Freelancer Payment

  • Alicia East
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Here’s What to Think About if You’re Expanding Your Business (And Therefore, Your Payroll)
Here’s What to Think About if You’re Expanding Your Business (And Therefore, Your Payroll) 2560 1707 Alicia East

If you’re planning to expand your business, one of your top priorities should be making sure you’re in position to classify and pay employees and independent contractors properly. This is especially important if you’re looking to hire people in any state without any red tape. Today, we’ll talk about what it takes to run payroll and when it’s helpful to engage a partner.

Doing Payroll Right

Since payroll is always a complex, high-stakes business, it’s worth investing anything required on the front end to make sure you do it right. Whether you train an in-house team or engage a partner, they need to be in position to classify correctly, stay on top of laws as they change, identify and respond to the different tax requirements, and have a system in place that allows the process to be simple, accurate, and fast. This helps you avoid future fines and legal battles.

Doing it right means doing the following:

  1. Learning local employment laws. This includes identifying regulations regarding working hours, holidays, sick pay, insurance, and more and having a (preferably automated) system in place to follow those rules.
  2. Onboarding workers. This includes collecting information such as name and date of birth as well as tax forms, background checks, benefit status, and work eligibility.
  3. Storing and securing data. Since you’re dealing people’s personally identifiable information (PII), you MUST have a way to secure that highly-sensitive data. The fines for mishandling data are serious, so you should be equally serious.
  4. Authorizing payments and ensuring your employees get paid accurately.  This includes identifying the appropriate deductions/taxes, keeping accurate records, paying on time in every location, sending out notifications, reporting as required to government institutions, etc.
  5. Having a system in place to identify and adjust to changes. You don’t always have time to wait weeks to adjust to new laws. Things evolve rapidly, so your system needs to be ready to evolve just as rapidly.
  6. Staying compliant. Laws are different from place to place and do change frequently, so your payroll management software solution should have systems in place to ensure  compliance wherever you operate.

Would Outsourcing Payroll Benefit Your Business?

Outsourcing payroll is especially valuable in certain situations. If a company needs to hire employees in multiple states, is growing rapidly, and/or needs to hire temporary workers frequently, engaging an Employer of Record (EOR) could be a game changer. An EOR mitigates compliance risks, increases payroll efficiency, and eases the administrative burdens of managing a workforce.

The Bottom Line

Payroll is one of the most complex and challenging aspects of operating a business and should be given appropriate attention by every business. When a company is growing, payroll is one of the most important aspects of business to have in good working order. The right people on your in-house team or the right partner are essential. If you think a partner would be beneficial to your business, reach out! Relax: We got it.

money and clock - PayReel
  • Alicia East
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The Closest Thing to an Easy Button For Contingent Workforce Management
The Closest Thing to an Easy Button For Contingent Workforce Management 800 534 Alicia East

Ask anyone who manages a contingent workforce and the answer will be swift: an easy button to make it simple, convenient, and organized would be worth an awful. Any system or company that handles contractor payroll should include certain features (like online timecards, approvals, benefits-tracking, and more) to get as close to an easy button as possible.

Features of Headache-Free Contingent Workforce Management

Online Everything

Paper-free paperwork. It’s enough to make even the busiest folks sleep well at night. Being able to do everything from engaging/onboarding a worker to receiving timecards and submitting approvals online just makes sense.

Custom Reporting

Custom reports can serve to increase productivity or provide valuable insight into what is working well as well as where there’s room for improvement. It’s one feature that can make a huge difference in the way a system/payroll partner meets a company’s needs.

Consolidated Invoicing

When you have a bunch of invoices to pay to multiple vendors, it can get a little complicated. The vendors might be contractors themselves or the vendors that provide the contractors. Being able to bundle all invoices (according to the job, event, or in whatever way makes the most sense) and pay them as a single invoice can be a game changer for budget tracking and just plain simplicity. Having a payroll partner that offers this option can be invaluable, especially for companies managing many events or projects.

Ability to Manage Multiple Projects at Once

Speaking of multiple projects, being able to manage all of your events or productions at one time and in one place is a huge benefit. When you’re handling a multiple budgets and staff members, being able to do it all in one place is more than just convenient. An online system where you can just log in and see all of the projects you’re working on simplifies something that has the potential to be incredibly complicated. For one thing, it means you can skip some of the impeccable record-keeping previously required to manage the paperwork on concurrent projects. Online systems that allow you to pick any project/event and quickly identify the people working on them, the time cards that have been submitted, what has been approved and what still needs approvals, all broken out according to project and billing code is a huge time saver.

The Bottom Line

We know managing a contingent workforce can be challenging, but we’ve been working to make it as easy as it can be. If anything you see above might make your life better, contact us and tell us about your situation. You just might be able to hang up and say, “That was easy!” Seriously. This is our jam.

money and clock - PayReel
  • Alicia East
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The Hidden Benefit to Paying Contractors in 30 Days
The Hidden Benefit to Paying Contractors in 30 Days 800 534 Alicia East

Internal processes, red tape, and backlogged accounting departments make it hard to get checks in the mail. We definitely understand. Even when a practice is common among other companies, a slow corporate freelance payment policy might prevent you from working with the best people.

Paying Contractors On Time Is Good For Companies

We know that keeping workers happy can be a pain the arse. Still, like many things, a different perspective makes all the difference. Top contractors get booked quickly. When you pay contractors quickly, they’re more likely to answer your calls and ramp up your projects in a short amount of time. For busy department heads with big projects and short turnaround times, there’s nothing better than diving right in with tried and true creative partners. Saving time, money, and hassle by working with people who just get what you’re looking for is priceless.  Paying later than your competition can get you blacklisted or moved to the bottom of a contractor’s long to do list. The true pain is having to go through the entire process of finding someone who is a good fit and bringing them up to speed just because your tried and true contractors have prioritized other companies.

If the benefits to you aren’t enough, think about it from the workers’ perspective. Freelancers single-handedly juggle creative work, billing, marketing, and more. That means the person who sees your invoice in their red column is often the same one you’re expecting to bring their all to your next project. What seems like an insignificant to a big company can have a major effect on a small business’ cash flow.

Don’t Be a Hoarder

Just because many large companies have made it a practice to hoard cash and squeeze small businesses to increase their own bottom lines doesn’t mean you have to follow suit. Not only does it add pressure to those you work with, it’s just not ethical. You may justify it by saying it’s not as bad as the latest headline maker’s illegal and greedy ways, but shady practices of any degree have no place in your business.

The Bottom Line

Paying contractors quickly is worth the investment. If it’s not feasible to transform your internal process, get a partner involved. You get the peace of mind of knowing you’ll always be in good standing with contractors. It pays to hire someone with systems in place.

Hiring contractors is a beautiful thing: It gives you a fresh perspective and talent without having to bring on full-time team members. Just make sure you do it right. Going from Net 90 to Net Now will save you time, keep you in good standing with contractors, and ensure you can feel good about the way you do business. Rather than trying to save Benjamins up front, take Benjamin Franklin’s advice and “Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.”

Burning Money - Payreel
  • Alicia East
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The Road to IRS Hell is Paved With Preventable Mistakes
The Road to IRS Hell is Paved With Preventable Mistakes 2560 1707 Alicia East

A case involving embezzlement, tax liability, and good intentions added up to a nightmare for one man. Dr. Robert McClendon’s story proves there’s no amount of caution too intense when it comes to payroll tax liability.

IRS Mistakes Cost Big (Even When They’re Not Your Fault)

In a sobering case reported in Forbes, a man who loaned $100,000 to a struggling business was fined $4.3 million for said company’s payroll tax liability. When you dig into the details, it’s not as unfair as it may seem at first blush, but that doesn’t make the situation any less painful for Dr. McClendon—the defendant and a legally-deemed responsible party. As the Forbes article states, “You can be ‘willful’ under the tax law even if you didn’t have a bad motive or evil intent.”

So what was the kiss of death for Dr. McClendon?

Responsible & Willful: A Mismatch of Million-Dollar Proportions

Dr. McClendon owned the business to which he loaned the money and the cash went toward the seemingly noble goal of paying employees to prevent shuttering the doors altogether. While it was an employee who’d embezzled the funds earmarked for payroll taxes, the case against Dr. McClendon was strong enough to prove him responsible and willful. He wasn’t responsible for the embezzlement but he was responsible for choosing to pay employees instead of the payroll taxes, which by that time, he knew about. The case against Dr. McClendon withstood the legal tests and left the doc to nurse his own wounds. Ouch.

How to Protect Yourself

Either learn the rules of payroll taxes and precisely follow them or hire a qualified company to do it for you. One benefit to hiring a payroll service is that hiring a payroll service takes the burden of having to understand all of the rules off of company leadership.  The payroll service takes on the liability and frees up the small business to focus on business.

The Bottom Line

There are too many ways to get in trouble with the IRS to choose ignorance. With fines and possible jail time on the line, legitimate small businesses must take payroll taxes seriously. The government sure does.

 

This must be the place - Payreel
  • Alicia East
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Want to Hire an Employer of Record (EOR)? What You Need to Know.
Want to Hire an Employer of Record (EOR)? What You Need to Know. 9000 6000 Alicia East

Compliance is hard, time-consuming, high-stakes work. Many companies are finding that keeping on top of the ins and outs with an in-house team gets harder as laws change (and then change again). Whether you hire a payroll service or build a team to do the job, you want to be sure they’re fully in position to protect you and your company. 

Here’s what to look for when you think it might be time to hire an employer of record

They Diffuse Legal Landmines 

Contractor/freelancer payment and compliance regulations are ever-changing. Hedging your bets on the legal front means:

  • Mitigating compliance risks
  • Making sure you are compliant
  • Educating yourself on practices that could compromise you
  • Tracking benefits eligibility
  • Tracking changes in minimum wage and sick leave policies in each state you operate
  • Answering questions, including whether or not you can pay once a month or fill timesheets out ahead of time. Hint: you can’t.

Quick And Accurate Payment

Beyond compliance, services with the following features make payroll a breeze. 

  • Online management for employees and managers  
  • Fast payment
  • Overtime tracking
  • Education on overtime policies so employees don’t make a habit of working overtime without getting prior approval
  • Benefits eligibility

They’re Ready For Changes

The most effective teams have someone who researches changes as they happen and takes the necessary steps. They read forums like a boss and stay up to date on payroll regulations. Navigating the increasingly complicated waters of payroll services means making sure you’re following all regulations, rules, and federal and state laws. 

The bottom line

Labor laws and fair pay standard practices are in a constant state of change. The gig economy and the worker classification challenges it brings to the forefront are top-of-mind topics for the government, employers, and employees alike. Pick someone who can stay ahead of the curve so you never even have to think about payroll services and compliance. Life and work is chaotic enough.

PayReel makes compliance and payroll the easiest part of your day with a full range of services. We make sure our clients are able to hire who they want, when they want and see that everyone is paid properly. Contact us anytime at 303-526-4900 and meet the PayReel team here!

payreel payroll services - PayReel
  • Heidi McLean
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5 ways PayReel Online makes your life easier
5 ways PayReel Online makes your life easier 6000 4000 Heidi McLean

We think working with us should be easy as all that pie we’ll all be eating next week–but without the need for stretchy pants. That’s why our system is as secure as it is convenient. At PayReel, we pride ourselves on having that perfect mix of convenient automation and personal service from real, live humans. What does that mean for you?

 

PayReel Online benefits that make your life easy peasy:

  1. Updating personal info is a breeze: You can change your physical address in your PayReel Online account. You can also change your email address, update your W4, or change your direct deposit information by contacting PayReel via email or phone.
  2. Real, live humans answer your call: If you’re like us, you’ve forgotten that the tiny computer attached to your wrist at all times actually functions as a phone. If you ever get stuck online or simply want to chat with one of our Customer Experience Managers, we’re ready. Go ahead, try us at 303-526-4900. Meet the whole team here.
  3. On the go and paper free: There’s no need to find a printer or an ink pen. You don’t even have to email your supervisor for approval. Simply input your time sheets before you leave the job and your manager will approve your time sheets online. Because no one ever says, “If only I had one more piece of paper on my desk.” You can do everything while you’re still on the job.
  4. Get paid quickly: Okay, okay, this one probably should’ve been first, right? Since everything is online and approvals happen with a simple click of a button, you get paid the Friday after your time sheets are approved.

 

Anything else?

Of course. At PayReel, we minimize the time and effort it takes to get you ready for your project, make sure you get paid quick and easy, and have customer experience managers available to answer your questions. All you have to do is call 303-526-4900 or email us. The PayReel team makes payroll easier, faster, and seamless.

The next time you work an event or a production, tell your supervisor you love working with the PayReel team!

 

 

woman with globe - PayReel
  • Heidi McLean
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Meet the team: Crystal Somers, The Ambassador
Meet the team: Crystal Somers, The Ambassador 7203 4807 Heidi McLean

While our online payroll systems make our clients’ and employees’ lives easier, there’s simply no replacement for the real live people behind the scenes. We are proud to have a stellar team, including Crystal Somers, our Client Experience Manager (also known as The Ambassador). If you haven’t already experienced Crystal’s stellar customer service yourself, you may end up wanting to call just to get to know her more.

 

Tell me more about Crystal (aka the Ambassador)

When Crystal isn’t keeping track of everything in her busy life from minimum wage changes to 6 siblings in different states, our Florida girl enjoys spending time with her fur baby, Vito. Crystal’s strong customer service skills come from life. She says dealing with a big family helped her learn how to handle different personalities, age levels, and backgrounds. That serves her well at PayReel, both with the internal team and with those in the field. In the office, we love Crystal because she’s always willing to help, whether it be with her team’s events, or with taking group walks to keep everyone healthy! Employees love her because she is super responsive to their needs and helpful when questions arise.

We’ll keep profiling the team in upcoming posts so stay tuned!

 

The bottom line

PayReel’s real team of real people is here for you. We provide personal service and work hard to make sure clients enjoy easy onboarding and and employees get paid quickly and accurately. Go ahead, give us a shot!  You can call us anytime at 303.526.4900 or reach us by email at info@payreel.com.  We look forward to hearing from you.

 

About PayReel

At PayReel, we minimize the time and effort it takes to get you ready for your project, make sure you get paid quick and easy, and have customer service agents on call around the clock to answer your questions. The PayReel team makes event and corporate payroll easier, faster, and seamless.

The next time you work an event or a production, tell your supervisor you love working with the PayReel team!

 

 

contract work payreel misclassification - Payreel
  • Heidi McLean
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Misclassification in the news: What you need to know
Misclassification in the news: What you need to know 3000 2000 Heidi McLean

While the workforce has plenty of people legitimately doing contract work, when employees are misclassified as contractors, the worker and the government are both likely to miss out. The government loses potential tax dollars and workers lose out on benefits and more. Employers should care about it, too (and not just because the legal stakes are high). It’s about more than the bottom line.

Below are some recent headlines about the evolving workforce and its related consequences:

 

Misclassification in the news: The headlines

North Carolina Governor Signs Law Creating Division to Investigate and Prosecute Employee Misclassification Claims

Highlight: While the federal government has had employee misclassification in its sights for a while, states are now getting in on the game to add heat to errant companies.

March 2017 Independent Contractor Misclassification and Compliance News Update

Highlight: extensively covers recent and current misclassification lawsuits.

New Case Shows That “Uber-ization” of Workforce Could Lead to Misclassification Challenge Highlight: discusses the challenge of determining what an independent contractor is when gray areas in the gig-like aspects of their work exist.

Gig economy creates legal puzzles for the courts

Highlight: discusses what we know about the interests of all parties as well as possible reforms (including the possibility of adding a third worker definition). 

 

Enter PayReel

The way we work and manage businesses are both evolving as contract work increases with the gig economy. With that comes growing pains and litigation. Worker classification is an increasingly sticky subject (Gorilla Glue status, perhaps?) and one we’ve covered extensively (see more posts on the subject here).

If the topic of misclassification makes you sweat, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help. Partners who make your life easier are worth the investment. A payroll service may be right for those who don’t have the bandwidth or interest in digging into the legalese. PayReel manages payroll taxes and, as the employer of record, takes on all risk associated with a variable workforce. Think you might benefit from hiring a payroll service? Here’s a handy guide to find out more.

About PayReel

Producing multimedia content and executing live events is chaotic. When it comes to event payroll, payroll taxes, and so much more, PayReel makes your life easier. We make sure our clients are able to hire who they want, when they want and see that everyone is paid properly. Leave all payroll services and details up to the PayReel team so you can focus on pulling off a flawless production. Contact us anytime at 303-526-4900 or email us.

Relax. We got it.

 

Michelle event payroll payreel
  • Heidi McLean
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Meet the team: Michelle Bowersox, Operations Team Leader
Meet the team: Michelle Bowersox, Operations Team Leader 800 552 Heidi McLean

At PayReel, we keep things running smoothly with one of the easiest-to-use online payroll systems around. But it’s important to us that technology serves as a complement to the human touch, not the other way around. Somewhere behind all your on-time paychecks are the real people we are proud to have on our team. One of those is Michelle Bowersox, our Payroll Team Leader (also known as The Problem Solver).

 

Tell me more about Michelle

You can find Michelle spending time in the beautiful Rocky Mountains in the summer, buying salt water taffy for her PayReel team, or rooting on her Denver Broncos during football season. A true Colorado native, Michelle also enjoys learning more about her state’s history and spending time with her husband of 25 years and her daughter Cassie. Along with playing Mama Bear to the CCPR team, Michelle also plays Mama to three fur babies—Glitter, JD, and Dakota. In the CCPR house, we love Michelle because she cares about the employees as if they were her own family.

We’ll keep profiling the team in upcoming posts so stay tuned!

 

The bottom line

The team at PayReel is a true team of real people and we’re here for you. We provide personal service and work hard to make sure clients enjoy easy onboarding and and employees get paid quickly and accurately. Go ahead, give us a shot!  You can call us anytime at 303.526.4900 or reach us by email at info@payreel.com.  We look forward to hearing from you.

 

About PayReel

At PayReel, we minimize the time and effort it takes to get you ready for your project, make sure you get paid quick and easy, and have customer service agents on call around the clock to answer your questions. The PayReel team makes event and corporate payroll easier, faster, and seamless.

The next time you work an event or a production, tell your supervisor you love working with the PayReel team!

 

 

onboarding contractors - Payreel
  • PayReel
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How to simplify onboarding your freelancers
How to simplify onboarding your freelancers 5616 3744 PayReel

How much time are you spending setting up your freelancers?

If the answer is too much, then maybe it’s time to reconsider your methods. Let PayReel handle onboarding paperwork so you can spend your time and energy on the creative parts of your projects instead.

 

So what’s the problem?

Worker classification: One of the most difficult things about setting up your workforce is worker classification. That’s why we cover the topic extensively on our blog. While you may be able to answer who’s a strong worker and who might need a little bit of help, the worker classification discussion brings a lot more to the table than a black-and-white answer—especially now with the Department of Labor cracking down on worker classification errors. If the words exempt, non-exempt, W-2, and 1099 make your head spin, we can help with that.

Paying accurately: Another trick that comes into play when hiring your workforce is making sure you’re paying them accurately (we’re looking at you, minimum wage and overtime!) and in a timely manner. Did you know that some states have strict pay deadlines for specific types of employees? We know, and our team works hard to stay on top of the ever-changing wage laws at the federal, state, and local levels.

Payroll taxes: If taxes only cross your mind on or around April 15th, do the IRS (and yourself) a favor, and stop. Did you know that, along with differing wage laws, some states and localities require a different taxation method than the federal government does? It’s true. Here’s where we stress (and the only time we stress), we got it. Our team stays well versed in local, state, and ever-changing federal tax methods and laws to make sure the employee is happy, you’re happy, and of course, the IRS is happy.

 

Enter PayReel

If one, two, or all three of the points above make you sweat, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help manage your events, employees, and all the behind-the-scenes paperwork that comes with it.

About PayReel

Producing multimedia content and executing live events is chaotic. When it comes to event payroll, payroll taxes, and so much more, PayReel makes your life easier. We make sure our clients are able to hire who they want, when they want and see that everyone is paid properly. Leave all payroll services and details up to the PayReel team so you can focus on pulling off a flawless production. Contact us anytime at 303-526-4900 or email us.

Relax. We got it.

About the author

Nat's notes

PayReel Customer Experience Manager Natalie “The Go Getter” McGinnis is an avid fan of sports and labor laws alike. Her experience in recruitment, customer service, and ongoing HR education give her the tools to provide laser-focused attention and assistance to the PayReel employees and clients who need it most. Click here to read more of Nat’s Notes then meet the rest of the PayReel team!

 

 

 

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