How to Manage Payroll as a Small Business During and After this Pandemic

It’s true. We’re living in tough times. Many small business owners find themselves managing all aspects of their business only to find a way to keep their businesses alive while we attempt to survive during this pandemic, COVID19 aka Coronavirus.

Until growth allows them the opportunity to hire management, owners will need to manage sales, fulfillment, accounting, bookkeeping, taxes, HR, and employees. There are opportunities to outsource some of this work, and until that opportunity presents itself, there are some things you should consider to keep your employees happy and your company thriving as much as possible.

Precise Record Keeping

For small businesses, accurate accounting can make or break a company. If you have opted to do this yourself, make sure you are keeping an accurate record of everything that is coming in, and everything that is going out. The slightest mistake can disrupt your accounting records and complicate things when it’s time to pay employees. There are online accounting tools that can be used to help you keep better records and manage your payroll better.

Pay Your People On Time

If you’re one of the lucky businesses that can still keep employees under payroll, the best economic help you can give them is to pay your people on time. Payroll is the anchor that keeps your people showing up and working every day. This is a lifeline for many employees and should be treated as one of the most critical functions of your business. While there are Payroll protection programs already rolled out by the SBA to help employers get payroll processed on time, so your people can continue to be paid fairly, some employees may have to resort to personal or payday loans, to make their ends meet during these uncertain times.

Time Management

Managing the time employees spend on a given project or task will be valuable to your success. Until you can hire a team of managers, you will need to keep track of the time your employees are spending on projects. This may also involve managing overtime hours, if necessary, to complete a project. These records will be vital and essential to avoid allocating more budget than required to complete the task. For remote employees, this can become even more difficult for a small business. In this case, trust between you and your workers will be necessary.

Prepare For Seasonal Transitions

Some companies are more seasonal than others. Accounting firms that specialize in filing government tax returns are far busier January through April than they are the rest of the year. Pool cleaning companies are more active during the summer months than they are in the winter months. If your business is seasonal, and you want to retain good employees during the slow months, you need to prepare for yearly lows by budgeting for events, and setting aside funds to keep your business operating during slow times.

Outsource Your Payroll

If business is good, you should eventually find yourself in a position to hire a team to manage administrative tasks for you. If you aren’t ready to take on employees for admin work, you should consider outsourcing to an online payroll provider. Payroll services are a convenient and affordable option for any business and offer complementary services like human resources, tax preparation, background checks, and more. Outsourcing is an excellent option for any small business owner.

Conclusion

We’re all going to get through this together. We need to remind our employees that we’re going to be there for them as much as we can, and you can count on them keeping the morale up while we navigate this uncharted territory. If you’re able to keep your company, your finances, and your employees in place throughout this turmoil, the rewards of a stronger bigger company are just around the corner. Stay positive!

Megan Totka is a freelance writer, expert and consultant. She was the marketing & editorial director at ChamberofCommerce.com for over a decade. As an expert, she specializes in reporting the latest news, helpful tips and reliable resources, as well as providing advice. She has significant experience with the topic of marketing, and has spent several years exploring topics like copywriting, content marketing, list building, social media and any hot topics to help businesses run successfully.