Dentists never invest years of their life and thousands of dollars to earn a DDS or DMD degree so they can manage business payroll.

For dental practices, outsourcing payroll just makes sense. 

There are so many details, laws, regulations, and both federal and local guidelines for paying employees; it can be challenging to keep it all straight. It’s a significant burden on any business to manage it all in-house. And when it comes to managing payroll, workers’ compensation, and taxes, the risk of doing it incorrectly can be too high.

Hiring a dental payroll service is a great way to reduce risk, free up your employees’ time, and ensure you don’t get any unexpected tax penalties or fees. But payroll providers are not the same, and when it comes to your dental practice, getting the right fit is key.

In this article, we’ll explore 7 things you should consider before hiring dental payroll services. 

Evaluating Dental Payroll Services

As a payroll provider specializing in small businesses, we’ve helped a lot of dental clients manage their payroll. This has given us a unique perspective on what it takes to do payroll right, especially for medical and dental businesses. And, in our experience, these are the 7 most important questions to consider before hiring a payroll service for a dental practice.

1. Does the Payroll Service Specialize in Small Business?

One of the most common factors on whether or not a payroll provider is a good fit is the size of your business. Some payroll providers may advertise “small business” services, but when you investigate closer, you learn they are actually built to serve larger enterprises. 

The real impact of choosing a bad fit will likely only be revealed when something goes wrong. If a small business is fighting for attention with a larger enterprise, the larger enterprise will always garner more personalized attention. 

It’s critical to evaluate how a potential payroll service provider serves other comparable-sized businesses in the same industry.

2. Is The Payroll Service Reachable?

We all know what it’s like to reach out to a support number for help only to be rerouted to an offshore call center. We also know the frustration of explaining problems repeatedly because each time you call, you talk to a different person - or you get handed off multiple times during the same call.

All of that is too frustrating to deal with in business, and it's especially inconvenient when there’s an issue with employees’ wages or something scary like tax issues. 

One of the best gauges of whether or not a payroll service is a good fit for small businesses is how they handle support calls. 

At ConnectPay, our clients know their dedicated Connected Service Rep by name. When they call, they can reach that person at all times. In fact, we have a strict no voicemail policy during business hours.

3. Is The Payroll Service Local?

In the internet age, this is often overlooked as a benefit. But, it’s a huge benefit for small businesses, like dental offices and practices. 

Depending on the structure of your dental practice, this could even be considered critical. There are tax regulations that are solely dependent on the structure of your practice. Circumstances also differ depending on if you run your dental practice versus if it’s a partnership - or even multiple partners. It’s essential to work with a payroll service that knows your local laws and regulations, as well as all tax laws associated with your business location and structure.

4. Does the Payroll Service Offer Employee Time Clock Integrations?

It’s usually an afterthought in the heat of doing business, but managing employee time clocks can quickly get to be a mess, especially when there are multiple locations that “share” employees at different times. 

A payroll provider should be able to offer a comprehensive and easy-to-use time tracking solution. Their technology and service should integrate with the time clock, which will reduce administrative headaches and eliminate “time theft.”

5. Does the Payroll Service Help With Back-Office Compliance?

The best dental services today have an obsessive focus on positive patient experiences. For a dental practice, having employees embroiled in payroll and compliance issues is the easiest way to distract from billing and great customer service. 

A payroll service should help relieve most of that pressure and empower your employees to be more productive on the job. 

6. Does the Payroll Service Offer Small Business HR Solutions?

Most dental practices are not large enough to need a robust, outsourced Human Resource department. Yet, with even a handful of employees, dental practices often need important small business HR Solutions, including:

• Employee Onboarding
• Managing and Tracking Employee Training
• Creating and Maintaining an Employee Handbook
• Keeping Job Descriptions Up-To-Date
• Legal advice should an employee issue arise
• Etc.

A dental payroll service should be able to offer an appropriate level of Human Resources solutions without overselling a bloated HR offering the small business will never use.

7. Does the Payroll Service Partner With Connected Providers?

There is more to payroll than, well, paychecks and pay stubs. Payroll touches business matters such as cash flow, taxes, regulatory compliance, and insurance. For the small business, working with a payroll provider that has connected partnerships with CPAs and Bookkeepers, for example, is beneficial. 

At ConnectPay, we not only serve a lot of great dental clients, but we have strong partnerships with CPA firms and even insurance brokers - which makes handling employee benefits much easier. And, we have an in-house tax team that understands the local tax implication as well as the federal.

ConnectPay has been a great payroll partner to work with. They have a clear understanding of the dental industry, which is the area we focus in, and they are always there to help our clients. Their customer service, level of detail and technology is top in the industry, which is why we continue to recommend them. - Mark Rosen, Partner, Rosen &Associates, LLP

Getting Payroll Services for Your Dental Practice

Much like any industry, there are a lot of service providers to choose from. But choosing the right service is what really matters. Getting the right fit for your dental practice is key, and that means evaluating a provider a little deeper than just the marketing messages on their website.

If you’re looking for a dental payroll service that specializes in serving small businesses, schedule a call with us. We would love to talk to you about your payroll needs and make some recommendations tailored to your practice. 

We understand the dental industry at ConnectPay. In fact, we’re a member of dental and OMS associations, like AAOMS, for example. We have great partnerships with clients like Smileboston Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry and Rosen Summit Dental Advisors.

If you would like to talk to us about payroll services for your Dental practice, schedule a call with us here. We can’t wait to win your business!