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Setting up a small business - Here's how to manage payroll

It’s thrilling to own and manage a business, but when it comes to payroll management, you realize how daunting things can be. Any mistake on payroll can create serious financial trouble and directly impact your taxes. Managing payroll on your own means you have taken on the responsibility to withhold and deposit payroll taxes, among other things. So, here’s a concise guide to understanding how to manage payroll for all small business owners.

Collect payroll information

If you’re a small business owner, the first thing you need to learn is setting up a payroll. To do this, you need both the employer and employee information.

Employer responsibilities

Employers need to apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) before they start hiring. EIN is necessary for tax documentation purposes. Then, you’ll need to register with the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) to pay federal taxes.
Depending on your state, check whether you need employer ID numbers for state and local governments and register at the state’s new hire reporting website.
Decide the pay frequency and the payment method beforehand. You might need the employees’ bank account details to make the payments.
Know your employee’s salary status, for which you must check whether they must be paid overtime wages.

Collect employee information

Before an employee starts working, they need to complete certain paperwork:

Existing employees must fill out Form W-4, which is the Employee’s Withholding Certificate and determines the federal income tax amount you need to withhold from them.
New employees need to submit Form W-4 and Form I-9, which is Employment Eligibility Verification that confirms their eligibility to work in the country.
Collect information on benefits like health insurance and retirement plans so that you know how much they want to contribute to these accounts.

Choose a payroll system

Manual payroll: It’s a cost-effective way to manage payroll, but it’s susceptible to serious mistakes throughout the process. You are responsible for figuring out the tax amounts to withhold and for sending taxes to the appropriate agencies on time.
Outsourcing payroll: This is the best payroll management method for a small business owner to save time, but it can be expensive. You can hire a payroll consultant to help withhold and deposit taxes.
Payroll software: This is the most preferred system for small businesses. It’s affordable, accurate, and quick, and you can choose from several payroll software for small businesses available in the market.

Run payroll

Once you’ve chosen a payroll system, you’re ready to start managing it. Running payroll is always the same process: enter the employee work hours, account for any overtime, withhold taxes, and pay via the chosen method.

Handle taxes

Handling taxes is another important aspect of learning to manage payroll for a small business. You must withhold, deposit, and report specific taxes from each employee’s gross wages. These include:

Federal income tax
State and local income taxes (if applicable)
FICA tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes)

Keep records

You must keep payroll records for each employee, including documents like the employee’s Form W-4, total hours worked each workweek, and pre-tax and post-tax wages. You can check with the Department of Labor (DOL) for information related to payroll record retention.

Benefits of employee evaluation software and 4 tips to choose wisely

The success of every organization is linked to its employees’ performance. Performance reviews are critical for improving employee engagement, boosting their morale, and taking the business to new heights. And this is where employee evaluation software comes in. It engages employees and streamlines administrative tasks, but choosing the right platform can be tricky as the online market is swamped with options.Let's look at some benefits of employee evaluation software and how to select the best one for your organization.BenefitsEmployee evaluation software offers tremendous advantages to both employers and employees. The solutions offered by the software can boost a company's profits and employees’ motivation. A few benefits of using this software are:Intuitive dashboard for decision makingMonitor team progressEnhanced employee productivityEliminates evaluation biasBoost in employee motivation and retentionFewer payroll errorsReduces the burden of the HR teamIncreased quality of hiringTips to make the right choiceHere’s what you need to consider when choosing an employee evaluation software for your company:Analyze the existing processYou first need to figure out why exactly you’re looking for an employee evaluation software. Is it because you're facing issues with administrative tasks, or because you’re unable to keep your employees engaged? Listing down the issues and identifying what matters most to your company can be helpful since a software cannot address all your issues. You must also identify the strengths in your current system and the unique elements that define your company’s work culture to ensure that those aspects are preserved, if not enhanced.Identify your goalsAfter you’ve analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the existing system, you’ll know what you want to improve. But that’s not enough. You need to determine the specific and measurable goals you wish to achieve by bringing an employee evaluation software onboard. Let’s say your company’s tedious and time-consuming appraisal process is the hindrance to your company’s success. Knowing this helps you to specifically look for a platform that makes appraisals a quick and efficient process.Make a comprehensive list of the features you wantYou must know what core features the new software must include, and these features and analytics must be in line with your organizational structure. Apart from some must-haves, you must also look for add-on features that add value to your organization’s functioning. For instance, if your company follows a different process for different job levels, you must look for a software with multiple workflow features. Check the user-friendliness of the softwareThe last—but also the most important—thing to consider when choosing an employee evaluation software is its user-friendliness. Maybe one of the reasons why you’re interested in new software is that you want to make the process easier for everyone in the organization. So, you must pick a software that has a simple user interface and is easy to understand. The best way to find out whether the software is easy to use is to request a free trial. If the software is adding to the confusion, explore other options.

Cloud data integration - What it is and how it benefits your business

Cloud integration has completely changed how businesses approach integration and address the issues related to data silos. Cloud integration offers tremendous flexibility and scalability and has provided multiple ways for organizations to connect disparate systems. It has numerous benefits, and multiple kinds of businesses have greatly benefited from cloud integration. So, let’s understand what cloud data integration is and look at some of the benefits of using the process for your organization.What is cloud data integration?Cloud data integration aims to create unified data stores that can be easily and quickly accessed by all relevant users and applications. It does this by connecting various applications, systems, repositories, and IT environments to exchange and process data in real-time. Once these are connected, the data can be accessed by different devices simultaneously through the Internet.Types and methodsCloud integration can involve cloud-to-cloud integration, cloud-to-on-premise integration, or a combination of both. Integration can address various components of a business, including data and applications.Data integration: It involves synchronizing data across repositories. This is purely a data-related connection where data can be processed, transported, and/or transferred during the process.Application integration: It involves connecting different applications to get seamless functionality and interoperability. In addition to data sharing, it involves issuing requests and commands to trigger processes.When it comes to data integration within public cloud providers or private cloud platforms, several advanced tools are available in the market. The real challenge arises when organizations need to integrate multiple public clouds, integrate legacy on-premise data systems with cloud workload, and set up hybrid cloud environments.If there is no automation and central control for cloud data integration, administrators must manually set up the integration and check whether the data is being transferred without any error. They also need to convert data to suit the file format and data model required by the specific cloud systems. To make the cloud data integration process efficient and prevent errors, organizations use integration platforms that have pre-built connectors for several IT systems.Benefits of cloud data integrationFlexibility and scalability: Integration provides the staff with several opportunities to improve processes and use new systems to increase efficiency and provide more value to customers.Synchronization of data: Integration ensures that IT systems and applications are updated in real-time.Automation of workflows: Data integration can automate processes that involve manually copying data or data entry tasks. You can standardize how data should be treated while transferring it across applications.Elimination of duplication: IT systems generally make several copies of the same data to use it for different applications or organizational processes. Integration eliminates duplication and uses a shared data store, which reduces both storage costs and synchronization efforts.Other benefits of cloud data integration include faster time to market; better internal communication; improved customer service, support, and retention; and increased competitive edge.

6 reasons to switch to e-signatures

Electronic document signing software enables you to attach your signature to a document electronically. Which is to say, you won’t have to run around the office looking for a vacant printer and scanner every time you’re sent a document to sign. The process might sound complex, but it’s extremely easy and efficient. Of course, you’ll first need a good-quality scanned image of your signature. But that’s the only trip you’ll be making to the scanner for a long long time.How is it useful?Whether you’re a student jotting down class notes, an employee taking down points from a meeting, or a homemaker collating your special recipes, word or PDF documents are the go-to options. Just as easily and frequently, we’re used to attaching documents in our email. But do you ever wonder how creating and sharing documents comes so easily to us, yet we use a pen to sign? Sure, it gives an immense amount of satisfaction to scribble with a pen across the dotted lines at the end of these important-looking documents. But is that reason enough to keep dragging out the process?A couple of decades ago, electronic document signing software would have been a joke, but it’s here now, and it can make a huge difference. Here are a few benefits of using this software:Electronic signatures save you and your company the hassle of having to get prints every time a document needs to be signed. This will save the time of multiple employers, which is always beneficial as that time can be spent doing something much more productive to contribute to the organization’s growth.The software keeps track of your activity and also helps you send and receive a notification if you ever forget about a document.An electronic document signing software saves you from having to file every document you sign, as it automatically maintains a record of all your documents.Some of these software also provide you offline access to your documents and are compatible with all your devices and platforms.They are safe and secure to use anytime and anywhere. These software are encrypted, which ensures that your documents are not tampered with.Not only does an electronic signature save your time, effort, and resources, but it is also legally binding. Documents signed using an electronic document signing software have as much legal validity and acceptance as a document you sign physically.With all these benefits, why would you not want to skip the long waiting lines at the printers? Lay off the multiple trips in a day to the printer room and save on your productive time. To start with, you can check out Adobe Sign, DocuSign, Secured Signing, SignEasy, or KeepSolid Sign. These user favorite programs are sure to get you hooked to e-signatures.

5 IT asset management software that are popular right now

Every organization uses assets such as laptops, personal computers, software applications, printers, servers, and other equipment. Tracking these assets, equipment, and inventory is not an easy task. For this, an IT asset management software can be an indispensable tool in managing the various processes involved in maintaining all the assets within the organization. These processes can range from the procurement or purchase of assets to their disposal. This will help in cutting down unnecessary costs and improve efficiency in the management of assets. The following are some popular IT asset management software that are being used by numerous organizations globally. EZOfficeInventory EZOfficeInventory helps in keeping track of assets, right from the procurement stage to the retirement stage, in a non-intrusive manner. It is one of the most popular IT asset management software with a user-friendly and intuitive interface that makes setup and installation very easy. The software can scan RFID tags on external scanners as well as QR codes and barcodes through the mobile app of the software. The various services included in the software are audits, asset reservation, maintenance, and checkouts. The software also lets multiple teams in an organization collaborate when it comes to asset management. SolarWinds This IT asset management software allows for remote monitoring and management with a web-based interface. This software has some useful tools to improve and maintain IT solutions of an organization. It also offers security features such as antivirus, patch management, backup as well as recovery. Remote access and automated maintenance and monitoring are other notable features of this software. Asset Infinity One of the notable features of this IT asset management software is its ability to assist organizations in tracking damaged or non-functional assets, assess their condition, and find out who owns them. The software has the capability of using RFID tags, barcodes, or QR codes for tracking assets. It has an easy-to-use dashboard and generates instant reports to keep track of various costs associated with all assets in the organization. Oracle PeopleSoft By integrating this asset management software to Oracle's CRM IT Help Desk and financial systems, an organization can have a comprehensive and robust system for tracking and managing various assets within the organization. This software incorporates features such as audit management, inventory management, compliance tracking, maintenance management, and depreciation management. UpKeep This is another IT asset management software with remote capabilities. With UpKeep, an organization can keep track of assets, inventory, and equipment located across various regions. UpKeep is known for sending real-time notifications and alerts about updated tasks on all hardware as well as software assets of the organization. Since this software is cloud-based, an organization can check asset information from anywhere and at any time. With detailed reports, this software also allows an organization to keep track of various costs related to the all the assets within the organization.

4 significant features to look for in IT asset management software

IT asset management software is used by organizations to manage and optimize various processes involved in the procurement, installation, maintenance, and disposal of all assets. These assets can be hardware as well as software assets. Hardware assets include keypads, CPUs, monitors, laptops, servers, and other devices used in the organization. Software assets include the various software applications and tools used within the organization. An IT asset management software is used for recording and tracking all the assets of the organization. Such a software will provide information regarding the location of an asset, the user of the asset, and the asset's utility. This helps in efficiently optimizing the allocation of different assets by eliminating any deadlocks in the workflow of the organization, thereby saving time as well as unnecessary overhead costs. To ensure that the IT asset management software used by an organization truly fulfills these functions, it is essential that the software has some significant features with the latest tracking and recording capabilities built into the software. These can include the following features: Options for auditing Auditing features of IT asset management software let organizations verify what assets are owned and ascertain the location of the assets. Most of the latest asset management software have features to schedule customized timeframes for auditing, receive updates and notifications on various processes (from procurement to disposal) of an asset, and edit information about unrecorded or missing assets. Asset tags or barcode labels RFID tags and barcodes are the most basic features of an asset management software. It is essential for the software to have a built-in capability to design and create barcodes as and when the organization procures newer assets. Cloud services With a cloud-based feature, an organization can save a lot in terms of costs for purchasing, managing, and maintaining the company's servers. They could manage installation, updates, and fix patches of the asset management software without any intervention from the IT team of the organization. Crash and conflicts issues can easily be avoided with the use of cloud-based services. Check-in and check-out This feature is essential to keep track of every new asset coming in and every old asset being disposed of in an organization. Many new asset management software have check-in and check-out fields with auto-populating capability. A "quick find" feature can be used to simplify database searches by employee name or number, barcode or asset tag, or vendor. In case the asset management software is required for schools or emergency response units where a fixed number of assets are frequently assigned to multiple people, a software that allows a single transaction for multiple assignments can be useful.

3 popular web-based enterprise password management software

In an enterprise, it is not just essential to remind users to have strong passwords. More often than not, most users fail to heed such reminders and end up setting easy-to-remember passwords. As an additional but essential layer of security, it is also necessary to reset passwords periodically. To ensure that users of the enterprise adhere to the essential password compliances, a business can use enterprise password management software. Enterprise password management software can be installed on a local server, or a business can use web-based enterprise password management software to save costs on infrastructure. Here are a few web-based enterprise password management software that are popular among businesses. TeamPassword This is an enterprise password management software is one of the easiest password managers to install. It can be set up in minutes. The deployment is cloud-based, and it is available as SaaS. Users get a free trial of this web-based enterprise password management software. Its features include storage of new passwords, controlling access to passwords, generation of team passwords, and email notification for any changes that occur in the enterprise password management software. The crucial features of this software include single sign-on, credential management, multifactor authentication, password synchronization and generator. PeoplePlatform This enterprise password management software is deployed on cloud and it is available as SaaS. It is also available as installed versions for Mac and Windows and as mobile versions for Android and iOS. A free trial version is also available. There are support materials to train users and admin for the efficient use of this password manager. The training materials include webinars, live online sessions, and documentation. Credential management, password synchronization, single sign-on, user management, multifactor authentication, password generator, and password reset are few of the features. TeamsID This enterprise password manager and record vault integrate with GoogleApps/GSuite for business. This web-based enterprise password management software can be deployed on cloud and is available as a SaaS. Installed versions for Mac and Windows OS are also available. The software can be used through mobile versions for iOS and Android as well. A free trial version is available for users. The starting price is around $3 per month per user. Admins and users can receive training for this software through documentation, webinars, live online sessions, as well as in-person training. The features of this enterprise password management software include credential management, multifactor authentication, password generator, single sign-on, user management, password reset, and password synchronization.

6 popular password management software to keep enterprise credentials safe

Password managers have to ensure that users have strong passwords in a large enterprise. An enterprise password management software will create schedules for routine password changes, incorporate an admin console to control access to critical services within the enterprise and to control passwords as well. Enterprise password management software works on various devices as well as operating systems. Here are some of the popular enterprise password management software that can help a business enforce strong security measures and keep credential safe. Keeper Security Enterprise This enterprise password management software supports multiple mobile platforms such as Android, iOS, Windows, Nook, Kindle, and BlackBerry. It has a complex password generator. It offers multiple second authentication factors such as voice calls, SMS, RSA SecurID, and Google Authenticator. LogMeOnce Enterprise Edition This enterprise password management software uses browser extension and works on mobile devices as well. Its features include app catalog that lists thousands of apps, options to choose login/password combinations or use SAML authentication, support for multifactor authentication methods, and a complex password generator. AgileBits 1Password for Teams This enterprise password management software is available as paid Mac and Windows desktop versions along with free Android and iOS mobile versions. It is also supported by browser extensions. Along with passwords, Agilebits 1Password vault can store free-form text notes and file attachments too. Dashlane for Business This app can be used on multiple devices and browsers. It has a management dashboard web page that lets admins see summary statistics including a total number of users and passwords being stored and the overall strength of the passwords. ManageEngine Password Manager Pro This enterprise password management software is designed for enterprise teams that may need to manage large-scale and majorly local server collection. It can run either on Windows or Linux. This software is supported through browser extensions and mobile apps. This software allows two-factor authentication for specific groups and users. Lieberman Enterprise Random Password Manager This enterprise password management software is suitable to provide password protection for server infrastructures that are large scale and locally based. This password manager is available as a Windows app. The app can be used through its user interface as well as a Web-based interface. Another feature of this tool is that it lets admins schedule for automatic password changes. Its powerful scheduling option updates the entire password collection at once and can be used to automate other activities of the tool as well.