How to Choose Payroll Systems

When you choose payroll systems for your company you need to make sure that the system that you select will meet your accounting needs. This means that it should be possible to integrate it into your bookkeeping system and it should also be priced in accordance with how many employees you have.

Things You'll Need

• Trial version software for payroll systems
• Computer with internet access

Instructions

1. Evaluate your payroll needs. The size of your staff and the complexity of your company pay schedule will both influence what type of payroll systems will work for you.

2. Establish a budget for your payroll system purchase. This amount will determine what type of payroll systems you can afford.

3. Learn about the different types of payroll systems that you can choose from. There are three different categories of payroll systems: high end, mid-line and low end systems. The low end systems are the cheapest payroll systems and the most basic, mid-line systems offer you a few more bells and whistles and are better suited for small to medium sized companies and high end payroll systems are very expensive, they can be integrated into your current accounting system and they are able to handle various pay structures and benefit calculations.

4. Identify different payroll systems that are available in your price range. This can be accomplished by visiting your local computer store or by searching consumer review sites.

5. Review the features offered by the payroll systems in your price range. Select 2 or 3 systems to try out.

6. Request a trial version of the payroll systems that you are interested in. This can be done by visiting the manufacturer's website and requesting a trial version CD or by visiting a software vendor and buying the trial version.

7. Play around with the trial version to see how it operates. What you will want to look for are programs that are easy to use, easy to understand, that are able to handle the size of your payroll deductions that you handle and that are able to produce the types of reports that you need for bookkeeping.

8. Choose the payroll system that fits your company's needs.

9. Upgrade your trial version software to the full version by purchasing it through the company's web site.

Resources

• Quicken offers a low end full charge bookkeeping system that includes payroll.
• Peachtree offers a low end bookkeeping system that includes tax support and payroll.