Payroll (Part 1)

Many of you have asked about Aplos’ ability to run payroll.  While we do not currently have a payroll feature, we do hope to remedy that in the future.  For now, here are some tips to help guide you in managing payroll.  Payroll tax information may seem complicated when you begin your organization.  In my experience, over the last 6 months of managing the fund accounting books for our nonprofit, I found there are several approaches to take when determining your payroll process.  Here are a couple of suggestions…

1.  If the thought of calculating payroll, printing checks, determing what taxes to pay your state or federal government, etc. seems overwhelming, I understand.  Maybe the stress relief gained from outsourcing a payroll is worth the cost for now.  Know that there are multiple ways to go about outsourcing and the cost varies on the type of services you choose to partake.  You may have everything run for you – payroll, paychecks, direct deposit, automatic payment to state and fed, tax filings and so on.  These types of services will cost your organization more so you must determine what best suits you.  There are many companies offering this type of service so do some window shopping first.  Once everything has run through your bank account, inputting your expenses into Aplos is a piece of cake.  More on how to enter payroll in a moment.

2.  A second option is to outsource to another company while do some of the initial work yourself.  The cost difference between the first option and this one could save your organization a great deal of money.  I began with our organization’s bank.  They offered a payroll service for a monthly fee.  I simply went through a form wizard they provided, input information based on a W-4 and our state location.  When i came across anything I was unable to figure out myself, I simply called their customer service agent.  Most of these types of bank services do require that you login to your account and click a button that begins the payroll process.  I found this to be a great option as they also happen to calculate my tax filing reports and send them via their website.  Another great feature is that they send you a reminder message notifying you when certain items need attention.

3.  Do a little bit of research and a little math.  Many places now offer payroll calculators based on withholdings and even request your state of employment.  These calculators have been incredibly helpful for our organization in determining our expenses to employ individuals.  Make sure the calculator you are using is up to date and current on tax rates.  I googled “payroll tax calculator” and did this very thing.  Super easy! (just like Aplos).  You will need to fill in the appropriate fields with the payroll perimeters for yourself or the individual.  These calculators do the work for you!  I suggest printing out the output page for reference so you can enter the amounts on your business checks.  Keep track of what you owe the fed (either monthly or quarterly), depending on how you set up your payroll.  See here for more information on federal payroll taxes.  For you state, you may be able to submit payment electronically.  Click here for a great reference to your individual state payroll information.

Our next article will cover how to enter all this information into Aplos in a simple and efficient way.  We work hard to save you time and money!