Money Management

Are you still running payroll with manual processes? Please stop. Here’s how the best payroll software can save you thousands of dollars and infinite stress. [[{“value”:”

As a small business owner with one employee (me), one of the most surprisingly complicated aspects of running a business was: running payroll. That’s right — just processing those monthly paychecks and calculating tax withholdings quickly proved to be a brain-buster for me.

It’s not easy to get the numbers right when you’re estimating payroll tax withholdings for state, federal, and FICA taxes. And getting the numbers right is important — you don’t want to under-pay the tax authorities.

For many years, I outsourced payroll to my accountant, who ran payroll for me and made sure my quarterly taxes got paid. Then after my accountant stopped offering this service, I switched to using payroll software.

If you’re a small business owner who is still running payroll manually, or if your accountant doesn’t offer payroll processing services, you really need to make this one big change: switch to payroll software.

Here are a few reasons why using payroll software can make your life as a small business owner infinitely easier.

1. Payroll software gets the numbers right

I’m the owner of a company of one, so my payroll process is easier than that of most businesses. But if you have a few employees, the complexity multiplies. You have to make sure that on every payday, your employees’ paychecks get the correct amounts withheld for:

Federal income taxState income tax (if your state charges income tax)Local income tax (if applicable)Actual “payroll tax” withholdings (like Social Security and Medicare)

These calculations aren’t simple, and they vary based on your employees’ income, number of dependents, form W-4 tax withholding selections, and more. Every employee at your company might potentially have different tax withholding amounts on their pay stubs. Do you really want to keep track of all of that via manual processes and spreadsheets? I don’t!

2. Payroll software integrates with tax authorities

The best payroll software will make it easy to not only withhold taxes from your people’s paychecks as required, but make sure the taxes get paid to the federal, state, and local (where necessary) government revenue authorities.

It’s a big relief to know that you have an experienced, reputable payroll software company on your side to get your taxes paid on time. My accountant used to take care of all of this for me, and it worked just great; I never had any issues.

But then when I had to start managing my own payroll for the first time, I quickly encountered an issue with my state’s Department of Revenue. I had to call and talk to the staff to make sure I had the right account number for the right taxes, and that my payroll software would work with the state’s systems.

When I told the Department of Revenue the name of my payroll software, they immediately recognized the brand. “We work with that company all the time, and you should be fine,” they said. The last thing you want as a small business owner is a tax glitch. Good payroll software makes tax payments go more smoothly.

3. Payroll software saves you time

Think about the value of your time as a small business owner. How much money do you make in a year? Divide that number by 1,000 and then again by two. That’s your hourly “rate” for the value of your time. So if you earned $200,000 last year, your time is worth about $100 per hour. If you spend five hours per month fiddling around with manual payroll processes, it costs you $500 per month! And it’s not even fun!

Instead of squandering your time on the baffling, unfulfilling activity that is payroll, just leave it to the experts. Good payroll software costs a lot less than the value of the time you save. It’s an investment in your business that pays emotional dividends, as well as financial rewards. And many of the best payroll software tools have great mobile apps now, so you can run payroll anytime from your phone. No spreadsheets or number-crunching required.

4. Payroll software gives you easy-to-find electronic records

One reason I love my payroll software is that it sends me an email receipt every month (and each quarter) with the monthly, quarterly, and year-to-date numbers for my payroll tax withholdings. It’s easy to save these electronic records and have all my tax information in one place. No more paper, no more overstuffed file folders, no more space-hogging file cabinets. Electronic records make your business bookkeeping so much simpler.

5. Payroll software makes tax time stress free

Want to get better at planning ahead for tax time? Payroll software can help with that, too. The best payroll solutions typically integrate with the most popular accounting software, so you can keep accurate, up-to-date records on how much tax you’ve paid, how much you’ve paid your employees, and other details.

Payroll software has made my tax planning so much simpler, because I know how much I’m paying throughout the year in federal income tax and state income tax. It helps me plan ahead for how much additional money I might need to save, or other advantageous tax moves that small business owners can make, like putting more cash into a SEP IRA or other retirement accounts.

Bottom line

Unless you’re some kind of payroll enthusiast who loves manually calculating FICA percentages and income tax withholdings, I don’t know why anyone in 2024 would still be running payroll by themselves. Get professional help if your accountant offers payroll processing as an add-on service. Or just try one of the best payroll software solutions. Payroll software makes it easy, saving you time and money — and gives you happier paydays all year long.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR until 2025

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

“}]] Read More 

Everyone wants to get approved when they apply for a credit card. Here are a few less-discussed techniques that could make it more likely. [[{“value”:”

I’ve applied for dozens of credit cards over the years. Even though filling out an application is nothing new to me anymore, getting approved is still exciting. And getting denied is still pretty disappointing.

Your credit score is normally the most important factor when you apply for a credit card. If your credit score fits into the range the card issuer is looking for, that’ll be a big help. But it’s not the only factor that matters, and you could still be denied, even if your credit score is good enough for the card you want.

Fortunately, there are some little-known methods you can use to help yourself get approved. Here’s what you can do if you’re about to apply for a card or if you’ve recently had a credit card application denied.

1. Pay down credit card debt before you apply

If you currently have any balances on your credit cards, it could help to pay them down first, for a couple of reasons.

It’s a fast way to improve your credit score. One of the main factors that determines your score is your card balances compared to your credit limits. This is known as your credit utilization ratio. When you pay down your card balances, it brings down the percentage of your credit that you’re using, which is good for your credit score.

Also, card issuers consider your current debt situation when you apply for one of their cards. If you already have a lot of credit card debt, your application could be denied for that reason.

2. Call and ask for a reconsideration

Many people assume that if your credit card application is denied, that’s it. Game over. There’s nothing you can do about it.

That’s not always true. You can call the card issuer and ask it to reconsider your credit card application. In some cases, a representative will overturn the denial and approve you for the card. I’ve successfully done this several times.

Card issuers typically provide a phone number you can contact on their denial letters. You can also look up the number for a card issuer’s reconsideration line online. Call that number, let the representative know you were really hoping to get the card, and see what they can do for you.

3. Open a bank account with the card issuer

Some card issuers like it when applicants already have a banking relationship with them. It seems to help with Chase credit cards, based on online reports. With one of its starter credit cards, Chase even advertises that you can improve your approval chances if you have at least $250 in one of its checking or savings accounts before applying. Bank of America also seems to value applicants who bank with it.

You don’t need to do this to get approved for a credit card. But it may help with some card issuers, and it certainly can’t hurt. So if there’s a card you like and you want to do everything you can to get it, consider opening a bank account with the card issuer and depositing some money there.

4. If you have any other cards with that card issuer, use them regularly

Credit card companies make money every time people use their cards. They keep a cut of the transaction processing fees paid by the merchants. But if you never use a card, it costs the card issuer money to keep the account open.

If you have any other cards with a card issuer, it will look at how you use those cards before deciding to approve you for another one. If you earned the welcome offers and immediately stopped using those other cards, then it could be hesitant to approve you for any new cards. After all, you haven’t been a profitable customer so far.

I’ve used most of these methods to get my own credit card applications approved. While they’re not all necessary, they can be helpful when you want to do everything you can to get approved for a card.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR until 2025

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Bank of America is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Lyle Daly has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

“}]] Read More 

Want to grow your small business sales? Start by doing one simple thing: listening to your customers. Here’s how. [[{“value”:”

Many small business owners are worried about finding new customers, acquiring new customers, and selling to customers — but are you spending enough time listening to customers?

It costs five to 25 times as much money to acquire a new customer (think of all the expenses of marketing, advertising, and sales) as it does to keep an existing customer happy. But many small businesses put too much effort into customer acquisition, and not enough into customer retention.

Let’s look at how your business can get better at listening to your customers — and why it matters for boosting your sales.

Ask your customers for feedback

Small business marketing tends to focus on talking to customers — sending out email marketing, posting on social media, using search engine advertising to reach customers and put a message in front of customers. But are you listening?

Try to build this into your everyday business processes: ask your customers for feedback. This can be as casual as interpersonal conversations when customers are making a purchase, or more formal like customer comment cards. If your customers have agreed to share their phone number and email addresses with you, you could ask for feedback in simple ways by following up after a purchase. “How did your recent purchase go? Did we meet your expectations?”

Even simple, limited types of customer feedback can be helpful in uncovering larger issues or trends. Sometimes people are more willing to provide constructive feedback via email or text message than they are to tell you to your face. In case there’s a problem with your business, or something that could be improved, or some way that your product is not meeting expectations, it often helps to be proactive and ask customers to share their opinions.

If your product is failing to meet customer needs or your business reputation is falling behind your competition, it’s better to find out from customer feedback than from declining sales.

Conduct customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys

Big corporations have sophisticated, data-driven ways of measuring customer satisfaction, or “CSAT,” as it’s known as a key performance indicator (KPI). Improving CSAT scores is an entire area of business expertise for larger companies. If customers are becoming less satisfied, that’s a warning sign that a product line is suffering and that a brand might need to make big changes and invest big money to improve customer retention.

Your small business doesn’t need all the corporate bells and whistles to measure CSAT. But you should at least have a ballpark estimate of how satisfied your customers are feeling with your products or services, and how your business can improve.

There are a few tools you can use to create simple customer satisfaction surveys, including:

SurveyMonkeyIntuit MailchimpGoogle FormsSome small business CRM software, like HubSpot CRM, also includes survey capabilities

You don’t need a full-on, multi-page, scientifically valid survey. Your CSAT survey might not be statistically perfect and it doesn’t have to uncover every last detail of how your customers feel. Sometimes a short survey will be more effective, because it’s easy for customers to respond.

Even a quick, simple, non-scientific survey can help you learn more about how your customers think about your business, why they might keep buying from you, and what might motivate them to switch to your competitors. Be sure to ask some open-ended questions so customers have a chance to really be honest — not just “yes or no” questions or five-point scales.

Bottom line

Small businesses have an important competitive advantage: Because of your small size, you are closer to your customers, and you have the opportunity to know them better than the big corporations. Be sure to listen to customers, as well as just “talk to” and sell to them.

Gathering useful customer feedback and using customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys can help small businesses keep more of your best customers, improve your marketing, and deepen your existing customer relationships. Just listening to your customers can help unlock big insights into how your business can grow and thrive.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR until 2025

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Intuit. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

“}]] Read More 

Once you’ve exited the workforce, short-term financial planning becomes even more crucial. Read on to learn about how much cash you should keep. [[{“value”:”

If retirement is on the horizon, you might already be planning, strategizing, and dreaming about everything you’re going to do once you no longer have to report to a job. Far be it from me to add to your to-do list, but have you given any thought to the state of your savings? Boring topic, I know — but absolutely essential once you’re on a fixed income.

Keep reading for more details about how much money you should keep in the bank — as well as a few great bank account options to keep your cash safe and at the ready.

More than a traditional emergency fund

The usual recommendation for an emergency fund if you’re still in the workforce is enough money to cover three to six months’ worth of expenses. This amount is intended to get you through a period of unemployment, as well as cover an unplanned expense, such as a car repair or a medical bill that your insurance doesn’t cover in full. But if you’re not working anymore, you should target a bigger amount. In fact, keeping a full year’s worth of predictable expenses in the bank is generally considered a good idea.

Building up a year’s worth (or potentially more) of a cash cushion to protect that retirement account balance you worked so hard to build makes good sense. Just as you’re not likely to succeed in timing the market when you buy stocks, the same is also true when it’s time to sell investments and take out your cash. No one can predict what the market will do, and if you’ve got enough cash on hand to ride out some low periods, you have a better shot of not having to sell investments at a loss.

How do you decide how much money constitutes a year of expenses? Sit down with your budget and figure out how much all your bills are going to cost you, as a first step. Then consider expenses like travel, which you may be doing more of now that you’re retired, and build that into a prospective year of costs. Finally, pad your estimates to ensure you have enough to cover any unplanned bills that could pop up, like a home or car repair.

Take advantage of today’s higher rates

If you’re going to keep a full year (or more) of predictable expenses at the ready, don’t assume you’re safe to just chuck it into any old savings account and call it good. Don’t keep it in your checking account, either — not only will it be more difficult to keep track of your spending, but your cash is likely to lose value thanks to inflation.

Rates on interest-earning accounts are up across the board right now, since the Federal Reserve has raised the federal funds rate repeatedly to fight inflation in the wake of COVID-19. So where is the best place for your cash? Consider the following account types.

High-yield savings accounts

HYSAs are simple bank accounts, but this makes them easy to use and a real asset for your retirement strategy. The best savings accounts are paying 4% or higher APY right now. Link a checking account to one to give yourself easier access to your money when you need it.

Certificates of deposit

Certificates of deposit (CDs) let you lock in one of those high rates (as much as 5% these days) for a set period — but in exchange, you have to leave your money alone for the duration of the CD term or pay a penalty. Consider building a CD ladder to have money freeing up on a predictable schedule.

Money market accounts

MMAs are like a hybrid of checking and savings accounts — they come with the higher rates of a savings account but the easier accessibility of checking. Many money market accounts come with check-writing capabilities and debit cards.

When you’re retired, you have to be a lot more careful about financial planning — after all, you won’t be earning a regular paycheck you can count on anymore. Think long and hard about how much money you’ll need to get you through an average year, and use an interest-earning and FDIC-insured bank account to keep that money from losing value to inflation.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR until 2025

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Target. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

“}]] Read More 

Hybrid vehicles give drivers the best of traditional cars and EVs. Here are some of the best reasons to buy one. [[{“value”:”

Electric vehicles (EVs) are soaring in popularity, but it’s going to be a while before they’re the dominant cars on the streets. Even with federal tax credits, their price tags are still averaging over $40,000, and used EVs remain rare.

That doesn’t mean you’re stuck with a gas guzzler, though. Hybrid vehicles are a great alternative for those who want to save on gas and help the environment without going all in on an EV. Here are five reasons to consider a hybrid this year.

1. They’re cheaper than EVs

Hybrid vehicles are significantly cheaper than all-electric vehicles. Four of Kelley Blue Book’s seven top hybrid vehicles for 2024 have list prices starting at less than $30,000. Pricing depends on the model you’re interested in, where you buy, and what kinds of upgrades you want. But chances are, you can find a hybrid option that’s not too much more expensive than a gas-powered vehicle.

Over the long term, you’ll save a ton compared to owning a gas-powered vehicle. Some of these cars get up to 57 miles per gallon combined fuel economy. That means fewer gas station stops for you. Even skipping one could save you $40 to $50.

2. There are more used options out there

Hybrids have been popular for a while now. But it’s only in the last few years that EVs have started garnering a lot of mainstream attention.

As a result, it’s easier for many to find used hybrid vehicles than used EVs. This forces many aspiring EV owners to purchase new cars at much higher price tags. But when opting for a hybrid, you’ll have more choices. If you’re able to find a used hybrid you like, you could save even more compared to drivers of new EVs.

3. They’re cheaper to insure than EVs

Generally, the more expensive a car is, the more drivers pay for car insurance. We see this play out with hybrids and EVs as well. These vehicles have more expensive components and fewer mechanics know how to replace them. This drives up repair costs, which in turn increases insurance costs.

Since hybrids are generally cheaper than EVs, it’s usually easier to find cheap car insurance for them as well. However, hybrid drivers may still pay more for their insurance than drivers of gas-powered vehicles.

4. They work better in cold weather

Last winter, EVs made headlines for leaving people stranded after their batteries quickly died in cold snaps. This isn’t a problem for hybrids. Drivers can rely upon their car’s battery when the weather is good and, when it’s cold, switch immediately to gas.

5. They’re better for road trips

Similarly, hybrids are a better option than EVs for those who plan to take long trips. EV charging infrastructure in the U.S. is growing, but it can be tough to know where you’ll be able to find available charging stations along your route or if they’ll even be working. Hybrids give you the freedom to go electric when you’re able to without worry that you could wind up stranded somewhere.

There’s more than just the environmental impact to consider when choosing a vehicle. You also have to think about your budget, your desired features, and how you use your car most often. But it’s worth adding a hybrid or two to your list of contenders if you think you can swing it. It might raise your upfront costs slightly compared to a traditional vehicle, but it could save you quite a bit over the long term.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR until 2025

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

“}]] Read More