Payroll Options: 3 Strategies for How to Pay Your Employees

Timely and accurate payroll is an important part of employee management, and can play a critical role in ongoing employee satisfaction. Gone are the days when companies could just offer their staff paper checks. Instead, employers have diversified payroll needs, from a desire to pay on different schedules to offering employees flexible strategies for getting paid. Outsourcing your payroll to the right partner can help ensure you have the flexibility to implement the right payroll plan for you. Here's a closer look at what business owners need to know about current employee pay options, including traditional checks, direct deposit, and payroll cards.

Direct Deposit

Offering your employees direct deposit can help you pay your employees more quickly, while eliminating some of the administrative hassle of printing, delivering, and mailing checks. Through direct deposit, employees select a bank account that they want the funds deposited into. Each employee must fill out a direct deposit form, provide a voided check, and ensure the banking information such as the routing and account numbers are correct. Each payroll period, that worker's funds are then deposited directly into their account. Employers can capture cost savings benefits from not issuing physical checks, help ensure a simpler accounting and check reconciliation process, and eliminate the need to sign and distribute payroll documents.

Payroll Cards

Another popular option that many employers are exploring is payroll cards. Payroll cards are a great option for employees who don't have a bank account or who don't want to share their banking information with employers. Employees can choose to have some or all of their pay deposited onto the payroll card. Each payroll period, their payroll is automatically deposited onto the card. It can then be used like any debit or credit card, including withdrawing cash through ATMs, paying bills online, or making purchases at retail locations. Prepaid cards offer the advantages of affordable administration, eliminating banking fees for returned checks and other problems, and the reliability of paying staff on time when natural disasters or bank holidays might interfere.

Traditional Checks

Many businesses prefer paper checks for a variety of reasons, from employee requests to internal accounting practices. Yet issuing paper checks doesn't need to be a hassle. If you're looking for an option that simplifies the process of traditional checks, consider using a service that can laser encode your signature and put the paycheck into an envelope, so they're ready to deliver to your team. Using a service like this can help ensure the professional presentation of payroll and minimize the time your executive or administrative teams need to spend on the process.