Anyone who maintains a payroll system should be detail oriented as it can be quite easy to make mistakes in any aspect of a payroll system over time. Proper payroll due diligence must always be maintained here, no matter how many years of experience one may have in dealing with payroll matters.

This being said, here are some quick proper payroll setup and maintenance tips:

• Always understand the annual 401k and H.S.A limits that employees can contribute to a plan, whether it is from paycheck deductions or employer matching contributions.
  • If you are maintaining your own payroll platform, but sure you periodically run an audit to ensure none of your employees have exceeded their TOTAL contribution limits for the year.
• Be sure health insurance deductions from employee paychecks are actually being deducted from each paycheck and for the correct amount, as per the health insurance plans you are paying monthly premiums on. Likewise, be sure the employer matching health insurance contributions are also set up correctly, per employee, in your payroll module.
  • Tip: You should review the W-2 forms before disbursing to your employees to ensure employer match contributions are noted in the appropriate fields on these forms.
  • Tip: Review your health insurance premiums monthly to ensure this information matches your payroll system, in terms of the constant liabilities owed and what will be reported for each employee.
• Be sure new employees complete the most updated W-4 and I-9 forms upon hiring.
  • Updated W-4 forms are necessary for proper federal withholding of taxes from employee paychecks.
  • Updated I-9 forms are necessary for potential tax withholding & reporting for citizens and residents.
• Pay your employees by direct deposit rather than writing hard-copy paychecks.
  • This will ensure you are paying your employees their total net wages due to them, and on time, as per exactly what the payroll system is stating. Too many mistakes can be made if you are disbursing hard-copy checks instead, such as paying incorrect amounts and disbursing on improper dates.

Note: AccuraBooks is a bookkeeping firm only, so please consult with your C.P.A. for verification and clarification about the contents of this article.