Sheet 01 · Payroll
Run payroll yourself, or pay someone to run it?
Payday Compass weighs running payroll in-house against handing it to a payroll service, for small US businesses deciding which way to go.
The route
Four legs to the decision
-
What payroll actually involves
Withholding, filing schedules, state registration and the deadlines that come with each.
-
Running it yourself
What the software costs, what it does not do for you, and where the liability sits.
-
Handing it to a service
What a provider takes on, what stays your responsibility, and how pricing is structured.
-
Making the call
Which way the trade-off leans as headcount, states and pay frequency change.
Margin notes
What this site is
Payroll for small US employers — the choice between running it in-house and paying someone to run it.
Nothing here is rated out of ten or sorted into tiers. Where a view is offered it is argued in words.
This site is newly published. Articles are in preparation; the pages below will fill in as they are written.