Your Questions About Business Online Payroll

Jere answers:

You probably can’t. The rating models are too complex.

Call your parent’s agent, and ask them to work up numbers for you.

Or post the following answers for each question, and I’ll ballpark it.

What city/state? What type of business?

Bonding: why do you need bonding? What type of bond? Some examples are: fidelity, licensing, performance, payment, erisa. Each of them have their own rating questions. Bonds can range in cost from $250 to 20% of the job cost, so it’s a huge range.

Auto: what type of cars, how old are the cars, how old (on average) are the drivers, and what are the cars used for, where do they go, and how many of each type?

Building – how big is the building (in square feet), what’s it made of, how old is it, how recently updated is the plumbing, heating, electric? Do you own it or rent?

Liability – what type of business? What are the gross sales? What type of product? How much do you pay the employees? How many employees are there?

Workers Comp: What do the employees do, and how much do you pay each category of employee? This is actually the easiest to “guestimate” – as the rating is strictly based on payroll.

Jere answers:

You have lots of options…

Companies outsource work these days. Offer secretarial services and keep accounting and payroll records for them on your home computer. Write promotional materials for them. Learn how to design websites for your local businesses on your computer.

Jere answers:

Surely someone in your family owned business can print out a payroll statement going back 3-6 months to suit your immediate purpose. You should be able to get sample of a payroll statement online that can be modified to fit your situation. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Jere answers:

Bank of America Corp. Has a program that will allow small businesses to manage their payrolls online. The payroll program is free to small business customers who pay their employees by direct deposit with a Bank of America account, The ”Easy Online Payroll” product is part of a series of business applications that the bank has developed in its Business 24/7 portfolio, which is designed to make it easier for the owners of small businesses to operate.
Besides creating paychecks, the program also will set up W-2 tax statements, perform withholding calculations, link to accounting and bookkeeping software, and have the ability to pay and file federal and most state payroll taxes electronically.
Online Banking & Services: Frequently Asked Questions for Online Services from Bank of America
How much does Bank of America Easy Online Payroll cost? Bank of America Easy Online Payroll’s Basic Service allows you to manage payroll for employees paid by direct deposit to a Bank of America account at no cost. For employees that you choose to pay by check or other means, we will charge you only $5 per month for each active employee, and we will limit the aggregate monthly cost to $15. That means, you won’t pay more than $15 per month for our Basic Service, and when your employees are all paid by direct deposit to a Bank of America account, the Basic Service is free. We believe that you will also find the enhanced features of our Plus Service upgrade to be exceptional.
There are other free programs but this seemed a safe way to go.
You can search further on Yahoo with the search phrase, “Free Payroll programs.”

Jere answers:

Deciding whether to use Quicken or QuickBooks is a matter of your accounting needs and abilities. Some accountants suggest clients use QuickBooks; however, not everyone is comfortable with accounting terminology or procedures. The following paragraphs highlight some of the differences in Quicken Deluxe compared to QuickBooks Pro (these versions offer the most features and flexibility).

First, consider your computer and accounting skills. If you can navigate through basic computer programs, know what a file is, can operate a mouse, know the X in the corner of a window closes it, and know how to write a check, then you can learn to use Quicken. QuickBooks is also user-friendly if you understand accounting terminology. However, with QuickBooks, it is important to get the set-up right from the beginning. Quicken is a little more flexible and can grow as you learn to use it.

Consider your accounting needs. What do you expect from the program? If you need to track simple income and expense records on a cash basis then Quicken is easier to set up, simpler to use, and less expensive. QuickBooks can be used for single-entry cash accounting, but it is intended to function as a double-entry system for business.

Some important Quicken features that are not available in QuickBooks:
1. The ability to record and track investments (including the capability to download investment information from the Internet). QuickBooks allows for no investment record-keeping.
2. The capability to create an amortized loan that records principal and interest components of loan payments. This feature makes tracking loan amounts and splitting payments into the correct categories more precise.
3. The ability to easily generate cash flow reports as well as budgets based on past transactions.

QuickBooks has the following features that Quicken does not:
1. The ability to create invoices and track payments received. (If you only need simple and infrequent invoicing features, then you may want to look at the Quicken Home and Business program.)
2. The ability to create accounts payable and track the payments as they are made. Payroll features are provided as a for-fee service, ranging from downloadable payroll table updates to complete payroll services. Other payroll features include the ability to track time for employees and link the time spent with specific projects.
3. Inventory features. However, this feature is of limited value to most farmers and ranchers as it is designed for a retail business. It can be helpful to producers selling certified seed, for instance.
4. The ability to accept credit card payments (with the use of QuickBooks Account Manager).

What Quicken and QuickBooks both offer:
1. The programs are affordable. Quicken Deluxe is about $60 with a $20 rebate for previous users; QuickBooks Pro can be purchased for about $220.
2. Both have class features which allow you to track income and expense information by enterprise for better financial analysis.
3. Both include a variety of reports for tracking income and expenses and tax information. However, the QuickBooks reports are more business oriented and tend to resemble standard accounting statements.