Solved: Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll - Page 4

katieand · ‎11-19-2018

On Tuesday, December 4th at 11am PST, we will host a Live Q&A about Square Payroll. If you’ve been thinking about switching payroll providers, or you’re just curious to learn more about Square’s full-service payroll product, you should check this out. The best time of year for changes in how you run payroll is now! This is because you can start fresh with a new provider at the beginning of 2019, simplifying your setup and tax filing process.

In this Q&A we’ll explain how our product works and introduce our newest features, including benefits like health insurance and retirement savings for your and your team, automatic tip splitting, integrated timecard importing, employer and employee mobile apps, and our nationwide availability. We’ll have Square Payroll General Manager, Caroline Hollis, here to answer all your questions and help you get the most out of Square Payroll for your business.

@caroline has been part of the Square Payroll team since its inception in 2014. In her time on the Payroll team she has been an integral part in building the product from the ground up. She understands that Payroll is critical for both small business owners and their employees. For employers, payroll is often the business’ largest recurring expense. For employees, a paycheck makes up most or all of their income.

A few example questions:

What does ‘full-service’ payroll mean, and what is included with my subscription?
Do you really do all my payroll tax calculations and filings?
What are my benefits options with Square Payroll?
How does payroll work with the rest of my Square account?
What can my employees do with the Square Team App?
Can I run payroll from the Square Payroll mobile app?
Why did Square build a payroll product?

caroline · ‎12-05-2018

Thanks to everyone for the great questions today! We built Square Payroll because we wanted to make payroll so simple it could become invisible. You’ve raised great suggestions about how we can improve the product that we’ll be sharing with the team and addressing in 2019. Your requests are what drive what we build, so please keep sending us your thoughts!

Here’s my summary of a few themes I saw in today’s questions:

You are busy! There are many factors that go into managing payroll, and anything we can do to help you save time is a huge win. By making it easier for you to track employees’ time, import and pay out credit card tips, deal with cash tips, or calculate and import commissions, we let you focus on other parts of your business. Our automatic payroll feature works great for people who want to set and forget payroll. Our Payroll app enables you to manage payroll on the go. And we handle all your tax calculations, payments and filings so you don’t need to worry about the details.
Every business is different, so flexibility matters. From ownership structures to pay cadences to how tight you are on your cash flow each month, we strive to build a payroll product that works for your needs. We’ve made a lot of progress, but there’s more we can do to make it easier to customize how you track and distribute tips and continue automating these steps for you. Thank you for sharing your ideas on how we can improve.
Benefits are important to you and your employees. We were thrilled to launch our suite of benefits products last month which includes health insurance, retirement savings plans, pre-tax benefits and pay-as-you-go workers’ comp. Many of you are already taking advantage of this, and hopefully our answers below about who is eligible, how to sign-up, whether you can offer benefits to part-time employees (you can!), and more are helpful as you evaluate different options. See here for more details on our benefits offering.
We’re here to help you. We know payroll is tricky. So whether you’re getting setup with a payroll provider for the first time, switching from another provider, or already using Square Payroll and you have some questions, our US-based team is here to help you. New customers can reach out to our sales team, and existing customers can contact our CS team with your customer code!

Again, thanks for your participation today. Remember that if you want to make the switch to Square Payroll, this is a great time of year to do it. And if you already use Square Payroll, tell your friends - they get their first month free and you get a $100 Amazon.com gift card when they sign up using your referral link [valid at time of publishing, but subject to change without notice]. Just visit the ‘Earn Rewards’ tab in your Payroll Dashboard to see your code.

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Tillerystreet · ‎12-04-2018

Can we provide 401(K) for full time employees?

caroline · ‎12-04-2018

Yes, @qrobertson & @Tillerystreet you can offer a 401(k) to both part-time and full-time employees. Square Payroll partnered with Guideline to offer employers retirement savings plans. You can begin the setup process in your online Square Payroll dashboard in the Benefits tab. When you set up a 401(k) plan with Guideline, you can set eligibility criteria based on minimum age and length of tenure. Once those criteria are met, the employee becomes eligible and is invited by Guideline to enroll.

Tillerystreet · ‎12-04-2018

Hi!

I would like to know how to do employee bonus and advances. I've also been having a hard time distinguishing between paid vacation days/paid sick days, it doesn't seem to be saving correctly. Thanks!

caroline · ‎12-04-2018

Hi again @Tillerystreet! You can pay employee bonuses or supplemental pay using our off-cycle payment feature. You can find instructions on how to set up your PTO policy here. We don’t currently offer the ability to separate vacation days from sick days, but we will let you know when that feature is available. If you’re having trouble saving your policy or PTO hours taken, please contact our Customer Success team so they can help you out! 👇

(Our support team can be reached by phone M-F 6am - 6pm PST at[Redacted] or by email at payroll@help-messaging.squareup.com. Just remember your customer code!)

tht · ‎12-04-2018

I had the $5 / month employee timecard tracking prior to signing up to the Square Payroll service. Can I disable the $5 / month service and still allow employees to clock in/out? I'd like to continue tracking hours for Payroll import but not have to pay the additional per employee cost. Thanks!

caroline · ‎12-04-2018

Hi @tht, timecard tracking is included in your Square Payroll subscription! If you were previously using Employee Management to track time (and not using the sales tracking or permissions), you can remove the Employee Management permissions by going to the Employees tab on your Square dashboard. Your employees will still be able to track their time using the four digit passcode which is generated and available on their Team profile on Payroll.

Twistedhornmead · ‎12-04-2018

Really? So I've been paying double ever since I started paying for Payroll? Doesn't the Employee Management allow you to set access permissions, etc? Isn't that different from what Payroll does?

GSSLA · ‎12-04-2018

1) Does Square Payroll automatically pay and/or calculate these normal payroll taxes in CA for W-2'ed employees:

FICA-SSA

FICA-MED

CA SDI

2) Does Square Payroll automatically pay the Federal Income Tax and California State Income Tax for the W-2'ed employees?

caroline · ‎12-04-2018

@GSSLA! Yes, Square Payroll will calculate, withhold, and remit FICA and CA SDI taxes on your behalf! There is no additional fee for this and is included in our pricing of $29/month + $5/employee or contractor per month. 😀

caroline · ‎12-04-2018

And part 2 for you 🙂 Yes, Square Payroll will calculate, withhold, and remit both federal and California state income tax for your W-2 employees! There is no additional fee for this.

ronalddevries · ‎12-04-2018

How do I access the Q&A session ?

SHsf · ‎12-04-2018

Seriously... the link that goes to nowhere. Would love to have info on this asap.

caroline · ‎12-04-2018

Hey @ronalddevries & @SHsf - We're answering questions "live" now. There's no video component, but rather typing. If you have a question, leave it here! 😉

SHsf · ‎12-04-2018

Sorry, very inefficient for me. I thought you were going to do an overview of standard questions. I don't have time to follow all the threads. Too bad. Would love to have understood it better, another day, another way.

reboottech · ‎12-04-2018

I pay by manual check on the 15th and 25th of each month. Is there a way to do that besided making every payroll an off cycle payment? We pay a cycle behind so the dates never reflect correctly on paystubs. For example my 12/15 payroll will be for hours worked 11/16-11/30. Help!

caroline · ‎12-04-2018

Hello @reboottech - an off cycle payment is probably your best bet! We will let you know when we offer the ability to customize your regular payroll schedule. You might want to check out your state’s regulations regarding when wages need to be paid out. For example, in California, wages for a pay period ending on the 30th need to be paid out by the 10th day of the following month https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Paydays.htm. There can be lots of nuances with these regulations based on your business and who you’re paying, so you can always call your local labor department for more information.

kellymarie2001 · ‎12-04-2018

Is Square Payroll capable of handling commission in addition to a base pay rate?

caroline · ‎12-04-2018

Hey there @kellymarie2001 - Yes! When running payroll there are several columns where you can enter your employees’ hours and different earnings. You can manually add commissions in the Additional Pay column. This will be added on to your employee’s base rate pay and hours to make up their gross pay.

SHsf · ‎12-04-2018

It looks like @caroline is replying to questions and you have to follow each one thru the list. Bummer if that is the method. Don't have time to hang out here and follow a thread. I was hoping to get real info efficiently. I was thinking to switch to Square for payroll, but once again, very hard to get a direct answer to a direct question.

Moe3 · ‎12-04-2018

Agreed. I'm sure this format is very effecient for them to build up a solid Q&A base on their website but noncustomer service based and frustrating for us.

caroline · ‎12-04-2018

We can definitely answer some specific questions about switching if you have them, @SHsf!