Payroll Accounting Services in the US Key Terms

Understand payroll accounting services terminology before hiring a U.S. firm

Many businesses hire payroll accounting services in the U.S. to handle their taxes, administer paychecks and take care of required paperwork. Hiring a payroll accounting service can save your business money and allow you to tap into the knowledge of experts.

The Internet has transformed how payroll accounting services conduct business, and new technology has allowed customers to communicate and view accounting details online in a way never before possible. Before beginning negotiations, or even interviewing payroll accounting services, it is helpful to understand key terms:

Service level agreement

Commonly referred to as an SLA, a service level agreement is essentially a contract detailing the work that will be accomplished by the payroll service. An SLA will also cover deadlines to be met.

Payroll outsourcing

Payroll outsourcing occurs when a company hires a payroll accounting service to handle all aspects related to paying employees.

Practice review

Practice review, where payroll accounting services in the U.S. is concerned, involves a review of a client's financial situation at certain points during the year. The point of this is to avoid surprises when payroll taxes are due.

International accounting standards

International accounting standards (IAS) were established by the International Accounting Standards Boards (IASB) in 1973. These standards govern the operating principles of accounting tax services in the U.S. and abroad.

Leave accrual and reporting system

The leave accrual and reporting system (LARS) is a database that tracks and calculates the amount of leave that is used, earned and saved. The system performs these calculations based on regular paid hours within a set pay period and factors them in to prepare for any payroll adjustments.

Encryption technology

Encryption technology is something that every payroll accounting service that sends financial data electronically or via Internet must use. Encrypted data has essentially been technologically camouflaged so that it cannot be read by hackers via the service's payroll software.

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