thread Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll in Archived Discussions (Read Only)

Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

katieand — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 20:14:55 GMT

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?

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

pessosices — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 04:16:10 GMT

Thanks so much @caroline for hopping on here to do the Q&A! So cool!

We’re looking at finally making the jump to Square Payroll this year with all the awesome new features unveiled!

A few questions:

Does tip splitting work across shifts or only across the entire pay period? I have busy shifts where a lot of tips come in and non busy shifts where very few tips come in, and I would prefer my tips to split by shift or by hour rather than by total hours worked across all shifts in the pay period.

I use homebase to track hours because of the scheduling system - how does creating/importing/editing employees work across these services, especially when my existing employees already have Homebase accounts that they log into?

How does editing & fixing clock in and out times work across these two? Especially with automatic imports to Square Payroll.

Thanks!

Pesso

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

Twistedhornmead — Thu, 29 Nov 2018 00:22:49 GMT

I echo the desire for tip splitting across shifts or hours worked as stated about due to different days have different income, and those employees should get the tips from the actual days they bust their behinds.

Also, my business is owned by four equal partners, but Square only allows for one administrator for free. None of us are getting paid as of yet (employees are, but we are owners), and I need to be able to have any one of us call customer service and/or Payroll services without me having to name them as an employee and pay $5 a month for them to have an individual owner access that isn't "me". Naming them as an agent or representative doesn't give them full access to make changes either. So unless they just call and give the correct info on the account without having to say they are "me", I'm not sure what else to do. There really should be an option on Square for partners to be able to make decisions and have equal access (ie their own four digit log-in codes) without me having to pay for them to do that. Thank you!

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

HossBurgers — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 04:21:47 GMT

Will there ever be the option for employees to enter the amount of cash tips they received when they clock out, and then have those cash tips totaled and added to the timecard import for Square Payroll? Right now, I have to keep track of the cash tips for each employee each pay period and then type them in myself when I run payroll. It would be great if the employees could enter the information themselves.

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

MichaelMateria — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 19:12:46 GMT

1) Is switching from another payroll provider easy? Example: Gusto.

2) I pay a lot of contractors, do you charge only the month they are active?

3) We’re a two owner llc that gets paid salary on top of paying ourselves hourly (events only). Does your system allow for such payments to happen?

4) How fast are payments distributed?

5) Any plans for benefits and onboarding?

THANK YOU

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

ActorsWithaClue — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 19:24:21 GMT

Some of my 1099 contractors are starting to set up LLCs and use EIN numbers. Currently, Square Payroll doesn't support paying contractors with EINs. Will we be able to do this soon?

Many Thanks,

Lori Revilla, Event Consultant

Actors With a Clue! LLC

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

J2B — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 19:38:30 GMT

I have been a beta tester for multiple pay rates (which is a good start) but until it is integrated into payroll it's not that helpful. As a smaller restaurant, we have staff that works FOH and BOH and paying 'additional pay' on their paychecks is a nightmare for tracking purposes on both ends. This seems like a pretty standard feature for 99% of payroll companies and I thought Square would have been able to offer this by now. You're so good at everything else. Time to step up 🙂

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

RashedaM — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 22:14:36 GMT

Why does it take 4 business days for contractors to receive direct deposit? Is there any way to speed up this process?

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

rivesphoto — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 20:42:24 GMT

Our payroll runs every 2 weeks. One thing I wanted from Square payroll was a reminder that payroll needs to done on the day after payroll periods ends. I am getting a reminder but it is on Monday after pay period ends. Example: Pay period ended Nov.22nd I run payroll on the day after payroll period ends so I want a reminder on Nov. 23rd (morning) I did not get a reminder until Monday Nov. 26th. How can I get this setup to work?

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

browdownstudio — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 20:46:18 GMT

Hello!

I use square payroll in my salon to pay my artists, who are all independent contractors. Is there any way to pull sales by category (by artist) and include tip info, which can now only be found in “Transaction Reports”? Are there best practices from other salons you can share?

Thank you so much!

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

capitolcitycine — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 14:35:12 GMT

We are a small, independent theater in Jefferson City, Missouri. Is there any way to go back and edit each employee's prior payroll amount? I know it asked when we first set it up, but we would like to be able to go back and change because some employees we need to change.

Thanks,

Dalton Turner

Capitol City Cinema

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

Steve4 — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 18:18:33 GMT

Hi - We recently learned that Square Payroll can't adjust our State Unemployment withholding to match the rate our state requires. Its not too high, its too low. We have a positive balance with our state (New Hampshire) and are only required to withhold 0.1%. Square payroll can't withhold less than 0.3%. Why is that? Can we choose to have 0% withheld and file the State unemplyment payments ourselves?

Otherwise - we love Square Payroll and find its mix of services and fees a perfect fit for our small business.

Thanks!

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

frameexpert — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 18:19:44 GMT

Can I determine when I run a payroll or does it have to be on a regular schedule. If my cash flow is tight, I will sometimes skip a payroll (I am just paying my own salary). Or, I may want to run an extra payroll. When I first looked into Square Payroll, they told me I had to be on a regular schedule.

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

carters2018 — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 18:36:06 GMT

I need clarification on how square works and deducts my emplyoees local taxes ie. county, city and school tax. I am starting to hear (after I have already switched to square payroll) that this is not an option. Please help me figure this out ... I cannot find anyhting online about it.

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

hello88 — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 19:05:05 GMT

Is there a feature to allow employees/contractors to know how many hours they have worked so far in the day/week? Some of them work remotely and work on multiple tasks at different times of day. I asked about this function last year and I thought they said they were working on a beta version.

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

lizdederer — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 23:16:49 GMT

I'm a solo business owner and will be putting myself of Payroll in 2019. Some weeks in between sales, I may not have the cashflow to support paying myself. How do I manage that in the payroll system?

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

ICounseling — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 01:50:11 GMT

I recently got an email from the Employment Security Department in Washington State. They are announcing the changes for our state and I would like to learn if Square Payroll will include this changes automatically, or you require some actions on our side. Please let me know.

Here is the email:

Small, medium and large businesses are in

New program starts Jan. 1

About this message: In 2017, Washington’s Legislature passed a paid family and medical leave law. Starting in 2020, Washington will be the fifth state in the nation to offer paid family and medical leave benefits to workers. A premium of employee gross wages will fund the program, with the cost shared by both employees and many employers. The Employment Security Department (ESD) administers the program.

This is the first email in a five-part series designed to help employers prepare for the legal requirements that kick in on Jan. 1, 2019. For more information now, visit www.paidleave.wa.gov/employers.

Be there for care

Many important things in life happen outside the workday. People we care about become ill. Families welcome new members. Big moments that require extra attention come along for all of us.

Washington’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave program is an essential benefit that will ensure every eligible employee can take paid time for care when they need it most. Starting in 2020, eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks:

To care for themselves through serious illness or injury
To care for a loved one who is seriously ill or injured
To bond with a child coming into the family through birth, adoption or foster placement
For certain military-connected events

Starting Jan. 1, 2019, employers of all sizes must either start withholding premiums from employee paychecks or opt to cover their employees’ premiums themselves.

Employers that average fewer than 50 employees do not have to pay the employer portion of the premium but must still withhold the employee portion or cover it themselves and meet all reporting requirements.

Employers who choose to withhold premiums from their employees may withhold up to about 63.333% of the total premium. The employer is responsible for paying the other 36.667%.

For more information on calculating premiums, download our Employer Toolkit and go to www.paidleave.wa.gov/premium-calculator.

Small businesses

Unlike the federal unpaid Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), businesses of all sizes must participate in the Paid Family and Medical Leave program. Employers that average under 50 employees do not have to pay the employer portion of the premium but must still withhold the employee portion or cover it themselves and meet all reporting requirements.

If you are a public or private employer with even one employee in Washington, you’ll very likely be a part of Paid Family and Medical Leave.

Employers that average fewer than 50 employees and choose to pay the employer share of the premium may be eligible for cash assistance grants when an employee goes on Paid Family and Medical Leave starting in 2020.

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

deanszestybooch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 02:29:55 GMT

1. Our managing members get paid a flat salary with a fixed after tax amount. However, they also collect tips when they work the counter. Because of this, the tax amount is always changing and I'm currently required to fiddle with the numbers to get the net pay to the predetermined fixed salary amount. Is there any way to manually calculate the amount of payroll tax due per employee and eliminate the trial and error process to land on a set net pay amount?

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

joan1 — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 13:03:14 GMT

I set up payroll earlier this year and have found it so easy.

I have the same question about accepting EIN.
I also want to make sure Square files the 1099 on my behalf or is that something I have to do.
will I be able to make payroll using the app

Thanks

Re: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

CGulloDC — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 14:33:11 GMT

We have been using square for years, but we have never had an employee. We want to hire one in 2019.

I have a federal tax ID number. What do I need from NYS and how do I find the necessary application? I’ve tried to navigate their website and i can’t seem to find an answer to my question.

Thank you!