What questions should I ask when getting a payroll service quote for my trucking business?
Are you looking at moving to a payroll service for the first time? If so, the options can be daunting.
You can get ten quotes from ten payroll providers and not know which the best is for you.
From cost to what services they provide. This is a really important choice and you need to choose wisely for your trucking business.
Questions should you ask after you get your quote:
The first question is “What is included in that rate?” and if it’s not included, how much is the extra cost? Below is a list of some of the things you will want to ask about when getting a quote to verify if they are or are not included.
1. Direct Deposit Fees, especially for employees that have more than one account
2. Garnishment calculation and remittance
3. State and local income tax withholding tax payments and report filing
4. General Ledger Interface for your accounting entry
5. 941 and 940 (IRS forms) payments and report filing
6. W-2 printing and filing – this is a big one we will discuss below.
7. Custom and on-demand reports
8. State and local income tax unemployment tax payments and report filing
9. 401k reporting and payment if you have a 401k plan
10. Worker Compensation Insurance reporting and audit help
Let’s talk about item #5, the W-2’s. If printing and filing of W-2’s is not included in the quote you are given, check out the number of W-2’s they project you will print. A quick test to see if the payroll service quoting you knows trucking; If you have twenty drivers and four other employees and the quote suggests that you have 24 W-2’s, that tells you the company providing the quote doesn’t know trucking. After all, when was the last time you had zero driver turnover for the year? Exactly. So be skeptical about the extra fees as they are often higher than one might believe.
Our policy is to “All in” the rate so everything is included but other payroll services are more a la carte. That means some prices look lower than ours but when you add in the other fees, most payroll providers will be in the same price range or higher. It’s much like trucking in the rate from Dallas to Chicago will be close to the same for most competitive carriers. We are not trying to say that other payroll services are wrong to price how they do, but only to be aware of it.
Also, ask the payroll company that is providing the quote if you will have a main account contact. Now is the time to find out if you get a person or chatbot to help you. To be fair, some people prefer chatbots and you might want that.
Finally, ask the payroll company providing the quote if they will lock in that rate for a length of time. You will also want to know if they have a contract that requires you to commit to them for that same time frame or longer. Prices go up on everything over time, but it shouldn’t happen right away. If it goes up during your contractually obligated time, you should know that now.
Written by Mike Ritzema
With over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, management, business planning, financial analysis, software engineering, operations, and decision analysis, Mike has the breadth and depth of experience needed to quickly understand entrepreneurs’ businesses and craft the most suitable solutions.
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