When managing payroll, you strive to be up to date on best practices. The benefits of your efforts are significant. Employee satisfaction hinges on payroll that is accurate and on time, fostering a positive work environment. Identifying potential errors and inefficiencies allow you to make cost-saving adjustments and optimize your resources. Recognizing compliance risks helps you avoid legal issues, penalties and reputational damage.
But the goalpost always seems to be moving.
To keep you on top of your game, we’ve curated this list of essential payroll resources. Bookmark this page on the B2E website (yup, the one you’re reading now) to ensure you’re up to speed on the latest and greatest in payroll information. We’ll make sure to update it whenever new resources are available.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Resources
When dealing with federal changes in policy writing and compliance obligations, it’s best to go right to the source. The IRS offers a fountain of information that can help your department understand any operational implications coming down the pipeline.
- IRS e-News: The IRS offers a wide range of e-News subscriptions for employers. You don’t want to miss the subscription titled, “e-News for payroll professionals,” which will provide you with updates on everything from legislative changes to IRS announcements, tax procedures and more.
- IRS Newswire: Two to three times per week, the IRS National Media Relations Office sends out an email to subscribers containing news releases covering topics ranging from tax administration to law changes, filing season updates, statistics and more.
- IRS Guidewire: Receive notifications by email when the IRS issues advanced copies of tax guidance, which includes information and links concerning revenue rulings, revenue procedures, announcements, notices and more.
- Tax Reform for Small Business: If you're a small business, this IRS page is the ultimate one-stop shop for information related to tax reform — and is a great resource that will help you understand how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) affects your business.
- Payroll Professionals Tax Center: Here’s where you can find tax information, tools, and resources specific to your type of business: sole proprietorship, partnership, S corporation, corporation, international business and limited liability corporation (LLC). It’ll serve as a great portal to help you answer all of your most pressing payroll questions.
- Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide: This is where you can find the annual publication explaining your tax responsibilities as an employer. Crucially, this site also has recent developments and related publications.
Other Government Resources
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and your state payroll authority are interested in clarifying discrepancies between the laws on the federal and local level. This is a list of materials that can help employers bridge that gap. This list of compliance resources is intended to provide readily accessible, easy-to-understand information about your rights as an employer.
- U.S. Department of Labor: The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. DOL organizes all its employer resources on one crucial page. Included are: access to a regulatory library with links to legislation such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); interpretive guidance on ruling and opinion letters; a host of compliance assistance toolkits; and industry-specific resources.
- State Department of Revenue (DOR): This page provides links to state government sites related to taxation. For information on state revenue, taxation and payroll procedures and policies, select from the state site which interests you (here's Wisconsin's where you can subscribe to 28 different email updates from the Wisconsin DOR. Updates include deadlines, product information and much more).
- Department of Workforce Development (DWD): Consult your state’s DWD (here’s Wisconsin’s) and see how they are committed to helping employers navigate unemployment, equal rights, veterans affairs, disability employment services, worker’s compensation and more.
Local Resources
Get granular to see how city and other local regulations impact payroll. Of course, this is where having a local payroll service provider can help. If your provider is in your general region, state, city or town, they’ll be more in tune with local legislation and regulations and can keep you abreast of changes that impact your payroll and system setup. Outside of a trusted provider who knows what’s happening in your area, there are other resources to consider.
- Local government websites: The websites of your city and county government agencies will have updates on tax rates, labor laws and other regulations that may impact your payroll processes.
- Chamber of commerce: Connect with your local chamber of commerce for information on local tax regulations, business events and networking opportunities.
- Local business associations: Joining business associations in your area is a great opportunity for networking with peers. Finding payroll cohorts in other lines of business can lead to the forging of some dynamic professional relationships.
- Local PayrollOrg chapters: Being a part of a PayrollOrg local chapter is a great way to expand your professional payroll network. Chapters provide outstanding resources and promote educational growth opportunities to professionals in their local communities. Most importantly, you can cultivate strong relationships right in your own backyard. Professional membership fees may apply.
Premium Payroll Associations, Organizations and Outlets
You get what you pay for. The IRS, state and local resources are often free to access and presented in an informational yet straightforward manner. However, when it comes to interpretation and real world analysis, you may find a league of other payroll professionals to be more helpful. Find motivation among those facing the same challenges and roadblocks. Here are a few of our favorites.
- PayrollOrg: PayrollOrg can boast of a community with 30,000 members. The website and organization is focused on payroll education, events and training. We recommend signing up for their free monthly newsletter. There are other free resources, but the network really unlocks to its full potential with a paid membership.
- PayrollOrg paid membership: Gain unlimited access to payroll compliance news, educational resources and an impressive payroll professional network. Membership includes a subscription to PayTech magazine and entry to The Payroll Community, a portal for forums dedicated to answering the most stubborn payroll questions. Even enjoy discounts on a substantial catalog of payroll materials for sale in their Bookstore. “PayState Update,” “The Payroll Source” and “Payroll Currently” are some of the most dog-earred reference compendiums of the B2E payroll team. PayrollOrg is also the go-to source for Recertification Credit Hours (RCHs).
- Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM): SHRM produces content for HR professionals, which includes some great payroll topics. Subscribe to their daily newsletter to stay informed of timely workplace news and trends. You can also take advantage of paid memberships to their national and local chapters, which will give you access to even more personalized content, compliance resources, free webcasts, networking opportunities and more.
- Global Payroll Association (GPA): If you oversee an international operation or simply want to keep an eye on the worldwide payroll industry, this is your answer. Membership includes an expansive range of resources offering everything from interactive training courses to comprehensive directories and in-depth country resources.
- Bloomberg: This is a supplier of legal, tax, HR, payroll and business information for paid members. With a membership, you get instant access to proprietary business data, along with relevant news on a myriad of business-related topics. There are different membership options available, so you should be able to find one that best meets your needs.
- Wolters Kluwer: This is a gold mine for businesses that want to work smarter and stay informed on the most relevant HR and payroll topics. Finally, you’ll get practical answers to all your questions with truly valuable resources.
B2E Solutions
We’ve been providing our clients with payroll solutions and services for over 30 years. Backed by an entire team of payroll, tax, compliance, HR, service and product experts, we are a resource in and of ourselves. We’re dedicated to providing our clients with the support and exceptional service they need to tackle payroll and HR demands with ease. And of course, part of this commitment includes providing the best technology resources.
- UKG HR and Payroll Answerforce: This comprehensive resource center delivers up-to-date HR, benefit and compensation, employment and regulatory information from Wolters Klumer (that’s the great resource we mentioned earlier). Users gain access to over 15,000 documents, 8-20 new articles per day (yes, that’s per day), over 900 toolkits with sample policies, forms, agreements, training checklists, labor law posters and more. Plus the state law summaries are the most detailed and comprehensive we’ve ever seen. Contact us to learn more.
- UKG Ready Payroll: In addition to Time & Labor, Human Resources and Talent Management solutions, we provide an industry-leading payroll technology solution. Using our Payroll solution, businesses receive the ultimate resource — a technology that takes the heavy lifting out of running payroll, reduces errors and accounts for many compliance needs that are easy to overlook when running payroll manually.
- Mineral platform: Mineral is an intelligent HR compliance tool that makes it easier for organizations to keep up with constantly changing laws and regulations — many of which have major payroll implications. Users receive personalized compliance alerts tailored to their specific business, a library of checklists, templates and other resources, an employee handbook builder, benefits document creator and more. Plus, users gain access to certified HR experts (yes, actual humans!) who are available to answer their most-pressing compliance questions. Give Mineral a try with our free 30-day trial.
- Labor Law Poster Service: There are many labor laws that impact the compliance and accuracy of an organization's payroll. Additionally, businesses are required to keep their labor law posters up to date for both remote and on-premises employees. Our Poster Service helps with both of these obligations. First, it ensures businesses are aware of labor law changes (many of which can impact payroll). Second, it provides organizations with the updated postings. All in, it's a great way to stay informed and automate poster compliance once and for all. A win-win in our book.
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Editor's Note: This blog was originally posted on January 25, 2021, and has been updated with new content that is relevant for 2024.
