When most people think payroll outsourcing, they think about writing checks and managing direct deposit. Payroll companies do provide these services, but they also do much more. Here are a few of the most commonly used payroll company services:

• provide W-2 and other tax reporting forms
• automatically update wage amounts and tax deductions to comply with regulatory changes
• provide online payroll account access
• allow employees to keep track of sick and vacation days
• calculate employee tax withholding amounts
• compute deposits to employee savings accounts
• project and job cost reporting

Benefits of Outsourcing

Outsourcing payroll is advantageous to small business owners for a few reasons. First, there’s cost savings: payroll companies are able to perform computations faster and more accurately than the average small business owner. Payroll companies also provide experience and expertise. The experts- attorneys, CPAs, and researchers- that work for payroll firms ensure that calculations will be accurate. This helps you avoid fees and penalties that can accompany late filings or errors in tax documentation. Payroll companies also perform time-consuming tasks, like managing employee savings accounts and deferred compensation or employer contribution accounts (cafeteria plans, group term life insurance, and health savings accounts) that most business owners find confusing and tedious. You’ll also avoid worrying about processing payroll when you’re traveling, out of the office, or to busy to crunch the numbers. Outsourcing ensures that payroll processing is done accurately and on time, no matter your workload.

How Outsourcing Works

Payroll processing companies can draw employee paychecks either from your existing bank account, or require that you to set up a “designated account” with their company that they control. You’ll need to provide employee information, such as social security numbers and employment forms (W-4s and I-9s), as well as bank information for direct deposit. You will also need to “call in” or otherwise provide (either online or automatically) employee hours a few days before each payday. The payroll company will need to be notified if employee pay information changes.

Outsourcing Costs

Most payroll companies calculate costs on a per-check or a per-employee basis. Actual costs can vary- they will depend on the length of time between pay periods, the complexity of calculations, the number of employees you have, and the features you choose to offer, such as online access. Make sure you ask vendors for an itemized quote breakdown, and compare several different service offerings before you make your final decision.

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The loan is for amounts up to $35,000 and meant to be a short-term solution to stimulate cash flow. The goal of the ARC loan is get owners investing in their businesses again, instead of just scrapping by with their heads barely above water. The loan proceeds are systemically paid out over a period of six months and repayment does not begin until the last disbursement has been received. Repayments can be made for up to five years. The loans are available starting June 15^th, 2009 through September 10, 2010 or until the all the funding has been disbursed. The loans will be issued by commercial lenders and then backed by the SBA. The SBA will then pay the commercial lenders a monthly interest rate.

Ideal candidates will have a plan for future cash flow, a history of profitability in at least one of the business’s previous three years, and are no longer than 60 days past due on their current debt payments. The loan program is not available to start-ups, non-profits, or companies that can not prove viability.

This new program just might be the break many small business owners have been hoping for to get them back in control of their finances. For more information, visit http://www.sba.gov/recovery/arcloanprogram or contact your current SBA approved lender for application details.

I’d love to hear your comments below! Please be sure to follow me on www.twitter.com/glamajama and sign up for my newsletter at Moms Can Launch!

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I just moderated an expert panel on video as part of the Wells Fargo Webcast Series on this very topic and believe it’s a great way to get a snapshot of residential and commercial real estate realities and strategies. The program discusses how real estate can be a tool for reducing expenses as well as generating revenue. It also sheds light on the new rules of the road, including federal initiatives that impact us. Learn about:

• Lowering monthly payments by refinancing or renegotiating
• Mitigating commercial property tenant vacancies
• Reducing overall operating expenses and discovering true cost savings for your business
• Adapting to the current residential and commercial property markets

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To survive you’ll have to make the most of your time (which you likely have more of as a result of less customer activity) and take into account the impact of your business bolstering efforts today as well as in the long term.

Here are tried and true survival strategies used by successful entrepreneurs:

1. Cozy up with Customers. They’re your lifeblood. But much like you, your customers are under duress. Take them to lunch and commiserate. Provide a giveaway recognizing their past patronage using inventory that’s collecting dust. If you take the time to listen to customers’ needs and show them you genuinely care about their welfare and success, you’ll likely uncover immediate business opportunities as well as engender future loyalty.

2. Experiment. The worst thing to do during tough times is lose your entrepreneurial spirit. Use the extra time on hand to conduct otherwise too time-consuming ideas you’ve always wanted to explore. For example, it could be a strategic alliance with a complementary business or a special buy-one-get-one-free email marketing campaign (we recommend VerticalResponse), just about anything product-, operational- or marketing-related that you’ve simply never had the time to try because you were too busy.

3. Loop in Financiers. With the overall economy in a recession, it’s likely your business is taking a hit, too. Rather than recoiling into the shadows, proactively share exactly what’s happening and what your plan is with your banker or other capital sources. Ensuring that they understand your business and are well attuned to your future plans will help you avoid financial surprises that often occur when parties aren’t well informed.

4. Trim Hours Not Staff. If lower revenue is a reality, consider cutting hours of your employees rather than firing them outright. It not only shows you care about their welfare, but strategically it also helps you retain your most valuable asset – your people – for when the economy inevitably turns around and you need 100%+ hours from them. Firing is difficult, but hiring quality people and training them is a huge burden on a business you should avoid if you can.

5. Stretch Your Spend. To make every dollar go as far as possible, review all of your vendor contracts. Where reasonable ask for breaks on pricing. Everyone’s in this together and though your heroics have made you the leader of your company, and a shining example of an American entrepreneur, don’t let your pride keep you from taking advantage of these potential savings. Every dollar saved will be critical during the down year to come.

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It shows that consumer confidence actually trended up this month for the first time this year. Is this a sign that we’re going to start hustling and bustling again? Well, little by little, it is my belief that the answer is yes. By the end of this year, we’ll be shaking off the worst of things and getting back to full-boar business.

Also included in the press release is specific data about which regions are more confident than others, and intentions to purchase major ticket items, like homes, cars, major appliances, etc.

Fascinating stuff - enjoy!

 Consumer Confidence Press Release

Hope you see the signs of hope and promise that I do and that you start planning and acting strategically now to take advantage of the economy as it returns incrementally…

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TurboTax Business is tax preparation software that asks easy questions about your personal and small business income, finds business write-offs, checks for errors and helps decrease the risk of an audit.

This is all part of the bigger picture in which StartupNation continues to help you save time, save money, make more money and reach your goals in business more efficiently. Nice to have a company like Office Depot on board with the same objectives!

If you want your shot at winning a free copy of TurboTax Business, here’s what you do:

Simply enter a comment below about how a product like this from Office Depot could help you file your taxes.

This contest starts today and ends at midnight eastern time on Friday, April 10.

We will randomly pick 20 winners from all comments provided by small business owners. CPAs and other tax professionals are asked not to participate so as to allow those with lesser tax filing resources and sophistication to have the best chances to win this invaluable software. Only one comment is allowed per contestant.

The 20 winners will be announced Saturday, April 11, and copies of the software will be express mailed to them promptly. Winners must by 18 years of age or older and must be based in the U.S.

All StartupNation spam rules apply, and StartupNation retains the right to delete any blog comments it deems to be inappropriate. If contestants do not provide a website link–with contact information available at their website–in their comment, we will have no means to contact them, and, accordingly they will not be included in the random drawing. Note that the comment posting process in our blogs give you an opportunity to list and link to your website in a convenient way.

Jump in! Become a winner! We look forward to reading your comments.

As always, we want you to start it up, and we hope this TurboTax software giveaway helps!

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Now we’re taking that legacy of sometimes good, sometimes awful, but always courageous pitches and turning it into an online contest at StartupNation.

After March 2oth, the Top 100 highest vote getters from among all contestants will be judged by a panel of professional investors who sit on a mountain of cash just waiting to be invested into the right deals.

GAME ON! That’s what we say.

Starting today, you can submit your  60-second video or audio elevator pitch. If you must, it can be up to two minutes in length, but preferably, folks, closer to 60 seconds.

Your pitch will be voted on by viewers who scrutinize you just like Mr. Money Bags would. Can you handle the pressure? Can you deliver the goods? Can you hook your dream investor? If you’ve got the right pitch and the right deal, you may be selected as one of the Top 5 Winners by the judge-investors.

The Top 5 Winners will each be given an hour that could be worth millions. They’ll each be given one-hour of dedicated presentation time with the panel of investors. They will also receive a brand new laptop. (See more on this below.)

We’re extremely excited to kick off this contest, especially given the tough financial environment for startups and existing companies alike.

We certainly couldn’t have launched the contest without the sponsorship of GoToMeeting, the online presentation service, and Toshiba, maker of the new Satellite Pro S300 laptop. Their teams have worked closely with us to ensure that entrepreneurs get inspired and informed and that winners receive invaluable prizes to help them achieve success.

Here’s a link to the StartupNation Elevator Pitch Contest:

http://www.startupnation.com/elevator-pitch-2009

Are you going up or going down?

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To help you along your path to success, click on this video for some basic tips I shared with MSNBC’s JJ Ramberg recently:

If you have other strategy ideas to help along fellow entrepreneurs or would like to provide more detail than the overview I was limited to in this short interview, by all means, JUMP IN!

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Many of those Americans are fellow small businesses owners who are being forced to use their credit cards to make up for shortages in their monthly cash flow.  The National Small Business Association estimates that 44% of small businesses use credit cards to fund their business.  With setbacks like slower sales, delinquent payments from customers and loss of revenue, credit cards are being used to finance payroll, purchase inventory, and to pay monthly utilities.  Credit card companies are struggling themselves and are panicked by the prospect of consumers defaulting on that $970 million in debt.  This realization has caused many credit card issuers to substantially raise interest rates, cut credit limits, and in some cases revoke credit all together.  Credit card companies are using these tactics in response to late payments, charging over the limit, and simply for being at your account maximum balance. 

While the consumer credit crunch of 2009 will most likely be the biggest struggle for the New Year, there is hope on the horizon.  The good people at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (www.nfcc.org) have been actively petitioning the credit card companies to establish a workable re-payment plan for consumers to prevent an unnecessary rise in bankruptcies.  On November 18, 2008 the non-profit organization issued a Call to Action outlining a proposal that will help keep consumers out of debt and allow credit card companies to recoup the debts owed to them.  Key points of the debt management plan proposal include a 2% cap on interest rates for credit cards, waiving late and over limit fees, and the option to trim interest rates on the cards to ensure that the outstanding debt can be repaid in 60 months or less.  The NFCC is requesting that these concessions be enacted by March 31, 2009.

If you find yourself or your business struggling with the exorbitant interest rates and reduction of credit that I have mentioned above, I encourage getting help now.  Why spend another day feeling like you are helplessly falling behind?  You can contact the NFCC for a free counseling session by contacting www.NFCC.org and locating a nearby office.  They work to ensure that your best interests are being protected- not the creditors. 

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It’s a huge challenge to be in the hot seat and be ready to fire away with valuable advice. But it’s thrilling, too. Kind of addictive, actually. What a rush to know you HAVE to stick it. You CAN’T mess up. As the Eminem says in the son, “you only get one shot.”

I’m lucky to have gained a lot of experience behind the mic of the StartupNation Radio program. Years of the weekly shows and having to be ON and SHARP as callers call in with questions and request advice on an infinite variety of business topics have primed me somewhat for this kind of experience.

Still, it’s intense appearing on TV and wanting to be good.

Having waxed on about “the pressure,” now I’ll tell you a little trick. The show and advice given is not completely spontaneous. Each of the panelists are prepped with a “situation analysis” we know we’ll have to address on the show.

So here was the situation as presented to me prior to flying out to the CNBC studios:

Cedric and Kymberly run a barbecue featuring great family recipes in Chicago. Their sales have slowed to a trickle. Tough economy, tough neighborhood, and not a great location within that neighborhood. They’re up against the wall, falling short on paying the rent. What can they do? And here was my emailed comments back to the producers to get the my perspectives and talking points to them in advance:

Honestly, their numbers don’t work now that his operating expenses surpass his revenue.

At the most basic level, Cedric has these options:

• Reduce his operating costs
• Increase his revenue

To reduce operating costs, he could:

• Close the store and go mobile for event- and on-location sales of bbq or rent time/cooking facilities somewhere else and just focus on the catering aspect of his business.
• If he’s in a tough neighborhood, in this economy he may be able to negotiate with his landlord with the argument that nobody’s moving into the space anytime soon – cut a deal, create extended terms, negotiate down the rent.

To increase revenue, he could:

• Take his “shingle” to where the market is. Get a mobile unit and go to sports events to support tailgates. Go to parks, go to lunch hours near construction sites and corporations.
• Focus strictly on his catering business, which is more “build to sell” and doesn’t require fixed cost facilities
• Create a new product-line marketing the signature barbecue sauce.

But the problem is so immediate, that I think the today/tomorrow options are as follow:

• Call a meeting with the landlord, as difficult as it is, and show him your business plan. Present to him the specific extended plan for making him whole. Show him the path you believe can get you there. If he understands the plan, maybe he’ll cut you some slack!
• Parallel path: Immediately start networking with other restaurant or cooking facility owners you know of to inquire about using their under-utilized facilities or facilities in off hours.
• Stop looking for investors from the UK and start looking for a local angel investor. Some people love the food business, love BBQ, and would love to make a smallish—even “casual”—investment in a BBQ business. who’s a community leader that comes to mind whose office you could call. Give him/her a call immediately. Even if no money comes from it, ideas and other valuable connections may.
• Give your customers a “half-off” your next order offer to create more near-term sales.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate with all parties involved. Only then will you he have a chance to get some special consideration from landlords, customers, vendors, etc.

So there it is - my prep, advice, and an insight for you on how the shows come together. How would you have advised Cedric and his wife?

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