The System

How Payroll Systems Work
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Roos, Dave.  "How Payroll Systems Work."  12 January 2009.  HowStuffWorks.com. <http://money.howstuffworks.com/payroll-system.htm>  10 August 2010.
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Corporate Life Pictures

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Your company's payroll system will ensure you get paid for the hours you work. See more corporate life pictures.
Every worker remembers his or her first payday. Whether the check was big or small, there was a deep satisfaction in tearing open the envelope and seeing that dollar sign. Over the years, the checks may arrive with less fanfare, but always with a strong sense of pride. This is the nature of work; fair and timely compensation for a job well done.
Payroll, at its most basic, is the process by which an employer pays an employee for work performed. If you own your own business, but don't have any employees, then you don't have to worry about payroll. But as soon as you hire your first worker, you have a responsibility to pay that employee on time and the correct amount.
If employers fail in their payroll duties, their workers will be less motivated to fulfill their end of the bargain. They'll be less productive and suffer from low morale. And if you make a mistake on an employee's paycheck enough times, he'll probably quit.
From the worker's perspective, payroll seems like a simple task. But there's more to it than just signing a check and delivering it to your desk. An employer must make sure that the proper taxes are withheld from each paycheck and that those funds are paid to the right government agency at the right time. Complicated tax forms must be filled out and filed on an annually, quarterly, sometimes even weekly basis. Missed deadlines and improper tax filings can result in steep fines and even jail time.
Payroll duties can be a real burden on a small business owner. Instead of focusing... [continues]

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