Business Book Lovers

What is the best way to handle payroll for only 1 employee?

I run a small online business and am looking to hire an employee. I currently do all the bookkeeping myself but have never done payroll before. Should I outsource or attempt to do it myself? If outsource, roughly how much would that cost? If I should do it myself, is there any software or websites recommended?

Public Comments

1. I'd suggest you do it yourself. For a single employee outsourcing will probably be a bit expensive because most payroll companies have setup charges and monthly minimums. Get some quotes for your situation and decide for yourself. There are dozens of simple inexpensive software programs available. Just Google "payroll software'. I used to do mine with an Excel speadsheet. If you're familiar with how to set up cell equations it is very easy to set the spreadsheet up so that all you do is enter hours worked and the program spits out everything. I have used Quickbooks and found it simple to set up and use.
2. If you run a small online business make sure that you really need employee. If you do then do it your self. Payroll is easy, all you need to do is: 1) Keep record of how many hours he/she works in a week 2) Break down per hourly rate with the amount of hours 3) List all allowance and bonus 4) Does she/he work overtime? 5) Sick pay and holiday pay rate and amount must be listed. This is just the basic you can add more details such as PAYG tax, reimbursement, superannuation etc