Your patients are counting on you.
As an oral surgeon, you’re in charge of complex procedures and patient care… and it’s a lot harder to manage those parts of your role if you’re distracted by tasks related to practice management and payroll processing.
Payroll for oral surgery practices with associates can be complicated. If you feel like you’re wrestling with a tangled web of compliance issues, tax implications, and financial management challenges, you’re not alone.
But how can you get your payroll under control so you can focus on what really matters — providing exceptional care to your patients?
This blog will explore the common pay structures, share strategies for managing payroll complexities, and provide actionable tips to help you streamline your payroll processes.
Decoding Payroll and Pay Structures in Oral Surgery
Oral surgery practices need to understand the different ways to pay employees and the models they can use to determine compensation. Finding your best option will help you attract and keep top talent without breaking the bank.
Some basic payroll-related definitions that might apply to your practice and pay structures include:
- Salary: A fixed amount paid to an employee regularly, regardless of hours worked or production.
- Hybrid models: A combination of salary and commission or production-based pay.
- Production-based pay: Compensation based on the volume of work performed or revenue generated.
- Equity-based compensation: Offering employees ownership stakes in the practice as part of their compensation package.
Choosing the right payment structure depends on your practice's specific needs, so be sure to consider factors like your practice size, growth potential, and associates' preferences when making this decision.
Oral surgeons also often encounter common challenges with payroll and pay structures. These challenges include ensuring compliance with regulations, managing multiple pay structures, and integrating payroll with practice management and financial systems.
Clearly communicating pay structures and expectations–like being transparent about how you calculate compensation–is key to avoiding misunderstandings and maintaining a positive work environment.
Not convinced manual payroll is working for your office? Consider outsourcing payroll to a qualified payroll partner.
When choosing a small-business-focused payroll solution for your practice, look for software specifically designed for your industry, with user-friendly interfaces and reliable customer service.
By choosing the right pay structures and payroll solutions, you can create a competitive compensation package that attracts top talent while staying financially stable and compliant with regulations.
With these things in mind, let’s explore a step-by-step process to help you set your payroll process up for success.
4 Crucial Payroll Considerations For Your Practice
To help you optimize your payroll processes, we've identified four crucial considerations that every oral surgery practice should keep in mind. Focusing on these key areas will ensure that your payroll system is efficient, accurate, and compliant while supporting the unique needs of your practice and your valued team members.
Understand Compliance and Regulations
When hiring employees, it's important to make sure your business complies with all relevant federal and state labor laws, tax rules, and worker classification requirements.
Some key areas to be aware of include:
Federal and state labor laws
Many federal and state labor laws cover minimum wage, overtime pay, breaks, leave policies, anti-discrimination rules, and workplace safety. Make sure to look into the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), and other important federal laws. Also, be sure to research or consult HR resources on the specific labor laws in your state.
Tax classifications and reporting
As an employer, you must withhold income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes and pay unemployment taxes on employee wages, so make sure you obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Set up records for withholding taxes and report taxes withheld from employee paychecks quarterly using IRS Form 941. Keep these payroll records organized in case of an audit or if reporting questions come up down the road.
Employee vs. contractor classification
It's important to know if workers are employees or independent contractors.
If you control the work and how it's done, the worker is likely an employee.
If an individual sends over invoices on their own schedule, the worker is likely a contractor. Contractors usually have more control. Misclassifying employees as contractors can result in costly fines and legal problems, so get advice from an employment law attorney or a small-business-focused payroll provider if you’re unsure.
Implement Best Practices For Each Pay Structure
When setting up employee pay structures, consider specific best practices for each individual to ensure fairness, consistency, and regulatory compliance. Establish a regular pay schedule for salaried employees and create a system to accurately calculate taxes, benefits, and deductions.
Offer a balanced pay structure while ensuring legal compliance for employees with a mix of salary and commissions. When you base pay on productivity, identify key performance indicators (KPIs) and collaborate with business leaders to set targets and incentivize the team.
Whatever your approach, be sure to input these structural details into your chosen payroll system to ensure that deductions and commissions are paid correctly and on time, every time.
Polish and Refine Your Payroll workflow
Once your payroll system is set up and best practices are implemented, continuously refine your payroll processes to ensure smooth, accurate, and efficient operation as your business evolves.
Here are some steps you can take to make sure you're examining every part of your payroll workflow:
- Establish clear, documented policies and procedures for payroll tasks like onboarding, data input, calculations, processing, record-keeping, and implementing for workers’ compensation and possible employee benefits.
- Clearly communicate pay structures, calculation methods, deductions, and payment schedules to employees.
- Provide resources to help employees understand overtime policies and encourage them to review pay stubs and ask questions as they come up.
- Review and update your payroll processes, technology, and policies regularly to make sure they’re up-to-date.
- Regularly seek feedback from your employees on streamlining and enhancing your payroll workflow. What’s working? What needs improvement?
- Once or twice a year, seek expert advice from your trusted CPA and employment law attorney to optimize your payroll processes and ensure full compliance.
- As your business grows, evaluate if your payroll system needs an upgrade to improve efficiency and accuracy.
By continually refining your payroll workflow, communicating clearly with employees, and leveraging expert advice, you can maintain an efficient, accurate, and compliant payroll system that supports your growing business and valued workforce.
Pro tip: If you do decide to outsource payroll for your oral surgery practice, qualified partners like ConnectPay can connect you with vetted local experts to provide targeted guidance and support during the refining process. Our Connected Payroll model can put you in touch with reliable CPAs and local experts in HR, Bookkeeping, Insurance, Retirement Savings, and more!
Integrate Payroll With Practice Management and Systems To Save Time
When choosing payroll software, prioritize options with direct integrations to your practice management system to reduce manual data entry. Automate processes like tax calculations, filings, direct deposit, and pay stub delivery. Use digital time and attendance tools that integrate directly with your payroll software to reduce errors and provide real-time, automated data.
Set up standardized payroll approval workflows within the software. Be sure to test all integrations and regularly audit automated processes to verify accuracy and compliance, before deploying practice-wide.
ConnectPay: The Best Payroll Partner for Oral Surgeons and Associates
ConnectPay is the premier payroll solution designed specifically for oral surgery practices. Our intuitive platform automates payroll tasks so you can focus on your patients.
Our key features include:
- Quickbooks Online (QBO) integration: Seamlessly sync your QBO account with ConnectPay, enabling real-time data access.
- User-friendly interface with a self-service employee portal: Our easy-to-use platform empowers your staff to manage their pay information, clock-in-and-out, request time off, and review and submit changes to their personal information.
- Reliable customer support: When we’re here, we pick up the phone. Our no voicemail guarantee ensures that you won’t be waiting on hold or waiting on a chatbot during business hours.
- Dedicated Onboarding Team: Our team of Onboarding Specialists will guide you through setup, ensuring a smooth transition and comfort with our system.
Don't just take our word for it - schedule a free Payroll Tax and Compliance Review today.
Our team will work with you to assess your practice's needs and show you how ConnectPay can streamline your payroll process.
