Payroll is one of those aspects of business that many are reluctant to change, but it’s worth evaluating from time to time and this is a good time of year to do it. If you decide to make a change, you have time to be up and running with your new payroll system by the first of the year (or sooner if you want).

Over the years, my opinion has changed as to who should handle payroll tax payments and tax filings. While I have many clients who are competent and can certainly handle payroll, I often find that many would be better off doing another aspect of the business. Payroll can be a time-consuming task, and mistakes can be costly. 40% of small businesses pay around $850 (much higher) each year, so you could quickly wipe out any savings by doing it yourself. If Intuit makes the mistake, they pay the penalties and interest. Having Intuit handle your payroll can also help prevent fraud. Having that extra layer of protection pays off for many businesses. These are the two Intuit products where Intuit handles payments and tax filings for you.

Intuit Full Service Payroll (IFSP)- For my clients who don’t need job costs, I always recommend at least looking at Intuit’s full-service payroll. With IFSP, simply enter your hours online and Intuit will take care of it! It’s a flat rate per month – no matter how often you pay your employees, which is very unusual. Most payroll services will charge you not only for the number of employees you have, but also for how often. Full service payroll includes direct deposit, making tax payments and filing tax forms. Reports are included and integration with QuickBooks is seamless (at no extra charge). For many businesses, when comparing IFSP to another payroll service, the price can’t be beat. And many businesses like to have tax payments deducted from their account when they are due rather than with each payroll. Of course, that means putting money aside, but why not hold on to your cash for as long as you can?

Intuit recently added the ability to do Classes with IFSPs and Job Costs at the account level, making this product a viable option for many more businesses now.

Intuit Assisted Payroll: If job cost is important to you, my preferred payroll product remains Intuit-assisted payroll. Many of the job cost reports are pulled from the item list and not the chart of accounts. While Intuit’s full service payroll will allow you to cost the job, it is at the account level and not the item level. So you still miss out on some of the really good reporting. I’ve worked with clients who outsource their payroll to a provider other than Intuit and then we have cumbersome solutions to get the cost of the job, which is expensive in terms of labor and still not as good as if the payroll had been done in QuickBooks. . Assisted Payroll is easy to use from within QuickBooks (PC desktop versions only), and Intuit handles your payroll taxes and filings for you. All of your payroll reports are inside QuickBooks and there is no import or export.

But if you still want to do your own payroll, you have two other options: Intuit Online Payroll (IOP) and Enhanced Payroll. The Intuit Online Payroll Advantage is just what it sounds like: you can do your payroll anywhere you have internet access and it works with all QuickBooks products. Enhanced is for PC desktop products only.