9 Sure-Fire Ways to Choose a Restaurant Payroll Company

If you run a restaurant, you know how quickly operational inefficiencies can eat into your profits. One of those inefficiencies is inaccuracies with the payroll or having a restaurant payroll solutions provider that’s falling short on their duties.

You could decide to handle the payroll yourself to fix that. But that would mean struggling with Excel spreadsheets or spending time you don’t have shopping around for payroll software. With the IRS penalizing over 33% of businesses for payroll errors, you’re better off switching to a provider with solutions that are tailored for your restaurant needs.

However, how do you know which provider will meet all of your needs up front? This article provides a comprehensive checklist to help you choose the best one.

Hiring a reliable company to handle your employees’ payroll.

9 Ways to Choose Your Restaurant Payroll Company

Important Considerations

To make a perfect switch, do an inventory of your restaurant to see what’s important. However, here are the must-have qualities in any restaurant payroll provider:

1. Custom Solutions

Do you run a restaurant, such as a deli or a pizzeria? Maybe you have a dine-in restaurant with a tip-based wait staff. These differences require custom solutions.

Restaurant owners often deal with more complexities than normal businesses. So having a payroll company that can integrate with your POS/ timekeeping software can be very useful in reducing your work each day.

In case you’re working with tipped waiting staff, you need a solution that helps you report tips and how they affect employee income.

2. Customer Service

You can run into restaurant payroll processing functionality issues at any moment. So be sure to look for a reliable provider that’s easy to reach.

Further, choose a provider who offers support through a dedicated team so you can benefit from having a team that works exclusively for you. It’s about the convenience of working with a supportive team who knows your story and can serve you quicker and better.

3. Technology Adeptness

You can’t afford to work with a payroll provider who drags their feet where technological advancements are concerned.

These days, cloud computing enables you to access your data from any location and on any device. This is especially useful for HR departments that manage payroll for different restaurant branches.  It saves them the hassle of traveling to complete tasks.

Additionally, cloud-based software enables employees to access their payroll information in real-time, including leaves and PTO requests.

With advanced cloud-based software, restaurant owners can automatically organize employees’ inaccurate tax brackets. AI chatbots can also help employees with requests that are not urgent.

4. Data Security

Data breaches are damaging in more ways than one so it’s vital that your employee data is safe. Think of it this way: If they can get to your employee data, they could also get into your customer data. Find a company that provides a space with a robust disaster recovery system.

5. Eliminating Erroneous Tax Filings

Sometimes, systems enter data more than once and other inaccuracies with tax filings happen even with advanced technology. It’s crucial that you have a provider who spots and points out the errors in time to avoid penalties.

Further, it’s easy to forget to turn in your payroll hours. So it’s important to choose a provider with a customer care team that calls to remind you to turn them in.

Managing your restaurant payroll.

6. Pricing and Timeliness

When we’re talking about timeliness, we mean three things: paying employees on time, paying taxes on time, and filing payroll tax forms on time. Hitches with these three functions are where the trouble with the authorities begins.

Pricing depends on the services and the size of the staff. So you need to find out what your billing cycle looks like to gauge whether you’re being overcharged.

Most payroll services will offer a tiered pricing model based on the number of employees. But some providers will force you to pick packages with extra services you don’t need to make you pay more. Stick to what you need and only choose a provider that respects what you need.

7. Add-on Services

This is not about services unrelated to restaurant payroll processing but rather about important add-ons like W-2 forms, direct deposit, online pay stubs, electronic onboarding to reduce errors with manual paperwork when a new hire joins the team, and online time tracking to help you track work hours down to the precise moment employees sign on and off the server.

8. Experience

Even with a glowing ‘about’ section, you can’t base a payroll provider’s ability to do a good job on what their website says.

Find out whether they are serving other restaurant owners or have any experience serving the hospitality industry before you sign them up. If they do, it means they won’t try a one-size-fits-all solution that may not work for you. If not, that should be your cue to look elsewhere.

9. Scalability

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, SMB, or a proud owner of a restaurant chain, you can’t be big enough to not think about growth. The question then is, is your provider able to scale with you?

You need a company that will accommodate the growth in your workforce so you don’t keep scouting for a new provider. Should you downsize your workforce for whatever reason, the company should be able to handle that too.

Work with a Top of the Line Payroll Solutions Provider

Ultimately, every good quality you’re looking for in a payroll solutions provider boils down to being reliable. You’ll sleep better at night knowing that your provider will do what they’re supposed to without oversight from you or the government.

Premier Payroll Solutions has got you covered if you’re looking to switch payroll solutions providers in New York. Our clients trust us for payroll compliance because we are a company that knows how to help protect them on the tax and labor requirements and our customer support is always reachable.

We also understand that for you, flexibility in handling employee schedules, integrating POS and other accounting software systems, and managing tip credits is a top priority.

We make all of this easier through cutting-edge technology and acquired expertise from our years of experience. Get a free quote today from your local NY restaurant payroll provider.