Making the Big Switch: Changing Payroll Providers in Q1 2024

[Fit Small Business | ]( HR Insights from Our Experts There are many reasons why you would want to change payroll companies. Your business could be growing and will need a solution with more advanced features to pay a larger team. You could also be unhappy with your current provider because of rising processing fees, an increasing number of pay errors, or inadequate customer support. What’s important is for you to take stock of the payroll features you need and compare them to the tools you have now. Identify items that are (or aren’t) doing well, including the functionalities you consider deal-breakers. This will help guide you in finalizing your decision to change providers.                 When Is the Best Time to Change Payroll Providers?   The ideal timeline is at the end of a quarter or the calendar year. This makes it easier to track tax data and prevent potential issues in filing the necessary payroll tax forms. Regardless of when you want to swap payroll companies, you must give yourself enough time to end your contract with your current provider and transition to the new provider. And with only a few weeks left before December ends, take this time and the coming months to make the switch by the end of Q1 2024. [December 31st] Pro Tip: Once you have identified a new payroll partner, don’t cancel the contract with your existing provider. Wait until you’ve completed a test pay run. This will help you identify pay errors and ensure that everything is running smoothly before you let go of your current provider. Read more: [How to Switch Payroll Providers in 6 Steps](         Tips for Finding a New Payroll Service   Now that you have decided to switch payroll companies, it’s time to find a service that will best suit your needs. To help narrow down your search, here are a few things you should consider: - Features: Identify critical functionalities you need (like payroll compliance, time tracking, and employee benefits). - Integrations: If you use accounting or time tracking software, check if it can be integrated with the new payroll system for easier reporting and seamless data transfers. - Ease of use: Look for solutions that are easy to learn and use. You should also check for employee self-service tools so your workers can manage basic tasks (such as accessing pay slips and tax forms) on their own. - Pricing: Compare costs and find a solution that meets your budget. Don’t forget to ask if there are add-on fees for setting up the system, running off-cycle payroll, and other services. - Customer service: While having access to live phone support is important, you should also check user reviews for customer service quality trends. Read more: [How to Choose a Payroll Service for Your Business]( Looking for payroll software recommendations? Check out our guides to the [best payroll services]( and [top payroll solutions]( for small businesses.     Don’t Forget Payroll Test Runs   Running parallel pay test runs is an important part of switching payroll providers. This means processing the same payroll using your current and new providers’ systems. You should expect to see the same payroll information, such as taxes, gross and net pay amounts, commissions, bonuses, benefits deductions, and year-to-date totals. We recommend running multiple tests to ensure that the payroll results are accurate. Don’t forget to document your parallel payroll runs, including any errors you may encounter and the steps you’ll take to address those. Read more: [Parallel Testing Your Payroll Software in 8 Steps](     What’s new in HR? Check out some of our latest HR content:   [How to Recruit Nurses in 7 Simple Steps]( Finding top-notch talent to fill your job vacancies can be challenging, more so if you’re recruiting nurses. Regardless of whether you manage a nursing home, healthcare facility, or hospital, you need to ensure that the nurses you hire have the necessary skills to provide the highest level of care to your patients. To help you find the right healthcare professional for your organization, check out our guide to hiring nurses. [READ MORE]( [Excessive Tardiness: How to Address Employees Being Late]( An employee who often reports late for work more than three times a month would fall under the category of excessive tardiness. Allowing this to continue without any action may negatively impact your business operations and worker productivity. Read our guide for tips on how to address excessive tardiness at work. [READ MORE](         Meet Fit Small Business’ HR & Payroll Experts   [-Jennifer Hartman, HR Staff Writer & Human Resources Expert]( [-Jennifer Hartman, HR Staff Writer & Human Resources Expert]( [-Jennifer Hartman, HR Staff Writer & Human Resources Expert]( [Heather Landau]( [Jennifer Soper]( [Robie Ann Ferrer](   [-Jennifer Hartman, HR Staff Writer & Human Resources Expert]( Want to Join Our HR Community? Check us out on LinkedIn! [-Jennifer Hartman, HR Staff Writer & Human Resources Expert]( [Juvy Vallescas]( [Genevieve Que](   Until next time, Heather Landau, Jennifer Soper, Robie Ann Ferrer, Juvy Vallescas, and Genevieve Que [Alternate text] Want to change what you receive in your inbox? [Update Your Preferences]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Pinterest]( [LinkedIn]( [YouTube]( [Image]   We spend hours researching and writing our articles and strive to provide accurate, up-to-date content. However, our research is meant to aid your own, and we are not acting as licensed professionals. We recommend that you consult with your own lawyer, accountant, or other licensed professional for relevant business decisions. Our business model allows us to bring you the best answers to your questions, without editorial biases or cluttering the site with banner ads that everyone hates. The solutions we recommend to business owners often include products and services. Our expert team of writers make recommendations in our buyer’s guides and reviews based on independent quantitative and qualitative assessments. To maintain editorial independence from our business operations, our writers and editors always have the final say on whether a partner is included anywhere on our site. [Read our editorial policy here](. When a product or service is included in an article or an email, we sometimes earn a fee or a commission from the advertising partner based on readers’ actions. Learn more about [how we make money]( and see a list of [our full list of partners](.   © 2023 TechnologyAdvice, LLC. All rights reserved. This is a marketing email from TechnologyAdvice, 3343 Perimeter Hill Dr., Suite 100, Nashville, TN 37211, USA Want to give feedback? Reply to this email! We monitor it daily. This helps us make your subscriber experience better. Want to change the content you're receiving? [Update your preferences](. Want to stop receiving emails altogether? [Unsubscribe](.