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
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What payroll actually involves
Withholding, filing schedules, state registration and the deadlines that come with each.
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Running it yourself
What the software costs, what it does not do for you, and where the liability sits.
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Handing it to a service
What a provider takes on, what stays your responsibility, and how pricing is structured.
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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.
The questions
The questions it is organised around
- Should I run payroll myself or use a payroll service?
- What's the best payroll service for a small business with one employee?
- What payroll taxes am I responsible for as an employer?
- What's the best payroll software that handles state tax registration too?
- What's the difference between a payroll service and a PEO for a growing small business?
- What's the cheapest payroll software for a tiny business?
- How much do payroll services cost for very small businesses?
- How do I set up payroll for my first employee?