Payroll Tip: Run an Assessment Before Summer’s Busy Season!

Author
by Alex Gray
February 26, 2018
Read Time: Less than 6 Mins
Last Modified: January 31, 2024

Run an Assessment Before Summer’s Busy Season

*This article was updated 3/1/2019

Now that the year-end crunch has passed and payroll’s been completed, it’s tempting to take a step back and relax. But any downtime before the summer is actually the perfect time to make sure you have your ducks in order. Taking the opportunity now for a self-assessment can help save you the pain of last summer’s busy project season — and the pain of year-end payroll down the line.

To make sure you’re heading into your summer work rush in the best shape possible, first start with two questions:

  1. What is your main goal for the year?
  2. Are you prepared to meet that goal?

What is your main goal, and are you prepared to meet it?

If you ask most contractors, company growth will be their top answer. After all, that’s positive and increases opportunities for everyone in the company. But growing the business doesn’t just mean more revenue. More jobs usually means more workers, more estimating, more billing — which in turn hopefully leads to even more jobs, and you get the picture.

All of that begins with ramping up your payroll for your upcoming project season. So, being prepared for this jump in employee headcount is vital, especially if you’re looking to move from a crew of 10 to a crew of 20, 40, or possibly more.

So how can you prepare?

To get ready for a boost in business and any incoming employees, you first need to make sure your back office is running as efficiently as it can.

Think about your experience over the last year. Were there any areas or payroll processes that stood out as especially difficult? For example, was there a week your team struggled to get payroll done or breezed through it in another? What accounted for that difference? Take some time to go over what you think worked well (or didn’t) and why that happened. Once you have a few ideas in mind, write down four or five.

Then have anyone else on your team do the same.

Where is your team (or you) at?

This yearly lull is also a great time to bring your office together to go over your workflow. Or maybe you’re a team of one. Either way, run a quick inventory of everyone’s responsibilities. Then look at individual processes, like entering timecards or sending invoices. How do the different pieces fit together? Make sure it still makes sense for each responsibility to live where it does and that everyone feels comfortable with the tasks they’ve been assigned.

As a year progresses, it’s easy for people to pick up an extra workload in some areas while becoming light in others. Ensure each member of your company has a clear view and a system in place for what they’re doing. This can help keep things around the office moving smoothly.

And chances are, your team has a lot of ideas about what’s working and what isn’t.

This is also the perfect time to check that everyone is on the same page. For example, if you’re looking to bid more throughout the year or planning to go after different jobs than you normally would, you should alert your office staff to these changes so that they can be prepared, as these changes can affect payroll processing.

Can you change anything?

Listen to your team, and go over areas you all feel can be improved. This doesn’t have to be anything extreme; it can be as simple as re-organizing the office space. For example, moving filing cabinets so they’re accessible, or grouping team members with related tasks can go a long way in making certain processes simpler.

In the same vein, eliminating or changing some of your outdated processes can help boost productivity.

If there’s something you can automate or outsource — be it payroll, timecards, or job costing — this may be the best time of year to test it out. It can be difficult to see the benefit of changing tried and true methods, especially when the return can feel further down the line. But any hours you can save your office will add up quickly once your projects are in full swing.

Give yourself a trial run

The final step in your self-assessment is to do a trial run. If you think you’re set for your annual spike in timecards or to handle the 40 or 70 employees you want to grow to, it’s time to test it. Run a mock payroll for the number of employees and the kinds of timecards you need to be prepared for. For example, if you increase your Davis-Bacon jobs, do a practice-certified payroll report, or if you want to grow into another state, run a multi-state payroll.

If you’re adopting any new procedures, testing them is not only a good way to see what works for you but a great way to see how your team can adapt to change. For example, pick a normal day to run your typical business processes and pay close attention to how everything is working. How much did you get done, and how long did it take? Did you or your team feel pressured at any point to complete things?

In both cases, select another day to run the same processes, but cut out an hour or two. How well does the office run, then? The point here is to simulate those unexpected interruptions and work-stopping crises we all know happen in real life. Simulating less time for tasks can mimic the loss of a staff person or the increase of your workload. It can also highlight whether some of your methods are more idealistic than realistic.

Finally, plan for action. Using what you’ve learned, you should have a better idea of what new methods, office arrangements, software, and contingency plans you may need to try implementing to prepare for your busy project season.

So take those first steps to investigate your options. If getting extra help for processing your construction payroll and filing taxes might make sense for you, begin talking with vendors. We can help you figure out where we might fit in the picture to help you meet your 2019 goals.

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