Non-Compliance, Outdated Payroll Solutions Can Lead to Spooky Outcomes
Amidst the Halloween office backdrop of fake pumpkins, spider webs, and maybe even a witch or two, it can be easy to lose sight of the biggest goblin lurking in the boardroom: scary payroll issues.
While the payroll issues your business could be facing may or may not be new, if not dealt with quickly they can often have a haunting affect over your employees, your finances, and even legal compliance. For small business owners looking to keep their business from getting ghosted, it’s important to take stock of the some of the monsters that may be hiding under the bed this Halloween season.
1. Processing Payments Late
Unless you’re running a sleek operation with a loyal workforce of Oompa Loompas you’re compensating with a lifetime supply of chocolate, you may want to ensure they’re consistently getting paid on time. Even missing one payment date can set the bar pretty low and make your employees think about bailing. It’s also illegal in most provinces to pay employees later than a week or two after their scheduled payment date; federally, that allowance is up to 30 days.
2. Miscalculating Wages
Even the best people with crunching numbers and keeping things organized can make scary mistakes.
When it comes to paying your employees, you’ll want to keep the margin for error at zero by ensuring you have an easy to use and trusted system in place, such as a leading integrated payroll software.
Doing so can help your business organize all its timekeeping, tracking, and payroll domains in one place.
3. Remote and Freelance Workers
Depending on what province or country you’re hiring a remote or freelance contractor from, there may be different policies and regulations in place that you’ll need to abide by.
For Canadian businesses hiring Canadian freelancers, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is adamant about classifying independent contractors only when they are truly freelancers. Ditto for California.
4. Incorrect Tax Payments
Speaking of the CRA, nothing’s worse than making them mad (except maybe your spouse if you have a habit of forgetting birthdays and anniversaries).
That’s why it’s important to make sure your business is in compliance with all changing provincial and federal tax laws in relation to your payroll to avoid costly penalties and late fees.
5. Missing Records of Employment
Okay, so maybe an employee didn’t work out. Whether they quit or were fired, you need to ensure you keep their Record of Employment (ROE) on file as part of your payroll operations.
Failing to do so on time can lead to some pretty unnerving consequences when your former employee isn’t able to properly file their taxes or file for Employment Insurance (EI).
6. Company Merger, Acquisition, or Leadership Change
If your business is going through internal change, needless to say sometimes things can get forgotten.
As part of this change, it can often affect many areas of your business across Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions and EI remittances, benefit plan coverages, and honouring vacation leave.
To ensure you don’t disgruntle your employees or make the tax man angry, be sure to have a system in place to guide your operations through such change.
7. Using Outdated Payroll Solutions
Perhaps the biggest reason you may be superstitious about black cats, crows, and witches this Halloween when it comes to your payroll is your outdated payroll solutions.
If your business’s payroll is past its prime – putting you at compliance risk, burdening you with inefficient costs, and potentially holding back your growth – its time to upgrade to a customizable payroll service tailor-fit to your business’s needs that allows you secure access from anywhere.
Avoid Payroll Nightmares
Ready to ensure your company avoids costly payroll mistakes, saves money, and increases its efficiency? PaymentEvolution’s secure online payroll software is trusted by thousands of businesses just like yours.
Our experts are ready to help every step of the way. Log in to your PaymentEvolution account and check out the payroll link.
Don’t have a PaymentEvolution account? Get started in under 5 minutes.
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