Whether an employee takes another job, or you terminate their employment, there will likely come a time in your small business journey that you have to deliver a final paycheck.

When choosing to employ independent contractors, it’s important to note that there are payroll and tax requirements that differ from full-time employees.  

Managing payroll is often a task small business owners aren’t prepared to handle when opening their doors.

Whether you are just opening your business with a full staff or you’ve been in business for a while and are just adding an employee to the mix, setting up your payroll for the first time can be overwhelming. If you are going to DIY payroll, below you’ll find the information you need to know to start payroll and which questions you can expect from your new employee.

In honor of National Payroll Week and all of the hardworking small business owners struggling to grow their business while keeping the back office running, we've put together an eBook to alleviate some of the payroll strain.

Payroll taxes are federal, state and local taxes withheld from an employee's paycheck by the employer. These taxes consist of income taxes, unemployment taxes, and deductions for Social Security and Medicare taxes, the last of which are often referred to as "the payroll tax."

As a small business owner, hiring your first employee means that it's time to implement a payroll process.

When setting up payroll for your small business, one of the things you'll have to set up is a payroll schedule. Depending on where you live, your state may make this decision for you and provide guidelines for the type of payroll schedule you need to follow. Other states leave the choice up to business owners to decide. The four payroll schedules are: weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly. Most confusion comes with understanding bi-weekly and semi-monthly payroll schedules becasue they seem very similar. However, there are a few differences you should know. 

Income taxes are top of mind right now, as we've all completed (or, are hopefully close to completing) the task of filing our returns to the IRS.

All business owners must withhold payroll taxes. It’s just a fact. You’re legally obligated to do it, so payroll taxes are something you really can’t afford to hide under the filing cabinet, risking fines and penalties.

As many in impacted areas across Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and parts of Texas focus on rebuilding after widespread damage from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, the prospect of their 2016 tax-filing extension running out on October 16, 2017 is an added cause of stress.

When it comes to starting and running a small business, there are a million moving parts, to say the least. Keeping track of rent, utilities, insurance, inventory, recruiting and staffing, payroll...the list goes on and on. And when you are that close to the trees, it can be hard to see the forest—your overall business cash flow.

Managing and predicting cash flow as a small business owner can be very challenging. Especially when you're starting out, you might find yourself in a situation of having committed sales, but unpaid invoices. Or, as you expand, you might have some growing costs that are higher than projected or coincide with a slow month.

With the gig economy making up 34 percent of the workforce in the United States, things are changing quickly both for workers and employers. The gig economy refers to the labor market made up of short-term contracts or freelance work versus a permanent job.

Bringing a new employee into your company can be a big step. As a small business, each new employee is not only a testament to the success and potential of your business, but a significant investment of time and monetary resources.

When you're a small business owner, there's never enough time in the day. You're probably handling HR, customer service, sales, and marketing on any given day of the week, not to mention all of the back office work needed to keep the lights on, employees paid, and taxes filed – and that's before you get to the real work of serving your customers!

As an individual or small business owner, tax season is never fun. From collecting receipts to preparing for the months to come, there is a lot on your plate.

Starting with a new payroll service can be a bit unnerving. You may have several questions such as, “What information will they ask for? And are there documents they’ll need to see?” Being prepared will go a long way in simplifying the process.

Business owners are always looking for ways to save money. One such strategy is to consider the many ways to lessen your tax liability.

In a perfect world, the tax system would remain the same from year to year. For individuals and small business owners, this would make life much easier. Unfortunately, this isn't reality.