Payroll

• 1Of your ______ (number) employees, about how many are full-time?
• 2How frequently do you pay your full-time employees?
• 3Do you pay your part-time employees with the same frequency that you pay your full-time employees?
• 3aHow frequently do you pay your part-timers?
• 4Do you do the payroll in-house, have an outside accountant or bookkeeper do it for you, or do you hire a payroll service company for that purpose?
• 4aIn your business, who does the payroll?
• 41aAbout how many hours per pay period does it take to make out the payroll, including reviewing time cards or similar data, calculating pay and withholding taxes, preparing the checks, and other associated tasks?
• 42aADo you use some type of electronic spreadsheet listing the employees by name, etc., their gross pay, tax deductions, other deductions if applicable, and net pay?
• 42aBIs your payroll system electronically tied into a larger accounting system?
• 42aCDo you print the checks instead of making them out manually?
• 43aWhy do you continue to do your payroll in-house? Is the most important reason because:?
• 4bApproximately, how much does the outside accountant or bookkeeper charge you every time he or she does your payroll?
• 4b1Do you pay him or her a flat fee or an hourly fee to do it?
• 4b2Do you send your payroll records to the accountant or bookkeeper in electronic or paper form?
• 4b3Does the accountant or bookkeeper manage the financial transactions for you, such as tax deposits, or do you conduct that part of the process in-house?
• 4cApproximately, how much does your payroll services company charge you per month for the service when the company does your payroll?
• 4c1Do you send your payroll records to the payroll services company in electronic or paper form?
• 4c2What is the most important reason that you choose to engage a payroll company rather than doing your payroll in-house? Was it because it is:?
• 5How often do you remit payroll taxes to the federal government?
• 5aDo you use an Internet banking arrangement that allows you to remit your payroll taxes electronically?
• 6Do you have direct deposit for employee payroll checks, that is, do you give your employees the option of having their paychecks automatically deposited directly into their bank account?Top 100 question
• 6aAbout how many of your employees use direct deposit?
• 6bDo you allow employees to make direct deposits to more than one account?
• 6b1What is the maximum number of accounts that an employee can have his or her money deposited into, or has that issue never arisen?
• 6cCan two or more deposits for a single employee be sent to two or more financial institutions?
• 6dWhat is the most important reason that you instituted direct deposit?
• 6eHas direct deposit been helpful, a hassle, or inconsequential to your business?
• 6fWhat is the most important reason that you do not have direct deposit? Is it:?
• 7Considering the frequency of employee changes and any administrative issues for you, are W-4 changes one of the most difficult or one of the least difficult government paperwork burdens you have? Is that strongly or not so strongly?
• 8Do you have any employees who claim eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit and submit form W-5 to you?
• 9Do you offer your employees a retirement plan?
• 9aIs it a 401(k), a SIMPLE plan, profit-sharing, a SEP plan or something else?

Volume 6, Issue 1, 2006
ISSN 1534-8326

William J. Dennis, Jr.
NFIB Research Foundation