Understanding payroll is complex, frustrating, and confusing if you are not an expert. However, every business owner must deal with payroll at some point. It is one of the largest expenses.
A miscalculation or mistake in the process may be financially bad for your company. In this article, you will be able to understand the payroll process stepwise. It will help you feel confident when processing payroll, and you will complete it in less time.
What is a payroll?
Payroll is the payment that a company must pay to its employees for a specified time or on a specific day. A company’s accounting or HR department manages it. In a small firm, payroll is looked after by the owner or a staff member.
It is a significant expense for most firms and is usually always deductible. You can deduce it from gross income, lowering the company’s taxable revenue. A paystub may vary from one period to the next due to overtime, sick leave, and other factors.
Special considerations:
Employers with annual gross sales of $500,000> are subject to the 1938 Fair Labour Standards Act (FLSA) rules. It is a law in the United States to protect workers from certain unfair wage practices. The FLSA establishes many labor rules.
It includes minimum wages, overtime pay obligations, and child labor restrictions. FLSA laws, for example, establish when employees are on the clock and when they have to pay for overtime.
According to the law, you must pay one and a half times the standard hourly rate for overtime (hours worked more than 40 per week). Some employees are exempt from the FLSA. It does not apply to independent workers or volunteers.
Some hourly workers are not covered under the FLSA but must follow other rules. For example, the Railway Labour Act governs the railroad workers. The Motor Carriers Act governs truck drivers. The FLSA also specifies how to handle jobs that get many tips.
For tipped service workers, the employer needs to pay the minimum wage. It only applies if the employee receives gratuities less than $30 monthly.
Payroll management challenges:
The person in charge must gather information from the attendance register. They must also consider the reimbursement before handling a payroll.
You can use Excel sheets as a payroll and payroll tax calculator. However, the number of calculations and the complexity of deleting and adding employees is time-consuming and error-prone.
You should also know that noncompliance with government deadlines for individual taxes can result in penalties from authorities.
The penalties can potentially risk a company’s existence in the worst-case situation. In the modern digital age, advanced payroll software helps automatically process payroll. They even follow government laws and regulations.
What are payroll taxes?
Payroll tax is a tax you charge from an employee’s wage and is paid to the government on the employee’s behalf by the employer.
The tax applies to salaries, employee tips, and wages. These taxes are withheld from an employee’s wages and sent to the (IRS). They are divided into the following categories in the United States.
Medicare, Federal Income, and Social Security:
The government uses payroll tax income to fund a variety of programs. It includes healthcare, Social Security, workers’ compensation, and unemployment compensation.
If a qualifying former employee wants to access such funds after termination, the company is normally responsible for funding it.
Special consideration:
Self-employed people, such as freelancers, independent contractors, and musicians, must also pay payroll taxes. These are self-employment taxes. They are self-employed because they must pay taxes as both the employer and the employee.
The tax rate is 15.3% for self-employment and formal employment. The survivors, old-age, and social security fund receives 12.4% of this, while Medicare receives the remaining 2.9%.
Social Security contribution:
It is the amounts dispensed towards social security tax from payroll. It includes OASI and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund. The OASI pays survivor and retirement payments. The Disability Insurance Trust Fund pays the disability benefits.
The Medicare tax:
Medicare is one of the payroll tax’s beneficiaries. You need them to pay the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Supplemental Medical Insurance Trust Fund.
Payroll tax calculation: How to calculate?
Your company and local legislation will determine how you calculate payroll taxes. The first step is to determine the gross compensation of your employees.
Calculate your employees’ gross pay:
You may calculate an employee’s gross pay using their pay rate and your planned pay periods. Most businesses will pay their staff weekly, bi weekly, or monthly. Hence, to determine an hourly
employee’s gross compensation use the following formula:
“Gross compensation = hourly rate x total hours worked in the pay period.”
To determine a salaried employee’s gross compensation, divide their annual salary by the number of pay periods in the year. The following is the formula:
“Annual salary/number of pay periods/year = Gross pay”
Exclude all pre-tax deductions:
After computing gross salary, you must subtract deductions. These are tax deductions, although there may be other pre-tax deductions available. Pre-tax deductions include the following:
- 401(k) plans and other retirement arrangements
- Health insurance policies
- Contributions to a Flexible Spending Account
- Some life insurance products
Tax deductions (fica, unemployment, & income taxes):
After pre-tax deductions, the remainder of your pay is taxable. FICA taxes are 7.65%—1.45% for Medicare and 6.2% for Social Security. Other tax rates are established by federal, state, or municipal regulations and your employee’s W-4.
Use the IRS tax tables to calculate federal income taxes. However, when you pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, you almost always pay federal taxes. You need to fill out IRS Form 941 to report all payments. You must also deduct 7.65% of the employee’s gross compensation as FICA tax.
But the employer needs to match each employee’s contribution. The corporation pays the employees and the company’s Social Security and Medicare contributions.
All voluntary deductions must be deducted from the remaining wage:
However, it could include:
- Roth 401(k) contributions
- Life insurance policies
- Plans for long-term disability
- Salary garnishments
- Union fees
The amount left over after all taxes and deductions is how much the employee receives on payday.
Bottom line:
Payroll processing is not easy and takes time. It needs strict adherence to federal and state rules and regulations. It necessitates careful documentation and attention to detail. Small firms can manage their payroll with the help of cloud-based software.
However, other businesses prefer to outsource their payroll duties. They can even invest in an integrated ERP system that can handle accounting and payroll.
