Do You Know What You Paid In Payroll Taxes Last Year?

And so the sorting begins, picking through papers, statements and reports to gather information for that all too important yearly tax filing. With everything else spent budget on, do you know what you paid in payroll taxes last year?

 

For the small business owner, taking care of paperwork, no matter how important, is a task that usually winds up at the bottom of the pile. Come to think of it, if you are looking for the receipt you needed 3 weeks ago, that is probably where it is.

 

For those with PEOs, it would seem that the payroll tax thing is well in-hand. Why mess with it? PEOs take care of those filings for you and you pay your percentage of the payroll in fees and just be done with it. Out of that massive check you wrote for payroll and fees, what was the breakdown on what was spent?

What You Paid In Payroll Taxes May Be Hiding On You

 

Have you looked at your PEO statement lately? What was the breakdown for payroll taxes out of what you spent. For some, you probably checked and noticed it wasn’t there. Surprised? Don’t be. There are PEO companies out there that bundle everything. While promising to take care of everything and just hand you the bill, they are leaving out what you are really spending your money on.

 

If you’ve ever looked at the breakdown of your phone bill to see what portion of the bill goes to what, you have likely joined the many that realized how much of your fees when to ambiguous charges and taxes instead of actual phone usage. Wouldn’t you like to know what the breakdown was for your payroll taxes last year? You could be paying more than you should but you’ll never know until you look into it.

 

Ignorance is not bliss. In order to know what you’ve really spent on overhead last year, you need to understand how much of that went to taxes. For some PEO customers, getting that answer can be nearly impossible to get out of their current service provider. If you are a PEO customer dealing with this, you are not alone. There is a better solution. Find a PEO that has transparent billing practices. Don’t be fooled by a service who tells you that they’ll take care of everything so you don’t have to worry. You have a right to know what you are spending your money on and the responsibility to be as fiscally conservative as possible in order to properly grow your business.

 

Not All PEOs Bill The Same Way

 

Getting a bill that breaks down your expenditures is as simple as selecting a PEO that offers this service. Some PEOs charge a percentage of payroll, while others collect a fee per employee. What feels comfortable to you, the small business owner, is one consideration you should make when comparing PEO services. Every PEO service charges for their services, you need to decide what you are and are not willing to pay for in order to be their customer.

 

It is not the small PEOs who have these kinds of practices either. Some very large PEOs have been making this bundled cost practice a bad habit for decades. Many of their customers haven’t even considered that this may not be in their best interest because they assume that all PEOs work the same way. This is just not the case. Thankfully you have options and they are worth exploring.

 

Ask yourself:

• What did I pay in payroll taxes last year?

• How did I pay my PEO fees?

• What was the cost last year versus the year before?

• Am I comfortable with what I spent?

• Did I have any major changes to employee head count?

 

If you decide to switch, what PEO to go with will take some research. There are many different PEOs and all of them have their nuances that may either attract or turn you off of their services. A PEO broker works like your friendly neighborhood insurance agent to get to the bottom of what you need, and present you with the correct options for your business. Your insurance broker won’t charge you for this service and neither will a PEO broker like PEO Spectrum.

 

You can trust a PEO broker to help you choose the right PEO for you. Getting clarity on what you spent in payroll taxes last year can open your eyes to greater financial insights and even a better PEO than what you have now. With so many PEOs to choose from, wouldn’t you rather work on your business while someone is working for you to help you find the right service provider?

What does it cost to find out how much money you can save with the right PEO? For a PEO broker like PEO Spectrum, it won’t cost you a nickel but they could save you a bundle.