Thinking of hiring my first employee.

[IPAfan]

Well I've had about all I can take. I think I'm going to hire my first employee. I really need an assistant to help with phones, calendaring, filing, and who can make me coffee

I've never hired an employee before, and I'm still a sole proprietor. I plan to incorporate at some time, but am going to want to hire an employee first. Do I need to get an EIN number? Anyone have recommendations on an affordable payroll company that can handle the paperwork associated with paying a salary (the whole point of this endeavor is to free up more of my time so I would like to outsource payroll)?

Anyone go through this process lately? Tips on streamlining the process? Thanks in advance.

[2kids10horses]

Payroll: ADP

However, why don't you get one of the temp agencies to provide you with someone. They do all the dirty work, they just send you a bill for services rendered.

[jitterbug]

Hire someone who has some basic accounting knowledge and they can do their own payroll! Yes, you need to monitor it so you know you're not being ripped off - but a person with an associate's degree could do the majority of your bookkeeping and save you from paying a full-fledged accountant or CPA to do the minor stuff.

[illinicheme]

Agree that in your case, it probably makes sense to make use of a temp.

[Deleted]

May 10, 2011 14:25:13 GMT -5 2kids10horses said:

However, why don't you get one of the temp agencies to provide you with someone. They do all the dirty work, they just send you a bill for services rendered.

I like that option. If you want to hire someone directly, I recommend finding a local payroll tax company, accounting/booking company, or CPA that will handle the payroll paperwork.

I would stay away from ADP.

[Regis]

As a business owner, I'd go the temp route as others have suggested.

When you need someone for payroll, try Paychex. I've used them for over 10 years with not a single problem.

[bean29]

I use Paycycle.com

Paycycle is an Intuit product and can interface with Quickbooks.

I does everything. Pays Fed and State w/h, UC taxes, can track and pay disability, does 941 reporting, does W-2's and related forms.

DH is the business owner, I do the payroll. It is accessed on-line so I can go in at home, or at my office. I can e-mail paystubs to employees. It will do direct deposit and they can set up a 401K for you if you want it.

I have looked at several payroll services b/c they constantly approach DH, have yet to find one I think is a better deal. Cost is 42.99/month.

I am not sure about a temp service. DH has had is own business for about 14 years. He has never had a temp. But he has very specific needs.

[IPAfan]

Hmm. I appreciate all the advice about getting a temp, but I really think I need to have an employee. If there were an agency that staffed criminal defense offices I'd definitely be interested, but I think it's too specialized to have much luck with the temp agencies around here. I'm looking to hire someone for perhaps 30 hours a week to start. I like the idea of setting up with a payroll company (or accountant) because I'm planning to incorporate at some point (maybe I'll get around to it once I have an assistant who's trained) and would like to put myself and my wife on W-2 as well.

I noticed paychex.com and will check out Paycycle.com. Regis, can you give an estimate of how much Paychex charges or how it bases its pricing?

[cpadvisor]

May 10, 2011 14:26:06 GMT -5 jitterbug said:

Hire someone who has some basic accounting knowledge and they can do their own payroll! Yes, you need to monitor it so you know you're not being ripped off - but a person with an associate's degree could do the majority of your bookkeeping and save you from paying a full-fledged accountant or CPA to do the minor stuff.

Make sure they know what they are doing, or later you will be paying a CPA the PITA rate to fix everything after you receive notices from the IRS!!

[IPAfan]

I'm not actually interested in hiring a bookkeeper/accounting knowledge type person. I'd really rather outsource payroll at this point. I'd definitely outsource to a local CPA if I can get an affordable package rate. I need to start interviewing potential CPAs. I want someone who can do S-corp tax returns later on, my personal taxes, and any employee withholding type issues. Do CPAs usually do the nitty gritty on the payroll and withholding?

[The J]

May 10, 2011 16:41:00 GMT -5 IPAfan said:

Hmm. I appreciate all the advice about getting a temp, but I really think I need to have an employee. If there were an agency that staffed criminal defense offices I'd definitely be interested, but I think it's too specialized to have much luck with the temp agencies around here.

Check to see if there is a Robert Half Legal Staffing agency near you.

[formerexpat]

Well I've had about all I can take. I think I'm going to hire my first employee. I really need an assistant to help with phones, calendaring, filing, and who can make me coffee

Congratulations on getting married!

[wvugurl26]

My old public accounting firm did it all for several clients. One client in particular we did payroll deposits for federal/state wh every week, sales tax returns, corporate tax returns and a whole lot of other junk bc it was all mixed with the business.

My advice on this would be to find a local firm. I doubt the bigger regional and up firms would consider it.

You are probably too late to get them for the summer but if you have law schools in your area an intern for the summer could have been a possibility. I'm assuming most schools have done their finals and students have left town for the summer.

[jeffreymo]

For the payroll - Call a CPA firm in your area. Find out if payroll processing is one of their specialties, and if it is not, ask them to refer you to a firm that does payroll. Once you find a firm that does payroll, tell them you only have one employee at the moment, but plan to grow and eventually incorporate and that you would need their assistance for these other functions in the near future.
My wife's biz has a CPA do their payroll and they charge $10 and change per payroll check, so you can see it's not worth their while unless that firm can secure your other business.

[ty]

May 10, 2011 14:25:13 GMT -5 2kids10horses said:

Payroll: ADP

However, why don't you get one of the temp agencies to provide you with someone. They do all the dirty work, they just send you a bill for services rendered.

Not a bad idea, but there's a reason it's called a Temp agency. A lot of the young people (inexperienced) use their services to try and get a "Temp Job" so they can have some cash in the pocket.

As a friend of mine (attorney) used a temp agency, she regretted it down the line. "Nut-Case" was hired, but learned about their psychological issues days later.

However, not all the people that use the Temp Agencies are bad. Just be sure to put down the age of a person you wish to hire and to make certain they find a responsible person and not some young kid in college looking for some partying money.

[Bluerobin]

Beerfan, if you use an accountant for taxes, many times they also handle payroll, etc.

[runewell]

If you want to hire someone directly, I recommend finding a local payroll tax company, accounting/booking company, or CPA that will handle the payroll paperwork.

I would stay away from ADP.

Why do you think this? A little self-interest?

[Deleted]

May 11, 2011 8:08:31 GMT -5 runewell said:

If you want to hire someone directly, I recommend finding a local payroll tax company, accounting/booking company, or CPA that will handle the payroll paperwork.

I would stay away from ADP.

Why do you think this? A little self-interest?

I don't think Beer is going to be hiring me...

I am not a big fan of ADP. They are fine when things are going well, but they can be tricky when things go off track. I recommend a local firm who should be more attentive to a small business's needs.

[alabamagal]

We have an S corp for our business. We have a "bookkeeper" that we pay $100 a month to do all the payroll (5-6 employees paid bi-weekly on opposite weeks, so payroll every week)and tax reporting (sales tax included) and she turns over all the information to the CPA for yearly taxes. We pay the CPA firm to do the yearly taxes. We hired the bookkeeper through our original CPA who recommended her. She is associated with several CPA firms, but operates independently. Actually when our original CPA was near retirement age and we were dissatisfied, we asked her for a recommendation for a new CPA and have been very happy.

I would start with a CPA firm and go from there.