Switching Smoothly Between Payroll Providers

Switching Smoothly Between Payroll Providers

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If there’s one thing you don’t want to get wrong, it’s your transition from one payroll provider to another. Simply put, your employees will not take it well if you make an error that involves their paychecks. As such, it’s worth thinking through some of the issues related to payroll transition.

Start with the timing. The start of the new year is generally the most logical and intuitive time to make the switch, and if it’s something you’ve been considering, you’re wise to start preparations now. Here are a few additional guidelines:

Notify your current provider

It’s important to reach out to your current payroll company and let them know their services are no longer needed. Note that most payroll providers will require you to give them a 30-day notice, so don’t wait until the last minute! Review your service contract to find out exactly what kind of notice you need to give.

Request a Record of Employment for each employee

There are various scenarios in which you might be required to provide an employee with his or her corresponding ROE — such as that employee’s termination. However, you also need to obtain ROEs from your current payroll company before you make the switch; this ensures that your new payroll company has a detailed breakdown of insurable earnings. Be sure you’re issued those ROEs following your last payroll with the current provider.

Get copies of payroll register reports

A payroll register report gives you a compete recap of each payroll — and it encompasses everything from payroll taxes to net wages per employee. You’ll want to get these reports following your final payroll with the current provider. These will be invaluable to you as you set up your employees with the new payroll provider.

Make sure you have pay stubs for all staff

Get pay stub copies for everyone on your team, including contractors and terminated employees. Your new provider is not going to have access to old stubs, so it’s important to get electronic copies from the old provider. This is especially critical if you have any employees who need access to their pay stubs when you are in the midst of the transition.

Set things up with your new provider

Finally, you’ll want to make sure you dot your i’s and cross your t’s with the new payroll company, providing them with your bank account information (as requested), having your employees fill out new direct deposit forms, providing retirement account deductions and benefits information, and getting your login credentials certified.

Start preparing now

There is much to be done to ensure this transition is successful. More than anything else, it’s important to keep the lines of communication open both between current and new payroll companies. Again, ensuring you make the transition without any sort of payroll hiccup is absolutely critical.

Start making the preparations well in advance, and be sure to speak up with any questions you have for your payroll provider of choice.


About the author: Amanda Clark is president and editor-in-chief of Grammar Chic, a full-service professional writing company. She is a published ghostwriter and editor, and she's currently under contract with literary agencies in Malibu, California and Dublin. Since founding Grammar Chic in 2008, Clark, along with her team of skilled professional writers, has offered expertise to clients in the creative, business and academic fields. The company accepts a wide range of projects; often engages in content and social media marketing; and drafts resumes, press releases, web content, marketing materials and ghostwritten creative pieces. Contact Clark at www.grammarchic.net.



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