions at one time and in one place is a huge benefit. When you’re handling a multiple budgets and staff members, being able to do it all in one place is more than just convenient. An online system where you can just log in and see all of the projects you’re working on simplifies something that has the potential to be incredibly complicated. For one thing, it means you can skip some of the impeccable record-keeping previously required to manage the paperwork on concurrent projects. Online systems that allow you to pick any project/event and quickly identify the people working on them, the time cards that have been submitted, what has been approved and what still needs approvals, all broken out according to project and billing code is a huge time saver.

The Bottom Line

We know managing a contingent workforce can be challenging, but we’ve been working to make it as easy as it can be. If anything you see above might make your life better, contact us and tell us about your situation. You just might be able to hang up and say, “That was easy!” Seriously. This is our jam.

The post The Closest Thing to an Easy Button For Contingent Workforce Management appeared first on PayReel .

To view our Partner blog, click here

What Record-Breaking Heat Waves Mean For Your Business

CMMA Blog

Yesterday, I drove by a young man directing construction traffic from the side of a freshly-tarred road. We are in the middle of a heat wave in my area and even by 9 AM, we were well into the 90’s. If it had been a cartoon, I would’ve been able to see the heat waves rising beneath him. I wanted to drop some gatorade off for the guy! Don’t be mistaken: Heat stroke is not just dangerous to the most vulnerable among us. It can land even a young man like this worker in the hospital with very little warning.

We aren’t the only ones experiencing record-breaking highs this summer: Many regions are facing increasingly wild weather. So what does this mean for individuals or companies whose work requires them to be outdoors? I’ll tell you what it doesn’t mean: waiting until someone has a heat stroke to think about worker safety.

As we head into another record-breaking summer, it’s a good time to talk about workplace safety. Protecting workers—especially those who spend extended time outdoors—requires a little extra forethought and attention. While your workers’ health is a good enough reason to take extra measures, addressing safety risks can also prevent fines and lawsuits.

Worker Safety in Extreme Heat

Staying compliant with OSHA’s guidelines on Occupational Heat Exposure prevents workers from getting heat related illnesses. It also prevents them from missing work and you from getting fined. Keep everyone safe so neither you nor your employees end up paying the price.

  1. Provide water, rest, and shade: It’s easy to get into a project and forget about the time. Sometimes proactive measures like mandatory breaks with plenty of hydration will remind people to take care of themselves in the heat.  Make plenty of water and gatorade easily accessible.
  2. Recognize the signs: Managers should be on high alert for symptoms of heat exhaustion. According to the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (OSHA), “Persons suffering from heat exhaustion might have cool, moist skin; sweat heavily; or complain of headache, nausea or lightheadedness.”
  3. Watch the weather: At different temperatures and conditions, different measures are appropriate. Monitor the heat index as well as the associated risks. Schedule reminders and water breaks ahead of time and stick to them, regardless of your schedule.

General Emergency Preparedness

Heat isn’t the only hazard workers may face. OSHA’s website provides resources for winter weather and just about every situation here . Preventative measures for all inclement weather issues is a worthwhile investment. OSHA offers free on-site consultations to help diligent employers eliminate any problems up front. Contact them at 1-800-321-OSHA for more information.

Bottom Line

Watching out for your workers’ safety is not just about staying compliant with the letter of the law, but about understanding and staying true to the spirit behind it. Even if you can push workers a little further to get the job done faster, it’s worth going above and beyond to provide a safe environment. Watching out for people makes workers more loyal and you’ll ultimately be more productive, too.

The post What Record-Breaking Heat Waves Mean For Your Business appeared first on PayReel .

To view our Partner blog, click here

How to be a Hero to Your Freelancers and Employees

CMMA Blog

According to this report , more than half of freelancers have over 50K in unpaid/late invoices. If you’re one of the clients whose invoice is showing up in the red, you are going to lose favor with your workers. To a big company, that amount may seem like small potatoes, but to smaller businesses, it can be the difference between thriving and staying in business. If you’re quick to pay, you solve one of your workers’ most consistent challenges: cash flow.

No matter what, being a freelancer is hard. Especially at the beginning, when many freelancers operate like a one-man band. They pound the pavement to get work, they do the work, and then sometimes, they have to pound the pavement to actually get paid.

Among the other discouraging statistics, survey respondents reported the following:

  • 74% are not getting paid on time
  • 72% have outstanding, unpaid invoices
  • 59% are owed $50,000+

Here’s How You Can be a Hero to Your Workers

1. Pay a Down Payment

When it makes sense for the type of work, a down payment goes a long way for workers.

2. Guarantee Prompt Payment

Guaranteeing payment in 30 days max can be a game changer. Partnering with PayReel means your employees will be paid on time every single time. Not having to worry about whether your employees are taken care of means you remain in good favor and also that you don’t have to have a whole team to make sure it’s getting done. You already know it is! Make sure you are not the company contributing to someone’s $50K of lost or late payment and by extension, that people are ready to answer your call when you need them.

The post How to be a Hero to Your Freelancers and Employees appeared first on PayReel .

To view our Partner blog, click here

Is Your Brand Ambassador an Employee or an Indepndent Contractor?

CMMA Blog

Clients tell us they grapple with worker classification over and over. They wonder whether workers should be treated as W-2 employees or as 1099 independent contractors. It can be a complicated subject and every time the game changes, the rules change, too. Fortunately, with brand ambassadors, it can quickly become simple. The answer comes down to the way you answer one question. 

How Does The IRS Distinguish Between an Independent Contractor And an Employee?

One of the most foundational questions the IRS considers is how much control the employer has over a worker’s schedule, payment, and other aspects of their job. The greater control the employer has, the more likely the worker will be considered an employee. For example, workers will be considered employees when most of the following statements apply: 

*Clients set expectations for work hours
*Workers perform services and expectations in a certain order (as directed by the client)
*Workers submit reports
*Workers perform their duties onsite at a specific location and for a set event
*Workers are paid hourly rather than on a project basis

Independent contractors, on the other hand, are autonomous workers and are not required to set a schedule (i.e.: show up at a specific time for a specific event) or perform tasks in a certain order. They are also often paid on a project basis rather than hourly. 

Where do Brand Ambassadors Land And Why Do Companies Care?

The above description for an employee usually applies to brand ambassadors. Their work simply does not look like the complete autonomy the IRS requires to consider a worker a true 1099 independent contractor.

If the answer really is this simple, why do companies want to justify a different decision? One of the most consistent arguments for attempting to classify any worker as a 1099, regardless how thin the justification, is that it’s cheaper. And it is! At least up front. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that the IRS is paying attention. Should you ever get caught misclassifying a worker, you’ll find out it’s not so cheap after all. Aside from the money you risk sinking into paying criminal and civil penalties, you also risk losing credibility along with energy and valuable human resources spent dealing with the issue.

It’s stressful. It’s costly. It’s just not worth it.

The Bottom Line

In most cases, we’d absolutely recommend calling a brand ambassador a W-2 employee. If you need advice on your specific situation, our team knows this stuff inside and out. 

 

The post Is Your Brand Ambassador an Employee or an Indepndent Contractor? appeared first on PayReel .

To view our Partner blog, click here